Difference between revisions of "Treehouse of Horror V/References"

Latest revision as of 16:45, October 18, 2022

Cultural references[edit]

Opening sequence[edit]

• During Marge's introduction, a black-and-white movie clip appears which is ostensibly from a Glenn Ford movie called 200 Miles to Oregon. There is no such actual movie with that title, but it may be a pun on or reference to the original 3:10 to Yuma, in which Glenn Ford starred as Ben Wade.
• Bart's introduction (where his voice appears as waves on an oscilloscope) is a parody of the Control Voice's introduction in the 1960s TV series The Outer Limits.

The Shinning[edit]

• The segment is a parody of The Shining.
  • Blood pours out of the elevator as it does in the movie.
  • Groundskeeper Willie and Moe are parallels of the characters Dick Halloran and Lloyd the bartender, respectively.
  • Maggie spells "REDRUM" with her blocks when Homer tries to watch the TV.
  • Analogous to Jack Torrance endlessly typing "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", Homer writes "No TV and no beer make Homer go crazy" all over the walls. The only thing Homer types is "Feelin' fine," which briefly reassures Marge, until a lightning flash reveals the writing on the walls.
  • After Marge discovers that Homer has written "No TV and no beer make Homer go crazy" all over the walls, Homer bursts through a door, scaring her, and asks what she thinks of his book. In The Shining, Jack sneaks up on Wendy and asks her what she thinks of his play.
  • Homer does a "Heeeere's Johnny!" scene similar to Jack Torrance, but Homer breaks into two wrong rooms before finding the family.
  • Marge defends herself from Homer with a bat and later locks Homer in a dry food cellar, similar to what Wendy does to Jack.
• The hotel was the setting of five John Denver Christmas specials.
• Among Moe's gang of "ghouls" are the following:
  • Freddy Krueger from the A Nightmare on Elm Street movies.
  • Pinhead from the Hellraiser movies.
  • Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th movies.
  • Dracula from the movie of the same name.
  • The Wolfman from the movie of the same name.
  • The Mummy from the movie of the same name.
• Among the names Homer calls out when breaking down doors are David Letterman, Mike Wallace, Morley Safer, Ed Bradley, and Andy Rooney. The latter four were on the talk show 60 Minutes.
• When Homer hits Willie in the back with an axe, Marge says that she hopes the rug was Scotchgarded.
• The Tony Awards air on the portable television, hosted by Tyne Daly and Hal Linden. The song "One" from A Chorus Line plays during the opening.

Time and Punishment[edit]

• The name of the segment is a reference to Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
• Mister Peabody and Sherman from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show appear during Homer's first trip back in time and Kang and Kodos transforms into them in one of the possible future.
• When Homer first arrives in the past, he says, "I've gone back to the time when dinosaurs weren't just confined to zoos!", a reference to Jurassic Park.
• References to Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell:
  • Ned Flanders being the absolute lord and master of the world, similar to Big Brother.
  • Video screens record everything, while everyone is required to watch any official announcements made via the screens, reminiscent of the telescreens.
  • Portraits of Flanders where the eyes follow the viewer, similar to portraits of Big Brother.
• When Ned speaks to everyone via video, the screen rises up from the kitchen floor, similar to the T-1000 in the mental hospital scene of Terminator 2.
• When Homer sits on the Darwin fish, he says "I wish, I wish I hadn't killed that fish", a reference to "I Wish I Were a Fish" from The Incredible Mr. Limpet.
• One of the possible futures transformations of the Simpsons House is a stone house from The Flintstones.

Nightmare Cafeteria[edit]

• The name of the segment is a reference to the sci-fi TV series Nightmare Cafe.
• Principal Skinner hits on the idea of serving students as food to solve the problem of overcrowding, similar to the plot of Soylent Green.

Closing Sequence[edit]

• The song the inside-out Simpsons and Groundskeeper Willie sing and dance to is a parody of "One" from A Chorus Line.

Trivia[edit]

• In all three stories, Groundskeeper Willie is hit in the back with an axe when he tries to help someone:

1. By Homer in "The Shinning", after Homer goes mad and Willie attempts to come to the rescue of the rest of the family.

2. By Maggie in "Time and Punishment", when he says he can help Homer get back to his own time. Maggie then says to Homer, "This is indeed a disturbing universe", in James Earl Jones's voice.

3. By Principal Skinner in "Nightmare Cafeteria", when he tries to save Bart, Lisa and Milhouse from being eaten by the teachers. This time after Willie is hit, he says, "Ach, I'm bad at this."

• When Skinner tells Bart that he will enjoy devouring him, he adds, "I believe I'll start as you've so often suggested, by eating your shorts". This references one of Bart's trademark catchphrases: "Eat My Shorts!"
• Groundskeeper Willie thinks "Why you little!", the expression Homer usually uses on Bart.

Continuity[edit]

• Before Mr. Burns and Smithers leave for the winter, Smithers suggests to Burns that cutting off the cable television and beer supply may have been the reason for the previous caretakers' going insane and murdering their families. Burns then says that if they come back and everyone is slaughtered, he owes Smithers a Coke. Mr. Burns also says he owes Smithers a Coke in "Treehouse of Horror II" when he and Smithers are returning Homer's brain to his body, realizing that he was alive all along.
• The house in The Shinning is built on a Ancient Indian Burial Ground. ("Treehouse of Horror")

Goofs[edit]

Time and Punishment[edit]

• When Lisa told Homer that his hand was jammed in the toaster, when the whole family screamed, Lisa's lips didn't move.
• The time Homer travels back to is the Cretaceous period meaning Stegosaurus and Megatherium shouldn't be there, Stegosaurus since it would have been extinct by then and Megatherium because they didn't evolve until 55 million years later.
• When the machine picks up the Simpson house to take it to the Re-Neducation Center, the garage is on the wrong side of the house. It is on the correct side in the following shots of Homer returning.

Nightmare Cafeteria[edit]

• During the cafeteria scene, Sherri and Terri's bows were colored green in one scene.
• Wendell is seen in Bart's class before he goes to detention. However, when he reaches detention, Wendell is seen in that room. He is later seen in the cafeteria.
• During "Nightmare Cafeteria", Mrs. Krabappel is shown to have become obese from eating the detention students. Yet in the scene where the Springfield Elementary staff are chasing Bart, Lisa and Milhouse, which takes place only minutes later, Mrs. Krabappel is back to her regular size.