Treehouse of Horror XVI/References

General

References/Trivia

Appearances

Credits

Quotes

	Season 17 Episode References
← 359 "Milhouse of Sand and Fog"	360 "Treehouse of Horror XVI"	"Marge's Son Poisoning" 361 →

Cultural references

Opening Sequence

• Kang and Kodos wonder if speeding up time will allow the Chicago Cubs to win the World Series, a reference to the team's long-standing championship drought, which lasted from 1908 to 2016.

B.I.: Bartificial Intelligence

• A.I. Artificial Intelligence: Punned in the title and parodied throughout the segment.
• The song featured during Bart's "jealousy" montage is "New Kid in Town" by the Eagles.
• The scene where Bart meets the group of robots in the woods is a spoof of the music video for the song "Rockit" by Herbie Hancock. The walking pair of robot legs were featured in the video.
• The segment concludes with a short parody of The Exorcist, featuring a possessed Homer.

Survival of the Fattest

• The second segment is a parody of The Most Dangerous Game, a 1923 short story by Richard Connell.
• The segment title is a pun on the Darwin-inspired catchphrase, "survival of the fittest".

I've Grown a Costume on Your Face

• The segment's title is a reference to the song "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" from the musical My Fair Lady. It is also an allusion to a song that Bart and Sideshow Bob sing in Bart's room in the Season 14 episode "The Great Louse Detective".
• Television series references:
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer: In the episode "Halloween", most of the residents of Sunnydale don cursed costumes that transform them into what they are dressed as.
  • The classic The Twilight Zone: In the episode "The Masks," four greedy heirs are turned into monsters by the hideous masks each wears at their benefactor's behest.
  • The Fairly OddParents: In the episode "Scary GodParents," Timmy wishes that everybody's Halloween costumes were real.
• After all of Springfield's citizens are turned into real-life versions of their costumes, Mayor Quimby as Mayor McCheese says, "I am not a happy meal right now" as dogs lick at him, a reference to McDonald's Happy Meals.
• At the end of the segment, Maggie the witch flies up to the moon, accompanied by the theme music of Bewitched, in a scene very similar to the TV series' title animation.

Trivia

• "I've Grown a Costume on Your Face" is similar to an issue of the Simpsons Comics Bartman, in which an Itchy and Scratchy brought to life through alien technology create a nuclear explosion which turns the Simpsons into costumed superheroes.
• This is the first Treehouse of Horror episode to not be the premiere of its season since "Treehouse of Horror X".
• This is the only Simpson episode where God's face is completely shown (in the opening).

Costumes in "I've Grown a Costume on Your Face"

• Homer Simpson: a decapitated man
• Marge Simpson: a skeleton with a human head
• Bart Simpson: a Eddie Munster
• Lisa Simpson: Albert Einstein
• Maggie Simpson: a witch
• Martin Prince: Oberon, king of the fairies, from A Midsummer's Night Dream
• Groundskeeper Willie: a bug spray can
• Hans Moleman: a mole, even though he didn't dress as one
• Apu Nahasapeemapetilon: R2-D2
• Dr. Hibbert: Dracula (mistaken for Blacula by Mayor Quimby)
• Milhouse Van Houten: a bulldozer
• Kirk Van Houten: A circus strong man
• Ned Flanders: a flower (which looks somewhat like Bob the Angry Flower)
• Nelson Muntz: the Lone Ranger, but everyone (including the witch) thinks he is a raccoon
• Mayor Quimby: Cheesy McMayor
• Mayor Quimby's bodyguard: A cat
• Abraham Simpson: a gorilla
• Sideshow Mel: Spider-Man
• Chief Wiggum: Jared Fogle
• Eddie and Lou: Musketeers
• Horatio McCallister: Poseidon (interestingly, Poseidon was portrayed as the Sea Captain in "Tales from the Public Domain")
• Edna Krabappel: A snake
• Lenny Leonard: prison inmate
• Carl Carlson: mummy
• Principal Skinner: G.I. Joe
• Agnes Skinner: Southern belle
• Patty: horse's front
• Selma: horse's back
• Gil: a ghost
• Barney Gumble: Frankenstein's monster
• Moe Szyslak: Hugh Hefner
• Disco Stu: Steve Martin with an arrow through the head
• Jasper Beardsley: Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz
• Luigi: a tiered cake
• Sherri and Terri: Tweedledum and Tweedledee from the Alice in Wonderland sequel Alice Through The Looking Glass.
• Squeaky-voiced teen: Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz
• Professor Frink: Caveman
• Bumblebee Man: Bumblebee
• Old Jewish man: His brother Irving

• Other costumes include an Imperial Scout Trooper, an astronaut, a football player, a Native American.

Deaths in "Survival of the Fattest"

These are the people whom Mr. Burns massacres in the segment "Survival of the Fattest." The deaths are in chronological order.

• Comic Book Guy: Shot after refusing to run.
• Blue-haired lawyer: Killed after defending Burns.
• Apu: Shot after being discovered hiding in a bush, but is reincarnated as a rabbit. After reincarnation, he gets caught in a bear trap.
• Krusty the Clown: Shot once by Burns, only to begin to tell a joke. He is then shot multiple more times through the chest to keep him from finishing.
• Dr. Julius Hibbert: Flung from a tree by Homer, and then became the first to be shot out of the air by Burns.
• Dr. Nick Riviera: Flung from a tree and shot immediately after Hibbert.
• Lou the Cop: Flung from a tree and shot after Dr. Nick.
• Kirk Van Houten: Flung from a tree, shot and killed after Lou.
• The Yes Guy: Flung from a tree, and then shot after Kirk.
• Kent Brockman: Flung from a tree, and was the last person to be shot out of the air.
• Moe Syzlak: He was flung from the tree along with the others, but Burns missed him. After taunting Burns, he ironically lands on on a weather vane, impaling himself. He still survives, wins the lottery, and is about to leave to cash it in, but Chief Wiggum lands on him, crushing and finally killing him.
• Clancy Wiggum: Falls on a weathervane and dies instantly, crushing Moe.
• Professor Frink: Eaten by Homer, who passes up bananas, saying that they look green.
• Sideshow Mel: Shot by Burns, using machine guns on a plane during a strafing run.
• Dewey Largo: Also shot during the strafing run.
• Groundskeeper Willie: Shot and killed during the strafing run, dying at exactly the same time as Mel and Plute.
• Carl: Shot during the strafing run, but survives until just before Lenny dies.
• Lenny: Shot during the strafing run, but survives long enough to see his idea of heaven.
• Barney: Shot three times through the chest while being used as a diversion by Homer.

Continuity

Survival of the Fattest

• Marge reminds Bart of when he killed a bird ("Bart the Mother").

← Season 16 Season 17 References Season 18 →

The Bonfire of the Manatees • The Girl Who Slept Too Little • Milhouse of Sand and Fog • Treehouse of Horror XVI • Marge's Son Poisoning • See Homer Run • The Last of the Red Hat Mamas • The Italian Bob • Simpsons Christmas Stories • Homer's Paternity Coot • We're on the Road to D'ohwhere • My Fair Laddy • The Seemingly Never-Ending Story • Bart Has Two Mommies • Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife • Million-Dollar Abie • Kiss Kiss Bang Bangalore • The Wettest Stories Ever Told • Girls Just Want to Have Sums • Regarding Margie • The Monkey Suit • Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play