The Fight Before Christmas/References

Cultural references

 * The episode title is a pun on the poem "".

Bart's dream

 * The Polar Express is based on the train from the book and film . In the film, it also goes to the North Pole.
 * The Bumble from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer appears washing the floor.
 * The scene where the train is divided into four is reference to the  sequence.
 * "" by is heard in the Polar Express marijuana sequence.
 * "" by is played at the end of the segment.
 * A boy who resembles from Peanuts  appears playing a piano in the Clausco building.

Lisa's dream

 * Marge killing Hitler is a reference to the film .
 * The flying elephant may be a reference to the film . More specifically, it is possible that it is a parody of Walt Disney's animation studio being hired to make war propaganda films during the war years.

Marge's dream

 * The family sing "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Breakfast", a parody of the song "".
 * A song from  is heard, as typically heard in any Christmas Simpsons episode.

Maggie's dream

 * 's appearing as her real-life self while the rest of the cast are puppets is a parody of celebrity guest appearances on The Muppet Show.
 * Grampa and Jasper are parodying from The Muppets.
 * When Katy Perry kisses Mr. Burns, he says "I kissed a girl, and I liked it", a reference to Katy Perry's song "".
 * Mr. Burns says that he was visited by three ghosts, a reference to .
 * The song "The Thirty-Nine Days of Christmas" is an extended version of the song "".
 * Moe acts like the from  when he eats the cookies.

Trivia

 * "The Fight Before Christmas" is notable for being the third episode to have part of it set in the real world, having the characters in puppet form with Katy Perry playing herself in real life. The previous two were "Treehouse of Horror VI", where Homer went into the real world; and "Treehouse of Horror IX", where Bart and Lisa briefly appeared on , splashing into a pot of soup.
 * In place of the theme music, an instrumental version of "" plays over the opening credits.
 * Moe is called a goblin twice in the episode: Once in Bart's dream and once in Maggie's dream.
 * The open magazine on Homer's stomach in Marge's dream is named Modern Fart Denier. The front cover shows a large man sitting on an easy chair, looking at the viewer while pointing to a nearby dog. The back cover shows a cheese wheel with a wedge cut out, referring to the expression "cutting the cheese", which is a common euphemism for farting.
 * In Latin America, this episode was released as the seventh episode of the season for unknown reasons.

Goofs

 * In the first segment, Santa is shown to have a name label on his desk, but in a later scene, it has disappeared.
 * A post outside the tire fire says it has been burning since 1961, however in an earlier season (Season 1/2), a post says it has been burning since 1989.