South Park’s ‘Panderverse’ Mocks Disney & Kathleen Kennedy

The South Park series is well known for satire of popular culture and current events. For over 25 years both Tray Parker and Matt Stone have used their show for poking fun at popular trends, celebrities, cultural/political issues and pointing out hypocrisy, all in a way that combines it with next level comedy.

The series’ latest special entitled South Park: Joining the Panderverse was released exclusively on the Paramount+ streaming service. The special tackles the recent tend of Hollywood productions rebooting various films and shows and replacing the classic characters with more “diverse and inclusive” versions that hardly resemble the originals.

However, this special had a specific company and individuals that they were targeting, those being the Walt Disney Company and executives like Bob Iger and Kathleen Kennedy. 



While the side plot revolves around how people today rely too heavily on technology and don’t know how to do anything themselves anymore, the overall main story revolves around Eric Cartman seeing visions of an alternate world where he and his friends are replaced by ethnically diverse female adults and how Kathleen Kennedy is to blame for it all. He then finds himself trapped in this alternate reality and must try to find his way back home while coming across Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy. 



It is later discovered that the Kathleen Kennedy that we all once knew was influenced by an artifact known as the Panderstone, a piece of ancient artificial intelligence that can be used to make the same movies over and over again while appealing to more diverse audiences.



However, when using the stone over and over, she opens a portal to an alternate reality where a more annoying version of herself who constantly shouts things like “add a woman and make her gay and make it lame.” This alternate version of her replaces her and causes havoc at the Disney offices, trapping the “real” Kathleen Kennedy in an alternate reality.



The special ends with Eric and the REAL Kathleen Kennedy returning home. Kennedy then speaks with Bob Iger and other Disney executives on how they should try to make movies with original ideas.

Despite the obvious exaggerations, the special does a somewhat decent job bringing up many of the issues that plague the company, along with other commentary on recent trends like Boulder’s Gate 3. Many clips of the special have been shared online, and the show is currently a popular topic of discussion on X (aka Twitter).

The only thing that will hopefully be taken away from this is that someone at Disney sees the special and takes notes. When the internet is laughing at your misfortunes it is probably best to reevaluate your business strategy. 

What did you think of the special? Was the special right in criticizing Disney and its top executives? Let us know your thoughts.