It's one of those things that you really have to think about for a minute and say, "Is the idea of a talking poo really THAT original?"
I say "no".
Eventually, we all had to know South Park was going to find a way to really push the boundaires of good taste, and they did it with the Christmas episode. But now that the Christmas episode is the highest rated episode in South Park history, everyone is speculating where the idea of Mr. Hankey came from.
Now, I'm sure in the back of our little minds we've all had an image of a talking poo somewhere in our imagination (or maybe it's just me?). so the idea, for teh most part, is not all that original. BUT, just because someone else is going to be making money off the idea, we all must be kicking ourselves for it.
John Kricfalusi is crying foul over the Christmas episode, because his "Nutty" character came first (allegedly), and he said that he was the first one to capitalize on the idea.
I don't think so.
And even if he did, is that an "original character" you really want to sue a company over? I can imagine the scene in the courtroom over the case on the 2 characters.
Stay tuned on these developments, but I submit to you that Mr. Hankey or any other talking poos to come in the future are never going to be that original.