Difference between revisions of "The PTA Disbands/References"

Revision as of 11:01, October 24, 2024

Cultural references

• The title of the episode refers to the parent–teacher association (PTA) the organization intended to facilitate parental participation in a school.
• The episode's couch gag references M. C. Escher's lithograph print Relativity.

The tilted canon pointing at the lookout tower parodies opening of the Western sitcom F Troop

• The unloaded canon pointing at the lookout tower and being tilted by the School Bus parodies the opening of the Western sitcom F Troop.
• The "Diz-Nee Historical Park" (the new ownership of the Fort Springfield Civil War site) is a reference to later abandoned plans for Disney's America, a historical theme park at Manassas battlefield site in Virginia.
• The scene where Üter Zörker is running after the School Bus lifting his right hand and shouting "Wait!" is a parody of the scene where Colonel Joseph L. Ryan (Frank Sinatra) runs after the POW train in the 1965 WWII adventure film Von Ryan's Express.
• The books at Springfield Elementary School, that were banned by other schools are:
  • TekWar, the series of science fiction novels created by William Shatner and which content involves drugs and crimes.
  • Theory of Evolution, by John Maynard Smith first printed in 1958 a year before the sesquicentennial of the publication of Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species. The book was popular as it updated evolutionary biology to make it more accessible.
  • Sexus, the first volume of the autobiographical trilogy The Rosy Crucifixion by Henry Miller.
  • 40 Years of Playboy, a 1994 book (real-world title The Playboy Book: Forty Years) by former Playboy editor Gretchen Edgren about the famous adult magazine Playboy.
  • Steal This Book, a book by Abbie Hoffman focused on ways to fight against the federal government
  • Hop on Pop, a children's book by Dr. Seuss. This book is actually a popular choice by elementary school teachers and children's librarians.
  • The Satanic Verses ("Junior illustrated edition") by Salman Rushdie. The book and its perceived blasphemy motivated Islamic extremist bombings, killings, and riots and sparked a debate about censorship and religiously motivated violence.
• At Skinner's office, Bart mentions Superman in the line "you'd fold faster than Superman on laundry day".
• The children are playing the American patriotic song "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" at the music class. After mentioning that professor Dewey Largo is gone, Database proposes to play the "forbidden music", and the children start playing "Pop Goes the Weasel".
• During his "recess", Milhouse reads about the Teapot Dome scandal, a bribery scandal involving president Warren G. Harding from 1921 to 1923.
• The scene in the bank is a parody of the 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life, specifically when banker George Bailey (James Stewart) has to give explanations to an angry crowd of customers during a bank run.
• Lisa builds a perpetual motion machine. This kind of machine is impossible, since its existence would violate the first and/or second laws of thermodynamics. This is also noted by Homer.
• During the teachers' strike, one of the substitute teachers whom Bart drives out is Gabe Kaplan, who played high school teacher and title character Gabe Kotter on the 1975 TV series Welcome Back, Kotter.
• With Jasper as a substitute teacher, Lisa is afraid she will never make it to an Ivy League university. The Ivy League collegiate consists of eight prestigious universities in the Northeastern United States.
  • Lisa considers that she will not even make it to Vassar College, which is a member of the Seven Sisters, but not in the Ivy League.
• When prisoners are moved into Springfield Elementary, Skinner says, "Some of our more troublesome students might be 'scared straight'", a reference to the 1978 American documentary Scared Straight!.

Trivia

• Before Marge arrived to substitute-teach Bart's class, the subs he that he had driven out were:
  • Chief Wiggum
  • Barney
  • Lionel Hutz
  • Gabe Kaplan (comedian and poker player)
  • Moe

Continuity

• Snake has the same prison ID as in "Lisa on Ice". This prison ID, 7F20, is the production code for "The War of the Simpsons" which is the first episode he appears in.

Goofs

• When Otto tells the children to get on the bus, Jaffee can be seen getting on through the main bus door; however, a few shots later, Jaffee gets on again via the emergency door. In the same shot Üter Zörker is close to the emergency door, then he is seen with five other kids, including Martin Prince, before he's the only one left behind.
• When Bart is playing the three games of chess, one of the boards is reversed with a black square on the right.
• In the scene where Bart gets beaten up by the bullies, Dolph is speaking with Jimbo's voice while Kearney is speaking with Dolph's.
• During Skinner's speech to the students in the school cafeteria, two Allison Taylors are seen sitting on different sides of the canteen.