Gnaws/References

General

References/Trivia

Appearances

Credits

Quotes

Cultural references

Jaws

• The film is punned in the title and parodied throughout the story.
• Various Springfieldians are cast in the roles of characters from the movie, including:
  • Edna Krabappel as Chrissie Watkins (the girl who is attacked in the film's opening scene)
  • Chief Wiggum as Police Chief Martin Brody
  • Seymour Skinner as Alex Kintner (the boy who is attacked while floating on his inflatable raft)
  • Agnes Skinner as Alex's mother
  • Horatio McCallister (the Sea Captain) as Quint
  • Mayor Quimby as Mayor Vaughan
  • Martha Quimby as the mayor's wife
  • Professor Frink as Matt Hooper
  • Blinky as the shark
• The Sea Captain interrupts the Springfield town meeting and offers to kill Blinky very similarly to how Quint interrupts the Amity town meeting and offers to kill the shark.
• When Wiggum, Frink and the Sea Captain go hunting for Blinky, Wiggum says, "You're going to need a bigger boat", apparently so he and Frink can escape from the sight of the Captain sunbathing in a thong. Wiggum's line echoes "You're gonna need a bigger boat" (a classic line from the movie), which Brody says to Quint after he (Brody) gets a close look at the shark and realizes how big it is.
• Like Quint, the Sea Captain tells of having served on board the USS Indianapolis. However, unlike Quint (who was on board the Indianapolis for its final voyage and sinking), the Sea Captain was beaten by his shipmates in a "blanket party" and was put ashore for medical attention before that trip.
• When Wiggum shoots at the gas grill in the shark's mouth, he says "Smile, you son of a bitch!" echoing Brody's line at the end of the movie.
• The last panel of the story shows Wiggum and Frink paddling to shore with a shark in the water beneath them, ascending toward the surface and seemingly about to attack. This is a sight gag on the franchise's movie posters and merchandise, which often featured the shark in the "rising out of the water" pose.

Miscellaneous

• JDate: After Edna flees into the water to get away from Moe, she says, "Worst. J-Date. Ever!"
• In exchange for killing Blinky, the Sea Captain demands, among other things, a Game Boy.
• When the townspeople bring the fish they have caught to the docks, Comic Book Guy is wearing an Aquaman costume.
• Star Wars:
  • Professor Frink cuts open the "suspect" shark with a lightsaber, as Han Solo does to a Tauntaun in The Empire Strikes Back.
  • Just before he makes the cut, Frink says, "I guess we're about to find out if they smell worse on the inside", referencing Han's line "And I thought they smelled bad on the outside!" after he cuts open the Tauntaun.
• After Blinky attacks Otto, the song playing in Otto's headphones as his severed head sinks to the ocean floor is "Once Bitten, Twice Shy", originally recorded in 1975 by Ian Hunter. The song was later covered by the American hard rock group Great White.
• The Sea Captain's boat, the Orca II, has "die harder" under the name, a reference to Die Hard 2, which is sometimes subtitled "Die Harder".
• As Wiggum boards the Orca II, a dockhand tells him he "packed like a fancy lady crossing the ocean", which could refer to either Mrs. Howell from Gilligan's Island or Rose in the 1997 Titanic movie.
  • On board the Orca II is a life ring that reads "S.S. Titanic". In real life, however, the ship's designation was RMS, for Royal Mail Ship.
• MythBusters: Professor Frink suggests putting something explosive into the fish's mouth and then shooting it with a gun, but then immediately dismisses the idea by saying that it won't work, "but it will look really cool". In the "Jaws Special" episode (airdate July 17, 2005), MythBusters tested several Jaws-related myths, including whether a scuba tank would explode when shot, as depicted in the movie. They concluded that it wouldn't, and added that they had learned that director Steven Spielberg had been aware of that fact, but wrote the scene that way anyway to make a more dramatic ending to the film.
• When Blinky bites the Sea Captain on the leg, the captain laughs and says that his legs are "as wooden as Matthew McConaughey's acting".

Trivia

• Victims of the Blinky attacks include:
  • Edna Krabappel
  • Seymour Skinner
  • Gil Gunderson (possibly; he is last seen falling into the water and the remains that Dr. Nick brings resemble him)
  • Otto Mann
  • The Sea Captain

Continuity

• One of the items the Sea Captain demands as a fee for killing Blinky is a replacement Game Boy for "the one the sea claimed". In the Season 8 episode "In Marge We Trust", Marge tells the Sea Captain that he needs to accept that his Game Boy is gone.
• The Be Sharps: On board the Orca II, Wiggum hears ominous-sounding singing and goes on deck to investigate. He finds Apu, Barney and Homer in a small boat wearing their barbershop quartet attire. Wiggum asks, "Can I rejoin now that Skinner's croaked?", referencing Wiggum's having been kicked out of the group and Skinner's having been killed by Blinky earlier in the story. Homer curtly replies, "We'll call you!"