The Bart Wants What It Wants/References

Cultural references

 * The episode title is a parody of the phrase by Woody Allen "The Heart Wants What it Wants".
 * While looking inside one of the classrooms at Springfield Preparatory School, Lisa remarks to Principal Skinner that the school's has 250 elements on it. In reality there are currently only 118 elements.
 * Maggie can be seen playing with a plush toy of, the one-eared rabbit from Matt Groening's Life in Hell comic strip.
 * Marge tells that she puts  in her.
 * When Marge makes a cooking suggestion to Wolfgang Puck, he immediately heads to the "Puckmobile" to the music of the 1960s television series.
 * One of the studios Bart passes by is filming "Canadian Graffiti" which is a parody of the George Lucas movie "American Graffiti". Graffiti consists of "Obey the Rules!"
 * Milhouse's line "Take off hoser!" is a reference to Bob & Doug McKenzie.
 * The music playing when the family arrives in Toronto is "Take Off" by Bob and Doug McKenzie, featuring Rush lead singer, Geddy Lee.
 * Rainier Wolfcastle saying "Remember when I said I would eat you last? I lied!" to the piece of pie on the dinner table, is a parody of the movie Commando when Arnold Schwarzenegger says "Remember when I said I would kill you last? I lied!"
 * Lisa's determination not to be a "Gamecock" indicates her unwillingness to attend the University of South Carolina, whose mascot is the Gamecocks.
 * The "Paramountie Studios" logo is a parody of Paramount Pictures.
 * Lenny and Carl fight with microscopes similar to from Star Wars.

Goofs

 * When Lisa grabs the ball inside Maggie's play pen, she sticks her arms between the bars to pick the toy up. When she lifts the toy out of the play pen, however, she keeps her grip on the ball, meaning that her arms would've went through the top part of the frame.