The Time Bandit!/References

General

References/Trivia

Appearances

Credits

Quotes

Cultural references

• The story's title is a reference to the 1981 film Time Bandits.
  • Bart decides to steal some items from the past to use for personal gain, similar to the film's plot.
• The story's plotline is largely a parody of Back to the Future.
• Professor Frink's time machine resembles the one from the H. G. Wells sci-fi novel The Time Machine.
  • Also like the Wells machine, Frink's time machine travels through time while remaining in the same physical location.
• Frink's time machine uses Aqua Shell hairspray for fuel, a reference to Aqua Net hairspray which was popular in the 1960s and 1980s when "big hair" was in style.
  • When Frink refuels the time machine, he uses a purple spray can in a color similar to Aqua Net cans.
• Bart rides to town on a cow and says, "Hiyo, Bessie! Away!", a reference to the Lone Ranger.
• While in the past, Bart sees a copy of the first issue of Justice Cartel of Earth, a reference to the Justice League of America from DC Comics.
• Young Homer says he copied the material in his joke book from Mad magazine.
  • One of the jokes is a song about the generation gap sung to the tune of "Ol' Man River".

Continuity

Many present-day residents and locations of Springfield are seen in the past and reference made to their destinies, sometimes ironically:

• The store at the future location of The Android's Dungeon & Baseball Card Shop is called The Bard's Gallows, a bookstore that specializes in classic literature and has just branched out into selling comic books.
• Bart's identification of a then-current comic book as a classic prompts Comic Book Guy to become interested in comic books.
• The future location of Moe's Tavern is the Bible Reading Room and Soda Shop, and the proprietor is Ned Flanders.
• Mr. Burns has used atomic radiation to create a giant kumquat, which is attracting tourists. Burns says the next step in his plan is to build a nuclear power plant to encourage people to move to Springfield.
• Abe and Jasper walk by Springfield Retirement Castle and say they'll never end up living there.
• In the past, Joe Quimby is class president in Marge and Homer's class at Springfield Elementary School.
• Clancy Wiggum is a school crossing guard.
• Waylon Smithers breaks up with Selma Bouvier. Selma, outraged, tells him that if he doesn't like her, he must not like girls at all.
• Bart collides with Mr. Burns and Waylon helps him back to his feet. Burns, impressed with Waylon's helpfulness, hires him on the spot as an intern at the power plant.
• Needing more speed to make his getaway, Bart steals a skateboard from toddler Snake. When Snake sees Bart getting away, he decides that "Crime does pay!"
• Bart's theft of Marge's diary and Homer's joke book prompts them to talk to each other for the first time and become friends.
• A young Jonathan Frink witnesses the departure of the time machine and realizes that time travel is possible.