Difference between revisions of "The Shining"

Latest revision as of 07:46, February 16, 2026

Not to be confused with the segment of "Treehouse of Horror V", The Shinning.

The Shining is a 1977 horror novel written by Stephen King that spawned a 1980 film directed by Stanley Kubrick. Both the novel and the film have been parodied and referred to on The Simpsons.

The Shining was also made into a television miniseries which aired in 1997. However, the miniseries has not been referenced on The Simpsons, except for plot elements which it has in common with the novel and/or the 1980 film.

References to The Shining in The Simpsons[edit]

Episodes[edit]

Picture Season Episode number Episode name Reference 2 16 "Treehouse of Horror" In the "Bad Dream House" segment, the house drives the Simpson family members to try to kill each other with knives, similar to the Overlook Hotel's influence on Jack Torrance. 4 73 "Brother from the Same Planet" During the scene where Homer is trying to remember to pick up Bart from soccer practice, Milhouse writes "TRAB PU KCIP" ("Pick up Bart" backwards) on the wall and then says it, a reference to Danny Torrance writing and saying "REDRUM". 5 90 "The Last Temptation of Homer" During the chalkboard gag, Bart repeatedly writes "All work and no play makes Bart a dull boy", similar to Jack Torrance's repeatedly typing "All work and no play make Jack a dull boy" in the movie. 94 "Homer and Apu" At the Monstromart, Barney accidentally knocks over a display of cranberry juice bottles, creating a tide of cranberry juice that rushes down the aisle, similar to the scene in the movie with the blood pouring out of the elevator. 101 "The Boy Who Knew Too Much" Otto picks up the kids in a prison bus. When Bart asks about it, Otto snaps, "The regular school bus broke down, so take a seat before I blow your heads off!" However, he then quickly apologizes and explains, "This bus and I have sort of a Shining thing going on", referencing the effect the Overlook has on Jack. 6 109 "Treehouse of Horror V" "The Shinning" - The movie is punned in the title and parodied throughout the segment, with Homer in a role similar to Jack. Groundskeeper Willie and Moe are parallels of the characters Dick Halloran and Lloyd the bartender, respectively. Maggie spells "REDRUM" with her blocks when Homer tries to watch the TV. Analogous to Jack Torrance endlessly typing "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", Homer writes "No TV and no beer make Homer go crazy" all over the walls. The only thing Homer types is "Feelin' fine", which briefly reassures Marge, until a lightning flash reveals the writing on the walls. After Marge discovers that Homer has written "No TV and no beer make Homer go crazy" all over the walls, Homer bursts through a door, scaring her, and asks what she thinks of his book. In The Shining, Jack sneaks up on Wendy and asks her what she thinks of his play. Homer does a "Heeeere's Johnny!" scene similar to Jack Torrance, but Homer breaks into two wrong rooms before finding the family. Marge defends herself from Homer with a bat and later locks Homer in a dry food cellar, similar to what Wendy does to Jack. In each segment, the episode features a recurring gag where Groundskeeper Willie is hit in the back with an axe when he tries to help someone, a reference to the scene in the 1980 film where Jack Torrance hits Dick Hallorann with an axe when Dick arrives to help Wendy and Danny. "The Shinning" - Willie is hit by Homer after Homer goes mad and Willie attempts to come to the rescue of the rest of the family. "Time and Punishment" - Willie is hit by Maggie when he says he can help Homer get back to his own time. Maggie then says to Homer, "This is indeed a disturbing universe", in James Earl Jones's voice. "Nightmare Cafeteria" - Willie is hit by Principal Skinner when he tries to save Bart, Lisa and Milhouse from being eaten by the teachers. This time after Willie is hit, he says, "Ach, I'm bad at this." 7 134 "Treehouse of Horror VI" In the opening credits, producer Richard Sakai's name appears as "Redrum Richard Sakai". 8 163 "The Springfield Files" The line "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" appears repeatedly across the screen at one point. 9 187 "Realty Bites" Todd Flanders repeatedly says "Red room" after the Flanders family move into the Murder House, similar to Danny Torrance saying "redrum" after the Torrances move into the Overlook. Todd also bends his finger in the same way that Danny does when he (Danny) talks with "Tony". 10 207 "Treehouse of Horror IX" Homer knocks a hole in the door with the mallet, like Jack Torrance with the axe. 11 229 "Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner?" When Homer writes his first restaurant review, he has a hard time getting to 500 words, so he pads it out by typing the phrase "Screw Flanders" over and over again at the end (much to the editor's consternation), similar to Jack Torrance repeatedly typing "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". 243 "Bart to the Future" Bart talks with Billy Carter's ghost at a bar in Camp David, similar to the scene with Jack Torrance and Lloyd the bartender at the Overlook. 12 251 "Insane Clown Poppy" The novel is seen at Stephen King's stand at the Festival of Books in Springfield. 13 270 "Treehouse of Horror XII" When Homer attacks the water softener with an axe in the "House of Whacks" segment, his movements and demeanor are reminiscent of Jack Torrance breaking through the bathroom door with an axe in the movie. 23 502 "How I Wet Your Mother" In Homer's dream, Robin Williams says that Stanley Kubrick wanted him to star in The Shining. 25 532 "Treehouse of Horror XXIV" In the chalkboard gag, Bart writes "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", then turns to see a maniacally-grinning Stephen King, who has written the same thing all over the classroom walls (a reference both to The Shining and to the show's parody of it in "Treehouse of Horror V"). 28 600 "Treehouse of Horror XXVII" In the end credits, Dan Castellaneta is credited as "Heeeere's DANNY!". 29 625 "Haw-Haw Land" Homer says the STEM Conference hotel bar is beautiful, just like the one in The Shining. 30 643 "Treehouse of Horror XXIX" Megan Amram is credited as "Megan Redrum". 658 "Girl's in the Band" During the scene where Homer starts hallucinating and dancing with a radiation suit, thinking that he's in a ballroom: The music playing is Midnight, the Stars and You by Harry M. Woods, Jimmy Campbell and Reg Connelly, which is heard during the ballroom scene and closing scene of the 1980 film. Lloyd the bartender tells Homer that his family is becoming a problem and he needs to kill them, the same as Lloyd with Jack Torrance. After Homer returns to reality, a crazed-looking man with an axe walks by saying, "I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm just gonna bash your brains in." In the film, Jack says the same thing to Wendy during the staircase scene. 31 666 "Treehouse of Horror XXX" In the opening credits, co-executive producer Dan Vebber is credited as "Come Play With Us, Danny Vebber". Homer puts up a poster for Nemo on Maggie's bedroom wall, then sees it reflected in the mirror saying "Omen". Homer panics then puts a poster for Racecar over the Nemo poster. He then looks in the mirror again and sees that it says "racecar" backwards and panics because it's a palindrome. This is a reference to the "REDRUM" scene. In the closing credits, Dan Castellaneta's screen credit reads "Danny's Not Here, Mrs. Torrance". 34 733 "Not It" One of the ideas for schemes to destroy Earth that Kang and Kodos got from Stephen King books was a haunted hotel from The Shining. 734 "Treehouse of Horror XXXIII" Dan Castellaneta's starring credit is "All work and no play makes Dan a dull boy." 35 755 "Treehouse of Horror XXXIV" Jeff Westbrook's writer credit "A Guest of the Overlook" is a reference to the Overlook Hotel. Tom Klein's credit is "The Kleining". 36 773 "Treehouse of Horror XXXV" The mirror at Moe's has "REDRUM" written on it, referencing the iconic "REDRUM" scene from The Shining.

Video games[edit]

Picture Game Reference The Simpsons: Tapped Out During Treehouse of Horror XXV, Sherri & Terri's Trick-Or-Treat costume is of Grady's twin daughters. In the "The Kids Are All Fight" episode tie-in, Bart mentions that the clown bed is scarier than The Shining.

Common cast and crew[edit]

Cast[edit]

Picture Name Role in The Shining Role on The Simpsons Elliott Gould Played Stuart Ullman (manager of the Overlook) in the miniseries. Voiced himself in the Season 14 episode "The Dad Who Knew Too Little"; was also interviewed in The Simpsons: Celebrity Friends, The Simpsons: Mischief & Mayhem, and The Simpsons: Access All Areas. Stephen King Author of the novel; played the orchestra conductor in the miniseries. Voiced himself in the Season 12 episode "Insane Clown Poppy". Steven Weber Played Jack Torrance in the miniseries. Voiced Neil in the Season 9 episode "King of the Hill".

Crew[edit]

Picture Name Role in The Shining Role on The Simpsons Ron Evans Dialogue editor in the miniseries. Production mixer for 30 episodes in Seasons 21 through 23. Michael Jay Music editor in the miniseries. Additional music editor in The Simpsons Movie. Paul Webster Wrote the lyrics for the song "Masquerade", which Jack hears coming from the Overlook's ballroom in the film. Co-composer of the "Spider-Man" theme song, which was parodied as "Spider-Pig" in The Simpsons Movie and in the Season 28 episode "Pork and Burns".

External links[edit]

• The Shining (novel) at Wikipedia
• The Shining (film) at Wikipedia
• The Shining (TV miniseries) at Wikipedia