Treehouse of Horror XVI/References
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Contents
Cultural references
Opening Sequence
- Kang and Kodos wonder if speeding up time will allow the Chicago Cubs to win the World Series, a reference to the team's long-standing championship drought. As of 2010, it has been 102 years since the Cubs' last World Series win, and 65 years since their last Series appearance.
B.I.: Bartificial Intelligence
- A.I. Artificial Intelligence: Punned in the title and parodied throughout the segment.
- The song featured during Bart's "jealousy" montage is "New Kid in Town" by the Eagles.
- The scene where Bart meets the group of robots in the woods is a spoof of the music video for the song "Rockit" by Herbie Hancock. The walking pair of robot legs were featured in the video.
- The segment concludes with a short parody of The Exorcist, featuring a possessed Homer.
Survival of the Fattest
- The second segment is a parody of The Most Dangerous Game, a 1923 short story by Richard Connell.
- The segment title is a pun on the Darwin-inspired catchphrase, "survival of the fittest".
I've Grown a Costume on Your Face
- The segment's title is a reference to the song "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" from the musical My Fair Lady. It is also an allusion to a song that Bart and Sideshow Bob sing in Bart's room in the Season 14 episode "The Great Louse Detective."
- Television series references:
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer: In the episode "Halloween", most of the residents of Sunnydale don cursed costumes that transform them into what they are dressed as.
- The classic Twilight Zone: In the episode "The Masks," four greedy heirs are turned into monsters by the hideous masks each wears at their benefactor's behest.
- The Fairly OddParents: In the episode "Scary GodParents," Timmy wishes that everybody's Halloween costumes were real.
- After all of Springfield's citizens are turned into real-life versions of their costumes, Mayor Quimby as Mayor McCheese says, "I am not a happy meal right now" as dogs lick at him, a reference to McDonald's Happy Meals.
- At the end of the segment, Maggie the witch flies up to the moon, accompanied by the theme music of Bewitched, in a scene very similar to the TV series' title animation.
Trivia
- "I've Grown a Costume on Your Face" is similar to an issue of the Simpsons Comics Bartman, in which an Itchy and Scratchy brought to life through alien technology create a nuclear explosion which turns the Simpsons into costumed superheroes.
- This is the first Treehouse of Horror episode to not be the premiere of its season since Treehouse of Horror X.
- This is the only Simpson episode where God's face is completely shown (in the opening).
- Bart says "Cowabanga" from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Costumes in "I've Grown a Costume on Your Face"
- Homer Simpson: a decapitated man
- Marge Simpson: a skeleton with a human head
- Bart Simpson: a werewolf
- Lisa Simpson: Albert Einstein
- Maggie Simpson: a witch
- Martin Prince: Oberon, king of the fairies, from A Midsummer's Night Dream
- Groundskeeper Willie: a bug spray can
- Hans Moleman: a mole, even though he didn't dress as one
- Apu Nahasapeemapetilon: R2-D2
- Dr. Hibbert: Dracula (mistaken for Blacula by Mayor Quimby)
- Milhouse Van Houten: a bulldozer
- Kirk Van Houten: A strong man
- Ned Flanders: a flower (which looks somewhat like Bob the Angry Flower)
- Nelson Muntz: the Lone Ranger, but everyone (including the witch) thinks he is a raccoon
- Mayor Quimby: Mayor McCheese
- Mayor Quimby's bodyguard: A cat
- Abraham Simpson: a gorilla
- Sideshow Mel: Spider-Man
- Chief Wiggum: Jared Fogle
- Lou: A muskateer
- Eddie: Also a muskateer
- Horatio McCallister: Poseidon (interestingly, he was cast as Poseidon in "Tales from the Public Domain")
- Edna Krabappel: A snake
- Lenny Leonard: prison inmate
- Carl Carlson: mummy
- Principal Skinner: G.I. Joe
- Agnes Skinner: Southern belle
- Patty: horse's front
- Selma: horse's back
- Gil: a ghost
- Barney Gumble: Frankenstein's monster
- Moe Szyslak: Hugh Hefner
- Disco Stu: Steve Martin/Arrow through the head
- Jasper Beardley: Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz
- Sherri and Terri: Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee from Alice in Wonderland
- Squeaky-voiced teen: Tin man from The Wizard of Oz
- Professor Frink: Caveman
- Bumblebee Man: Bumblebee
- Old Jewish Man: His brother, Irving
- Other costumes include an Imperial Scout Trooper.
Deaths in "Survival of the Fattest"
These are the people whom Mr. Burns massacres in the segment "Survival of the Fattest." The deaths are in chronological order.
- Comic Book Guy: Shot after refusing to run.
- Blue-Haired Lawyer: Killed after defending Burns.
- Apu: Shot after being discovered hiding in a bush, but is reincarnated as a rabbit. After reincarnation, he gets caught in a bear trap.
- Krusty the Clown: Shot once by Burns, only to begin to tell a joke. He is then shot multiple more times through the chest to keep him from finishing.
- Dr. Julius Hibbert: Flung from a tree by Homer, and then became the first to be shot out of the air by Burns.
- Dr. Nick Riviera: Flung from a tree and shot immediately after Hibbert.
- Lou the Cop: Flung from a tree and shot after Dr. Nick.
- Kirk Van Houten: Flung from a tree, shot and killed after Lou.
- Reverend Lovejoy: Flung from a tree, and then shot after Kirk.
- Kent Brockman: Flung from a tree, and was the last person to be shot out of the air.
- Moe Syzlak: He was flung from the tree along with the others, but Burns missed him. After taunting Burns, he ironically lands on on a weather vane, impaling himself. He still survives, wins the lottery, and is about to leave to cash it in, but Chief Wiggum lands on him, crushing and finally killing him.
- Clancy Wiggum: Falls on a weathervane and dies instantly, crushing Moe.
- Professor Frink: Eaten by Homer, who passes up bananas, saying that they look green.
- Sideshow Mel: Shot by Burns, using machine guns on a plane during a strafing run.
- Mr. Plute: Also shot during the strafing run.
- Groundskeeper Willie: Shot and killed during the strafing run, dying at exactly the same time as Mel and Plute.
- Carl: Shot during the strafing run, but survives until just before Lenny dies.
- Lenny: Shot during the strafing run, but survives long enough to see his idea of heaven.
- Barney: Shot three times through the chest while being used as a diversion by Homer.
Airings
Along with every other Treehouse of Horror episode up to XVI, this episode aired as part of The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Mania.
