Grampa's Christmas Origins: Christmas Cards/References

General

References/Trivia

Appearances

Credits

Quotes

Cultural references

A Christmas Carol

• The "origin" portion of the story takes place in the same setting (19th-century London) as A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
• Various Springfieldians have been cast as characters in the story, including:
  • Mr. Burns as Ebenezer Scrooge (called "Burnseneezer Scrooge")
  • Sideshow Bob as Bob Cratchit
  • Waylon Smithers, Jr. as Jacob Marley (called "Smarmley")
  • Nelson, Milhouse, Sherri, Terri and Martin as street urchins whom Scrooge hires to work in his greeting card factory.
• Cratchit mentions his son Gimpy Tom (not seen in the story), a reference to Tiny Tim.
• When Scrooge realizes the moneymaking potential of greeting cards, he calls them "the Ghost of Christmas Future", a reference to the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

Other references

• When Lisa can't reach the mailbox's opening, Bart uses his scarf to snag the handle and pull it open, similar to Linus and his blanket in the Peanuts television special It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
• Scrooge "[builds] a greeting card empire, creating cards for every occasion", smilar to Hallmark Cards.
• The story contains a couple of tongue-in-cheek references to Hallmark's product line including greeting cards for virtually any occasion:
  • Cratchit makes a batch of Boxing Day cards.
  • When he fails to finish the cards on time, Scrooge fires him, informing him of the sacking by giving him a greeting card that reads "So sorry for your loss of gainful employment."

Trivia

• The present-day portion of the story appears to take place in Downtown Springfield, judging by the layout of the street in the background.