Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo/References
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"Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo"
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Cultural references[edit]
- The episode title is a pun on the 1944 film Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, which was based on the true story of the Doolittle Raid.
- Marge comments that Homer liked the film Rashomon. Homer's response "That's not how I remember it" is a reference to how the film is told from the point of view of multiple characters who each have different memories of an event.
- Jim Belushi's airplane appearance saying "tooga, tooga ... 2000!" is a quote from the movie Animal House with John Belushi.
- Whilst in the hotel, Bart watches an anime called Battling Seizure Robots, which features a robot with its eyes flashing so quickly that it triggers seizures in Bart, and subsequently the rest of the family (except initially Homer). This is based on a 1997 Pokémon episode, "Dennō Senshi Porygon" ("Computer Soldier Porygon"), in which a scene with rapid lighting flashes caused about 700 people in Japan to go to hospital with seizure-like symptoms. The shot of the robot with its flashing eyes is reused throughout the entire closing credit sequence.
- In the restaurant, when Homer says "I once knew a man from Nantucket" it is a reference to the famous ribald limerick that begins with the same line.
- While Japanese game shows are not nearly as sadistic as portrayed in this episode, they have been known for having contestants participate in off-the-wall events, such as men testing their strength by squeezing oranges with their bare hands and seeing how much juice they can squeeze into a cup.
- When Barney is caught impersonating Homer, he tries to cover by quickly saying some of Homer's catchphrases. In the process, he says, "That boy ain't right," a common saying of Hank Hill on King of the Hill.
- Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra and Gamera appear at the end.
- This episode was banned in Japan due to scenes that are considered offensive to Japanese culture. The episode is also not included in the Japanese version of the season 10 DVD and is unavailable on Disney+ Japan. It was also initially banned in South Korea due to its rocky history with Japan in the first half of the 20th century, although it eventually aired there in 2007. Scenes resulting in the ban include:
- The scene regarding the Hello Kitty factory, due to the implication that the various Hello Kitty products were created by burning various cats alive.
- The seizure-causing Battling Seizure Robots parody of the aforementioned Pokémon episode.
- Homer tossing the Emperor of Japan into a sumo thong Dumpster and declaring himself "Emperor Clobbersaurus" before getting arrested, and the Japanese game show sequence).
- The soundbyte of Homer's shock at investing in Fox's News Corp (*Screams* UNDO!! UNDO!! Ohh...) is replayed over the 20th Century Fox Television logo in place of the usual fanfare.
- Text on the picture behind the toilet in the hotel is モスラ (Mothra), referring to the character from the Godzilla franchise.
Continuity[edit]
- Americatown does not have tables for Delaware and Connecticut.
- When Database is at The Java Server, he is using a gray computer but in the next scene he is using an orange computer, then he is using a gray computer again.
- Marge drops one of her shoes into the volcano but in the next scene when the entire family plummets down, her shoe is back on.
- Bart's mouth does not move right to his saying of "These prices suck. 10,000 Yen for coleslaw?"
- When the international flights are shown, one of the cities is Honolulu. Honolulu is the capital of Hawaii, a USA state - it should be a domestic flight, not an international flight.
- Either Rodan or Mothra has Gabara's roar.
