Difference between revisions of "The Godfather"

Latest revision as of 16:40, April 15, 2024

For the character, see The Godfather (character).

The Godfather is a gangster novel (1969) by Mario Puzo, which was made into an epic gangster film trilogy consisting of three pictures: The Godfather (1972), The Godfather Part II (1974) and The Godfather Part III (1990), all directed by Francis Ford Coppola. In addition to its depiction of gangster life, the film series became well-noted for its theme music and for the iconic scene in the first film where a character wakes up to find his horse's severed head in his bed. The series is also well known for its catchphrases, such as "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse" (Don Corleone in The Godfather) and "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer" (Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part II).

There are numerous references to the Godfather film series in The Simpsons media.

References[edit]

Episodes[edit]

Picture Season Episode number Episode name Reference 1 8 "The Telltale Head" Bart waking up next to the decapitated head of Jebediah Springfield's statue spoofs the famous "horse head in the bed" scene from The Godfather. 3 39 "Bart the Murderer" When a visiting mob boss is dissatisfied with the Manhattan cocktail he is served at Fat Tony's club, he gives Fat Tony a kiss and leaves in a huff. Tony laments that it was the kiss of death, referencing the scene in The Godfather Part II where Michael Corleone kisses his brother Fredo after discovering his (Fredo's) betrayal, thus marking Fredo for execution. 43 "Lisa's Pony" Lisa discovering the pony in her bed spoofs the famous "horse head in the bed" scene from The Godfather. 4 68 "Mr. Plow" The scene where Bart is mowed down by snowballs thrown by his school friends is a reference to the death of Sonny in The Godfather. 76 "Last Exit to Springfield" When Homer imagines a life in organized crime, he looks just like Don Fanucci in The Godfather Part II. 6 118 "Homie the Clown" When Homer and Krusty try to do the bicycle trick in front of the mafiosi, Homer's head bumps against a series of wine glasses. The melody that plays as a result is a musical quote of the "Love Theme" from The Godfather, to the delight of the mafiosi. 7 147 "A Fish Called Selma" In The Godfather, Luca Brasi is killed and his body thrown into a canal. His killers later send a dead fish to Sonny Corleone along with a note reading "He sleeps with the fishes", which became a Mafia expression referring to someone being killed and their corpse being disposed of in a body of water. The Godfather scene and the Mafia expression are referred to when Troy McClure goes into the DMV and is seen by Louie and Fat Tony. Louie says, "I thought you said Troy McClure was dead!" Tony replies, "No, what I said was: 'He sleeps with the fishes'", and starts to explain, but Louie cuts him off: "Uh, Tony, please, no. I just ate a whole plate of dingamagoo." The dialogue between Tony and Louie is a sly bit of wordplay referring to the Mafia expression and to McClure's rumored fish fetish. 10 212 "Mayored to the Mob" The episode contains several references to the Godfather film series: During the scene at the Springfield Mafia hideout, the setting, music and mobsters are strongly reminiscent of the films. When Fat Tony's rat-milking operation is busted, Homer mockingly asks him, "What are you gonna do, call your Godfather?" Homer kisses Mayor Quimby, telling him that it's from Fat Tony, and Quimby realizes it's the kiss of death. When Louie attacks Quimby, Homer comes to the defense by stabbing Louie's tie with a fork and pinning it to a table, a reference to the scene in The Godfather where Luca Brasi's hand is stabbed with a fork and pinned to a bar counter. 11 227 "Beyond Blunderdome" Mel Gibson's remake of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is extensively reworked (with considerable creative input from Homer) and receives a second test screening. Polystar Pictures VP Edward Christian attends the screening and laments, "You've desecrated a classic film! This is worse than Godfather III!" 229 "Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner?" Luigi says that when Homer gave his restaurant a bad review, he had a friend put a horse head in his bed to "encourage" him to quit being a food critic. Homer, however, missed the point, ate the head and gave the head a bad review. 245 "Kill the Alligator and Run" Unable to sleep, Homer watches a late-night talk show where Charlie Rose interviews Robert Evans about his work. Rose mentions The Godfather in passing while asking Evans a question: "Before you did The Godfather, there was Love Story. Tell us about that." (In real life, Robert Evans was the producer for Love Story, The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, and many other films during the 1960s and 1970s.) 12 257 "HOMЯ" While demonstrating Animotion's motion-capture suit, Homer does an impression of Don Corleone's "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse" line from The Godfather. 259 "Worst Episode Ever" One of the movies in Comic Book Guy's stash of illegal videos is "Godfather III - good version". 13 288 "The Sweetest Apu" In Apu's wedding video, Homer sings the Napolitan song C'è la luna mezzo mare along with the wedding band. In The Godfather, an old man sings the same song during the wedding of Don Corleone's daughter. 14 300 "The Strong Arms of the Ma" Marge beating up her mugger with a garbage can is a parody of the scene in The Godfather where Sonny beats up his sister's husband on the streets. 313 "Moe Baby Blues" Moe tells Maggie the plot of the three Godfather films to entertain her. Moe imitates Don Corleone with an cut-up orange in his mouth, in reference to a similar scene in The Godfather. He later imagines the exact scene from the film when he goes searching for Maggie. Moe seems to know the film by heart, but mistakes Diane Keaton's character Kay Adams with her character Annie Hall from Woody Allen's film Annie Hall. At the end of the episode Fat Tony is emotional about Maggie and says: "I didn't cry so much, since I paid to see Godfather III." 16 338 "All's Fair in Oven War" James Caan, who played Sonny in The Godfather, guest-stars in the episode as himself. He has an affair with Brandine and in the final scene he is ambushed and shot down by Cletus, a reference to Sonny's death scene in The Godfather. 18 379 "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer" Fat Tony's son, Michael D'Amico, is a reference to Michael Corleone from all three Godfather films. His physical looks and the fact that he is a quiet person who initially doesn't want to enter the mafia business are similar. In the same episode mob goons try to assassinate Fat Tony through a window while flying in a helicopter, in reference to a similar scene in The Godfather Part III. The final scene where Michael, Jimbo, Dolph and Kearney close the door before Lisa references the final scenes of The Godfather. 21 456 "Stealing First Base" When Nikki gives CPR to Bart, one of the kisses shown during the montage of famous kissing scenes is Michael Corleone giving the "kiss of death" to Fredo in The Godfather Part II. 22 473 "Donnie Fatso" When the FBI tell Homer they want to place him undercover in Fat Tony's gang, Homer tries to protest that he can't because he was briefly Tony's consigliere. When he can't pronounce "consigliere" (after several attempts), he instead says "Robert Duvall", referencing Robert Duvall's having played Tom Hagen the Consigliere in The Godfather. After Fit Tony takes over the Springfield Mafia, he tells Homer that because the world is screwed up, he keeps his friends close. Homer asks, "And your enemies closer?" referring to the catchphrase from The Godfather Part II, "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer." 480 "A Midsummer's Nice Dreams" In his infotainment show That's Kent-ertainment, Kent Brockman finds his own head between his bedsheets, spoofing the horsehead scene from The Godfather. 28 602 "There Will Be Buds" Kirk reports watching the movie and says it's So good to Homer on chat. 30 649 "'Tis the 30th Season" Due to the poor accommodations at the Kissimmee St. Nick Theme Park and Resort, the Simpson family ask resort manager Jeanie for their money back. When she refuses, Bart pranks her by severing several heads (and one hand) from the animatronic statues in the Hall of Vice Presidents and leaving them in her bed for her to find when she wakes up. 32 691 "Three Dreams Denied" While he was working at The Android's Dungeon, Phil Muhlstock read from the script of The Godfeather, an animated film in which he had starred. 33 716 "A Made Maggie" Fat Tony admits he never watched The Godfather, while Marge has never seen it except the wedding scenes.

Comics[edit]

Picture Comic issue Story name Reference Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror #1 Call Me Homer After hearing Grampa's re-telling of Moby Dick, with Mr. Burns cast as Captain Ahab and other Springfielders (including Homer) as crewmembers, Bart has a nightmare where he finds a whale's head in his bed. Bart Simpson #72 Wedgie Issue Milhouse has a fantasy where in the future he has become a successful businessman a la. Bill Gates. When Lisa compliments him on employing so many of their classmates, Milhouse cites Michael Corleone's catchphrase, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." Simpsons Summer Shindig #6 Anchor Blues When Kent Brockman discovers a fencing operation being run out of the Springfield Public Library, he catches Fat Tony and his associates with a box of stolen goods. Tony, holding a copy of The Godfather novel, protests that they're only doing some light reading.

Books[edit]

Picture Book Reference The Marge Book Marge's DVD collection includes a film titled The Godmother, Part II.

Special guest stars[edit]

Picture Name Role in The Godfather Role on The Simpsons Robert Evans Produced The Godfather. Voiced himself in "Kill the Alligator and Run". Alex Rocco Portrayed Moe Greene in The Godfather. Voiced Roger Meyers, Jr. Joe Mantegna Portrayed Joey Zasa in The Godfather Part III. Regular voice actor for Fat Tony. Also voiced himself in the season 3 episode "Bart the Murderer". James Caan Portrayed Sonny Corleone in The Godfather. Voiced himself in "All's Fair in Oven War". Andy García Portrayed Vincent Mancini in The Godfather Part III. Voiced Slick the book publisher in the "The Book Job".

External links[edit]

• The Godfather at Wikipedia
• The Godfather Part II at Wikipedia
• The Godfather Part III at Wikipedia