The Matrix is a science fiction / action multimedia franchise created by The Wachowskis. It is set in a future where intelligent machines have taken over the world, imprisoned the vast majority of human beings in pods and harnessed them for their bioelectricity. To keep the humans under control, the machines project into their minds a vast and detailed simulated reality program, called the Matrix. The franchise tells the story of a group of people who have been freed from the Matrix and are fighting against the machines.
The franchise began with the original movie, The Matrix, which came out in 1999. The movie was notable for its ground-breaking special effects: particularly, the "bullet time" effect, in which the action freezes while the camera pans around the subject. A classic example occurs in the movie's opening scene, where Trinity fights the police officers who are trying to capture her.
The Matrix was followed by two sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, in 2003. The franchise has also spawned video games, comic books, and animated short films which expand on the storyline from the movies. A third sequel, The Matrix Resurrections, was released in December 2021.
The Matrix has been referenced several times in the Simpsons universe: in television episodes, comics and video games.
References[edit]
Episodes[edit]
| Picture
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Season
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Episode number
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Episode name
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Reference
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12
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251
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"Insane Clown Poppy"
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In the couch gag, the family enter the living room in bullet time. They freeze in mid-air while the camera pans around them, then take their seats on the couch.
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252
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"Lisa the Tree Hugger"
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Music from the movie's soundtrack plays during the montage of scenes where Bart delivers the menus for You Thai Now. When he is in the apartment building, the bullet time effect is seen when he first enters the hallway. As he hangs the menus from the doorknobs, he runs along the wall as Neo and Trinity do in the lobby fight scene.
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262
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"New Kids on the Blecch"
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When the Party Posse lament that they need the ultimate chill-out song (to defuse a tense situation), 'N Sync appear and give them a song and demonstrate a series of dance moves to go with it. For the last move, "and close with a Matrix", all five members leap into the air in bullet time, freezing in mid-air. Chris Kirkpatrick, however, can't hold the "freeze" pose and quickly falls down.
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13
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274
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"The Blunder Years"
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The bullet time couch gag appears again.
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285
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"Weekend at Burnsie's"
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Homer extols the benefits of medical marijuana, saying that it can make things fabulous, "whether you suffer from glaucoma or you just rented The Matrix".
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15
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327
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"The Ziff Who Came to Dinner"
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Two of the upcoming movies at Springfield Googolplex Theatres are A Matrix Christmas and You're in the Matrix, Charlie Brown.
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330
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"My Big Fat Geek Wedding"
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One of the attendees at the Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi-Con is dressed as Neo.
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16
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350
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"Future-Drama"
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When Professor Frink turns on his machine to show Bart and Lisa their future, the monitor is showing a screensaver with a green-on-black waterfall display like the ones seen in the Matrix movies.
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18
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387
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"Kill Gil, Volumes I & II"
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One of the characters in the ice show is "Matrix Poochie". He is costumed as Neo and enters the rink bent over backwards, similar to Neo when he fights the agent on the roof.
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20
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440
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"Four Great Women and a Manicure"
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During the Macbeth parody segment, actor Homer forgets his lines and starts reading from scripts concealed on his person, trying to find the right line. He reads, "Dammit, Morpheus! Not everyone believes what you believe." Patty quickly catches him out, however, and identifies the quote as being from The Matrix Reloaded.
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26
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562
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"The Man Who Came to Be Dinner"
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The Rigellian resistance live in a large underground cavern and enjoy celebrating with dancing and loud music, similar to the "Zion Dance Party" scene in The Matrix Reloaded.
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30
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652
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"I'm Dancing as Fat as I Can"
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When Ted Sarandos appears and tells Homer that Marge likes dance shows, his head is floating in front of a green-on-black waterfall display, similar to the ones seen in the films.
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36
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757
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"It's a Blunderful Life"
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Comic Book Guy calls the latest Matrix movie 'very disappointing' in a spoken 'tweet' due to lack of internet, asking people to take not the red pill nor the blue pill.
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Video Games[edit]
| Account
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Date
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Tweet
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| HomerJSimpson
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February 2, 2014
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That amazing commercial with Morpheus was so memorable! They sure got their money's worth! What was it advertising, though?
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Common cast and crew[edit]
| Picture
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Name
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Role in The Matrix franchise
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Role on The Simpsons
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Al Arthur
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Worked as an effects animator on The Matrix.
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Worked on the computer-animated sequences of the "Homer3" segment of "Treehouse of Horror VI"; received a technical director credit for the episode.
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External links[edit]
