Difference between revisions of "Four Great Women and a Manicure/References"

Revision as of 14:05, August 24, 2014

Cultural references

• The episode title may be a reference to Four Weddings and a Funeral.
• Beowulf: Lackey Moe sees Queen Elizabeth (portrayed by Selma) in her nightclothes and exclaims, "Someone call Beowulf! Grendel got in again!"
• Queen Elizabeth's horse is named "Teabiscuit", a pun on Seabiscuit.
• When Moe and the Queen see the Spanish Armada coming, they are standing under a banner that reads "Mission Accomplished". Moe comments, "It's probably a little too early to be standing under this", a reference to President George W. Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech in 2003.
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Parodied in the second segment (although Lisa is forced to rename all the dwarfs to satisfy the legal demands of the Blue-Haired Lawyer).
• The Blue-Haired Lawyer is shown to have long claw-like fingernails (and asks the nail shop to sharpen them), a reference to the cultural stereotype of lawyers being aggressive and predatory.
• When Snow White (portrayed by Lisa) flees from the wicked queen's threat, she comes across a gingerbread house and Grandma's house (referencing the folk tales "Hansel and Gretel" and "Little Red Riding Hood") before she finds the dwarfs' house.
• "Goldilocks and the Three Bears": Snow White complains about the dwarfs' beds being too hard and too soft. Unlike Goldilocks, however, Snow White settles for the soft bed.
• "Sleeping Beauty": When the dwarfs find Snow White asleep, Doc speculates that she may be under a curse and Crabby says that a kiss might awaken her. When Crabby approaches her to do the deed, however, Snow White quickly sits up and exclaims, "I'm awake! I'm awake already!"
• Bye Bye Birdie and The Matrix: During the Macbeth parody segment, actor Homer forgets his lines and starts reading from scripts concealed on his person, trying to find the right line. Instead of Macbeth, however, Homer ends up reading lines from Bye Bye Birdie and The Matrix Reloaded.
• During the "Maggie Roark" segment, Maggie's architectural creations include the following real-life buildings:
  • The Taj Mahal
  • The Beijing National Stadium, also known as "The Bird's Nest"
  • The Walt Disney Concert Hall
  • The Empire State Building
• The painting that Maggie makes on the wall (for which she is swiftly—and ironically—scolded by Marge) is van Gogh's "The Starry Night".

Trivia

• This is the only episode Bart doesn't appear in (unless you count the opening sequence).
• This episode is the second anthology episode to have 4 short stories instead of 3 (the first was "Simpsons Bible Stories").
• This is the fourth episode in the show's history where Maggie has spoken and the second where she's done so directly.
• Selma appears without Patty in this episode.
• This episode was viewed by 5.15 million viewers making it the least watched episode in the shows history. Nearly a year later, it was beaten by "Million Dollar Maybe".
• The music playing during Maggie's story is the Second Movement of Beethovan's 9th Symphony.
• The picture that Maggie draws on the wall in the final scene is Vincent van Gogh's "Starry Night".
• In the Macbeth parody, no one seems to care that Marge says "Macbeth" in the theater, in spite of the taboo on speaking the name. However, the "Macbeth curse" provides exemptions for speaking the name during rehearsals and performances of the play, so Marge's working as a laundress in support of the production may also be considered to grant her a free pass.