Diggs/References

General

References/Trivia

Appearances

Gags

Credits

Quotes

	Season 25 Episode References
← 541 "Specs and the City"	542 "Diggs"	"The Man Who Grew Too Much" 543 →

Cultural references

• The episode parodies some elements from the 1951 American coming-of-age novel The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, such as Bart having a similar emotional role to that of Holden Caulfield, feeling that adults do not understand what matters in a similar way Holden feels adults are "phony", or feeling alienated at school the way Holden feels alienated from everyone.
  • The episode, however, has more direct allusions to the 1959 coming-of-age novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles. Particularly:
    • Diggs' leap off of the tree branch, an analogy to Finny's fall in the novel.
    • Brinker Hadley's signature on Diggs' cast, one of the main characters from the novel.
    • Diggs's mental breakdown, as that of the loner and outsider Leper Lepellier.

The episode's couch gag by French animator Sylvain Chomet includes several references to France, such as the famous portrait of former president François Hollande by Raymond Depardon.

• The episode's couch gag was created by French comic writer, animator, and film director Sylvain Chomet:
  • The setting and music are based on those of the 2003 animated adventure comedy-drama The Triplets of Belleville. The film, also created by Chomet, was highly praised and nominated for two Academy Awards.
  • Bart uses a "DIY goose liver pate", referencing the Pâté de Foie Gras, a delicacy in French cuisine.
  • Homer eats a bucket of snails, referencing escargot.
  • Art pieces include:
    • A picture of the ship France sinking in the style of Untergang der Titanic by Willy Stöwer.
    • The portrait by Raymond Depardon of former French president François Hollande.
• Reverend Lovejoy is talking about the ancient Kingdom of Moab during his sermon.
• The Protestant minister from Indonesia, Reverend Kartawijaya, accidentally prays for Allah. This is a reference to Indonesia being the country with the largest Muslim population in the world.
• During a video call, Milhouse tells Bart that "there really was a Duncan Hines". He is referring to Duncan Hines, an American author and food critic who produced restaurant ratings for travelers. Milhouse also shows Bart a box of Duncan Hines cake mix.
• A boy in a devil disguise takes the role of Mr. Applegate in a school play on Damn Yankees, the 1955 musical comedy.
• Martin gives Bart a St. John's wort plant to eat in exchange for money.
• Diggs says that Bart is the reason that he had to dissect a Muppet in biology instead of a frog.
• The song that plays during the showing of the Montessori School is "Flower Duet" by Léo Delibes, from the opera Lakmé.
• Diggs uses the Latin phrase Habemus papam to tell whether Bart is accepted in the falconry club.
• Skinner speaks Esperanto.
• Homer mentions the American rock band Journey when he projects his own teenage years onto Bart.
• The song playing while Bart and Diggs are having fun is "Come Saturday Morning" by The Sandpipers.
  • The song is heard again when Bart takes care of Freedom.
• The poem that Diggs quotes while Bart and Diggs sit in the tree is "The Windhover" by Gerard Manley Hopkins.
  • He quotes the poem again later in the episode when the falcons are released.
• Abe thinks of his time in the Korean War when Freedom is massaging his head.
• Homer is watching a football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Atlanta Falcons.

The names on Diggs' cast reference well-known intellectual and pop-culture figures such as Alan Turing or even The Simpsons former writer John Swartzwelder.

• The names on Diggs's cast are:
  • Phineas Fogg, most likely intended to be Phileas Fogg from Around the World in Eighty Days.
  • Oedipa Maas and Dr. Hilarius from The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon.
  • Allan Quatermain from King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard.
  • Professor T. W. Mangrove, a reference to Raymond Luxury-Yacht from Monty Python's Flying Circus. In the sketch, Raymond Luxury-Yacht is pronounced "Throatwobbler Mangrove" according to Raymond himself.
  • Alan Turing, inventor of the Turing Machine.
  • The TARDIS and Dalek #7 from Doctor Who.
  • Brinker Hadley from A Separate Peace.
  • Clare Quilty from Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov.
  • William Wharton, the American author best known for his first novel Birdy.
  • Kilgore Trout, a fictional character created by writer Kurt Vonnegut.
  • Cthulhu, the fictional cosmic entity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft.
  • Stephen Dedalus, James Joyce's literary alter ego.
  • Major T. J. "King" Kong from Dr. Strangelove.
  • John Swartzwelder, former writer, producer, and consultant for The Simpsons.
• Diggs compares Bart to the Greek philosopher Diogenes, and also alludes to the lamp Diogenes was known to wander with at the marketplace in Athens.
• Marge says the mental hospital Diggs is staying at is an Arkham Asylum type of place, referencing Arkham Asylum from the DC Comics.
• Diggs mentions the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5).
• Comic Book Guy is dressed in a Star Trek uniform next to a woman dressed as Marta, the female Orion.
• Diggs says that he's a messed-up kid, not Magneto from Marvel Comics.

Trivia

• The brand of the TV, "BoyleHendry", refers to animator Neil Boyle and compositor Kirk Hendry, who participated in the making of the couch gag.
• Skinner speaks Esperanto. The sentences he says are "Is the Esperanto Society far behind?" and "It's true. I'm very lonely."

Continuity

• Bart once again displays his ability to swallow various inedible objects. ("They Saved Lisa's Brain")