This page contains trivia for "Pre-School". Remember, trivia must be factual, provable, and it is always best to cite your source for not-so-obvious trivia. If you would like to dispute a trivia point, please discuss it in the talk page.
Trivia
- According to the commentary, Matt Stone and Trey Parker state that even though the child was not actually speaking profanity, they purposefully bleeped Trent Boyett's preschool voice to make it appear he had said something offensive.
- Trent Boyett mentions meeting Mr. Hankey who first appeared in "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo", fighting Barbra Streisand in "Mecha-Streisand" and the boys' journey to Afghanistan in "Osama bin Laden Has Farty Pants" as examples of their adventures.
- Due to the fire incident taking place before Mr. Slave appears, Mr. Hat can be seen with Mr. Garrison during the flashback when Ms. Claridge is taken away.
- The character of Miss Claridge has appeared in two episodes other than this one, specifically "The Death of Eric Cartman", where Eric attempts to atone for his actions by giving her a fruit basket, and "Erection Day", watching Jimmy perform his stand up comedy.
- This episode features children being sent to the hospital after falling victim to school pranks. Made-up pranks are the Polish bike ride and the Texas chili bowl (the latter involving Tabasco sauce, a telephone, and the anus and the former having no cure).
- This is one of the few episodes in which the boys very clearly haven't learned anything from their adventure by the end; despite having been told flat-out that they "can't hide from their pasts" by Shelly, the boys readily make the same mistake at the end of the episode they did five years earlier.
- When Ms. Claridge is being loaded into the ambulance, you can clearly see Bradley, Milly, and Esther in the background. If their appearances in the flashback are to be taken as canon, they should be in junior high in the present day.
- Trey Parker and Matt Stone discuss making this episode on the DVD commentary for the episode, "Cripple Fight", which, if accurate, was recorded on Friday, November 5, 2004, when this episode was being made.
- If you look closely, the preschool version of Wendy is visible in the flashback.
- It's a curious thing that Ms. Choksondik wasn't present with the rest of the teachers. Either this was decided not be put, an error, or Diane hadn't moved to the town yet.
- The shot where the boys are walking down the sidewalk holding ice cream cones contains a visual goof in the floor of the ice cream shop. (This is later fixed in HD airings)
- When Trent Boyett started the fire in preschool, he used a lighter. He was arrested the same day. However, when Trent got out of juvenile hall, his lighter was not returned.
- Cartman, Kyle, Stan and Kenny do the exact same victory dance both times Trent is arrested.
References to Popular Culture
- Trent Boyett's character and his quest for revenge are both references to the 1962 film Cape Fear and the 1991 remake of the same name.
- Miss Claridge's wheelchair and condition are based on that of the fictional Captain Christopher Pike from the Star Trek: The Original Series episode, "The Menagerie."
- The police's misunderstanding of two beeps meaning "yes, yes" was previously parodied in an episode of Futurama ("Where No Fan Has Gone Before"): Zapp Brannigan tells Fry that one beep means "yes", two beeps means "no", and then when asking Fry if he's guilty, pronounces "a double yes" after Fry's two beeps. In DVD commentary for this episode, Parker and Stone indicated they were not aware anyone else had done such a joke at the time, but were disappointed when they learned someone else had done it. Humorously, neither one of them could remember which show had used the joke, thinking it might have been The Simpsons. Both Futurama and The Simpsons were created by Matt Groening.
- The "Little Gas Shack" into which Miss Claridge's out-of-control wheelchair crashes sells "Propane and Propane Accessories", a reference to Hank Hill's job at Strickland Propane in the animated series King of the Hill. Mike Judge, creator of King of the Hill, is a close personal friend of South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and previously provided the undistorted voice of Kenny in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. Judge's previous animation, Beavis and Butt-head, was part of the inspiration for South Park, and the characters - and the controversy that surrounded them - is spoofed by 'Terrance and Phillip' in South Park.
- Trent's release from prison mimics Jake Blues' release from prison in The Blues Brothers, specifically the mentioning of items on his person.
- In order to make the photograph of the breasts, the boys consult Madonna's book, 'Sex'.
- The theme of an escaped prisoner taking his revenge on the people who falsely accused him, as well as a paralyzed person using a "once for yes, two for no" system was pioneered by Alexandre Dumas in his classic novel 'The Count of Monte Cristo'.
Goofs
- During the boys' flashback to their days in Preschool, Esther, Milly, Tommy Turner, and the Boy with Red Scarf appear as 4th graders, however, they should have appeared as preschoolers. Pete Thelman also appeared in his 3rd Grade "form".
- During the boys' flashback, it shows that their were several police officers when they arrest Trent, while during that time Officer Barbrady was the only police officer and that event was long before the series even began.