Treehouse of Horror XXXI/References

General

References/Trivia

Appearances

Credits

Quotes

	Season 32 Episode References
← 687 "Now Museum, Now You Don't"	688 "Treehouse of Horror XXXI"	"The 7 Beer Itch" 689 →

Cultural references

Opening sequence

• Homer asks himself if he should write in Judge Judy.
• Homer remembering what Faye Dunaway did is a reference to the 89th Academy Awards wrong envelope fiasco.
• 50 reasons not to vote Donald Trump are listed:

Made it okay to shoot hibernating bears. Put children in cages. Called Mexicans rapists. Imitated disabled reporter. Looks lousy in a tennis outfit. Can't get wife to hold hand. Called third world countries ****holes. Called Tim Cook 'Tim Apple'. Said Jewish people who vote Democrat are disloyal. Showed top secret documents at Mar-A-Lago restaurant. Called white supremacists 'fine people'. Leaked classified information to Russian ambassador. Asked the president of Ukraine to investigate the Bidens. Called for China to investigate the Bidens. Walked into the dressing room at Miss Teen USA pageant. Pressed the Australian prime minister to help Barr investigate Mueller. Talked about grabbing *****. Lied about the size of his inauguration. Refused to release tax returns. Gutted the E.P.A.. Confiscated and destroyed interpreter's notes after meeting with Putin. Tweeted classified photo of Iran missile site. Called Baltimore a 'disgusting, rat and rodent-infested mess'. Described Meryl Streep as 'over-rated'. Leaked information to the press about the 2017 Manchester arena bombing. Did not attend any White House correspondents' dinner. Said Megyn Kelly had 'blood coming out of her whatever'. Called Carly Fiorina 'horseface'. Ruined impeachment. Brought Ivanka to the G7 summit. Corrupted Congress. Appointed and didn't fire Betsy DeVos. Put Jared in charge of Mideast. Served McDonald's to Clemson football team. Destroyed democracy. Lost Hong Kong. Threatened Marie Yovanovitch. Pulled the U.S. out of climate agreement. Allowed bounties on soldiers. Invaded Portland. Withdrew from W.H.O.. Bragged about knowing the date. Commuted sentences. Said to swallow bleach. Person, woman, man, camera, TV. Destroyed post office. Paid $750 in taxes. Wants third term. Wanted to be on Mount Rushmore. And we haven't even said the worst one.

• Hans Moleman mentions voting for Kanye West.
• RoboCop: In the nightmarish future that results from Homer failing to vote, several ED-209 droids (from the Department of Homeland Security) are seen walking through the ruins of Springfield.
• The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse appear.

Toy Gory

• The title and plot is a parody of Toy Story.
• The songs "You Put a Dent in Me" and "This Is the End of Bart" are a parody of "You've Got a Friend in Me" by Randy Newman.
• Bart's role in this segment is based on that of Sid Phillips, the first film's main antagonist, who is an evil boy who likes to destroy toys. Additionally, much like Sid's toys, Bart's own toys ultimately come to life in front of him so that they can get revenge on him for abusing them.
• Bart's toys are a parody of many other toys:
  • A parody of Thomas the Tank Engine.
  • Stretch Arm-Long is a parody of Stretch Armstrong.
  • A parody of Tickle Me Elmo.
  • A parody of Mr. Potato Head.
  • A parody of Raggedy Ann.
  • A parody of an Etch A Sketch.
• The movie that Ben Mankiewicz presents stars Debbie Reynolds.
• In the next scene, the Pixar lamp appears.
• Bart's toys mutilating him and turning him into a toy is very reminiscent of Cleopatra being mutilated and being turned into a "human duck" at the end of Freaks.
• Dr. Hibbert says "Don't ask, don't Mattel", a reference to the Mattel toys company and the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Into the Homer-verse

• The title and plot is a parody of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
• During the "who ate all the candy?" scene, "Flight of the Bumblebee by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov plays.
• In Homer's imagination, the bullies are dressed as characters:
  • Jimbo Jones is dressed as Jack Sparrow.
  • Kearney Zzyzwicz is dressed as Pinhead.
• Hansel and Gretel are seen in a room, captured by Mr. Burns and Smithers.
• Homer Barbera is a parody of Yogi Bear and a reference to Hanna-Barbera.
  • He calls Homer Boo-Boo, a reference to Boo-Boo Bear.
  • Homer mentions him sounding like Art Carney.
  • He then transforms into blue cat Homer, a parody of Snagglepuss.
  • He transforms then into Cowboy Homer is a parody of Quickdraw McGraw.
  • He says "Heavens to Murgatroyd", which is something Snagglepuss said.
  • When Mr. Burns enter the room at the end, he runs in place like Scooby-Doo, sound effect included.
• Disney Princess Homer, including the crystal shoe and the pumpkin coach, is a parody of Cinderella, and her name is a reference to the Disney Princesses.
• Noir Homer is a parody of Spider-Man Noir.
• 8-Bit Homer is a parody of 8-bit characters from video games.
• Anime Homer appears to be based on Majin Buu from Dragon Ball.
  • In a cut scene, he jumps on a building game, which is the Donkey Kong arcade game. He moves and dies the same way Mario does in the game.
• The 6 Homers sing "Lollipop" by Ronald & Ruby.
• Anime Homer dances with Susuwatari from Studio Ghibli films.
• When Homer was going to strangle Bart, he transforms himself into a Color by dots Homer, Astract art Homer, SpongeBob Homer ("SpongeHomer"), Homer and then into Balloon Homer.
• Lisa mentions Harlan Ellison's law of circular storytelling.
• Alternate Mr. Burns include parodies of:
  • Hunter Van Pelt from Jumanji.
  • Bowser from the Super Mario series.
  • Maleficent.
• Alternate Smithers include Rosie the Robot Maid from The Jetsons.

Be Nine, Rewind

• The title is a parody of the 2008 comedy Be Kind Rewind, while the overall plot of Lisa dying on her birthday and experiencing a time loop is based on the TV series Russian Doll. The song "Gotta Get Up by Harry Nilsson plays throughout the segment, which is also frequently heard in Russian Doll.
• Comic Book Guy looks at his black mirror, then says it's not a reference, referencing Black Mirror.
• Films shown by Comic Book Guy are Groundhog Day, the fourth Star Trek movie, Knock-Knock Joke, and Edge of Tomorrow.
  • He also mentions Tom Cruise, Superman and Batman.

Credits

• Carolyn Omine's credit "Corona Omine" is possibly a reference to "Coronavirus".

Trivia

• This is the third time that The Simpsons is CGI-animated in a "Treehouse of Horror" segment. The first was in "Treehouse of Horror VI" and the second was in "Treehouse of Horror XXVIII".
• When Bart imitates Radioactive Man's voice, he sounds like Nelson Muntz.
• On the Radioactive Man action figure instruction booklet, the production code of the toy is stated as ZABF17, the production code for this episode.
• During the ending credits, a scene from every segment of every past episode of all the "Treehouse of Horror series" is shown. This is mostly to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original Treehouse of Horror.
• This episode was screened virtually exclusively for 500 people who signed up on Decider on October 14, 2020, courtesy of Fox.

Continuity

• Mr. Burns brings a vomiting frog in the room, a reference to Frog Prince. ("Treehouse of Horror XII")

← Season 31 Season 32 References Season 33 →

Undercover Burns • I, Carumbus • Now Museum, Now You Don't • Treehouse of Horror XXXI • The 7 Beer Itch • Podcast News • Three Dreams Denied • The Road to Cincinnati • Sorry Not Sorry • A Springfield Summer Christmas for Christmas • The Dad-Feelings Limited • Diary Queen • Wad Goals • Yokel Hero • Do PizzaBots Dream of Electric Guitars? • Manger Things • Uncut Femmes • Burger Kings • Panic on the Streets of Springfield • Mother and Child Reunion • The Man from G.R.A.M.P.A. • The Last Barfighter