Cartoon Wars Part II

"Cartoon Wars Part II"
South Park episode
Title card shown in lieu of the episode's climax
Episode no.	Season 10 Episode 4
Directed by	Trey Parker
Written by	Trey Parker
Production code	1004
Original air date	April 12, 2006 (2006-04-12)
Episode chronology
← Previous "Cartoon Wars Part I" Next → "A Million Little Fibers"
South Park season 10
List of episodes

"Cartoon Wars Part II" is the fourth episode in the tenth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 143rd episode of the series overall, it first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 12, 2006. Following "Cartoon Wars Part I", it is the second part of a two-episode story-arc, which focuses on Cartman's efforts to get the television series Family Guy cancelled by exploiting fears of retaliation by Muslims to an upcoming Family Guy episode in which the Islamic prophet Muhammad will appear, in violation of some interpretations of Muslim law. Kyle instead urges the president of Fox, the network airing Family Guy, to air the episode in an exercise of free speech.

The episodes were inspired by the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy, which began in response to a Danish newspaper's printing of cartoons depicting Muhammed in September 2005, leading to worldwide protests and occasionally violent demonstrations and riots in early 2006. It also came from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone's general dislike of Family Guy, which they viewed as overly reliant on cutaway gags for humor and less so on story. During production, the duo ran into reluctance from Comedy Central and parent company Viacom, who felt their insistence to depict Muhammad disregarded concerns for public safety. Parker and Stone argued that the network was giving in to hypothetical violence, labeling them hypocrites due to their satirizing of other religions in the past. The network interference was written into the episode's storyline.

Comedy Central eventually aired the episode with a black title card during the Muhammad sequence, censoring the depiction. The episode received positive reviews from critics; while the episode's censorship did attract headlines, it received more attention for its lampooning of Family Guy. When the series was transferred to HBO Max in 2020, it was announced that "Cartoon Wars Part I" and "Cartoon Wars Part II" would be two of five episodes cut from the series, alongside "Super Best Friends", "200," and "201," all of which are episodes featuring Muhammad.^[1] The episode is also absent from Paramount+ for the same reason.