Difference between revisions of "Treehouse of Horror XXIV/References"

Revision as of 23:52, October 20, 2013

Cultural references

• Three of the characters standing on the sidewalk in the opening sequence are:
  • Author H. P. Lovecraft is having coffee with the giant winged and tentacled monster Cthulhu, a reference to perhaps his most famous creation.
  • Edgar Allan Poe, who holds up his arm for the (3-eyed) raven to alight, a reference to Poe's poem The Raven.
  • Ray Bradbury adding tattoos to a tatooed man, a reference to his book The Illustrated Man.
• Among the creatures and characters in the field next to the Simpson's house in the opening sequence are:
  • Two aliens from the 1957 movie Invasion of the Saucer Men.
  • The flying saucer and robot Gort from the 1951 movie The Day the Earth Stood Still, with Gort shooting out a laser beam from his visor.
  • Three of Ray Harryhausen's sword-wielding skeletons from the 1963 movie Jason and the Argonauts.
  • Ray Harryhausen's Ymir from the 1957 movie 20 Million Miles to Earth.
  • The vampire Count Orlok from the 1921 movie Nosferatu.
  • The robot monster from the 1953 movie Robot Monster.
  • The pinhead Schlitzie from Tod Browning's 1932 movie Freaks.
  • "The Man in the Beaver Hat" from the 1927 lost film London After Midnight.
  • Host of TV series The Twilight Zoneand author Rod Serling, smoking a cigarette.
  • The robot from the TV series Lost in Space.
  • Coming out of the ground, a Morlock from the 1960 movie The Time Machine.
  • A line drawing in profile of Alfred Hitchcock as in the beginning of TV series Alfred Hitchcock Presents, being drawn by Hans Moleman
  • The alien from the 1979 movie, Alien.
• "The Fat in the Hat" is a parody of The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss. The segment's title "Oh the Places You'll D'Oh" is a parody of Dr. Seuss's book Oh, the Places You'll Go!. The names, rhyming and anapestic (short-long-short) meter in this segment are true to that of Dr. Seuss's writing.
• The second segment is similar to Futurama's Season 2 episode, "Put Your Head on My Shoulders", when Philip J. Fry is beheaded during a flying car accident in Mercury, and his head is attached to Amy Wong's body. Also is similar to Season 3 episode, "Treehouse of Horror II", at the end of the segment, "Homer's nightmare", but with Mr. Burns head in Homer's body. Also is a reference to such science fiction movies as the 1971 film The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant and the 1972 film The Thing with Two Heads.
• The title of the third vignette, "Freaks No Geeks" is a parody of the name of the televisions series Freaks and Geeks. In addition, geek is the term for a sideshow performer of repulsive acts, such as biting the head off a live chicken.
• The plot and characters of "Freaks No Geeks" are parodies of the 1932 Pre-Code horror film about sideshow performers Freaks. Barney Gumble is a parody of the human torso from that movie. The chorus of "one of us, one of us" comes directly from that movie.
• In the end of the episode Homer says to hid kids: "And that, kids, is how I met your mother" which is a reference to the TV show How I Met Your Mother. The theme tune for the show then plays after he says it.
• Hypnotoad from Futurama appears in the opening sequence.

Trivia

• This will the second time that have a Halloween opening sequence, the first time was in Season 10 episode, "Treehouse of Horror IX".
• So far, this is the earliest broadcast of a Treehouse of Horror episode, having aired on October 6th, 2013.
• This is the first (and only) Treehouse of Horror since "Treehouse of Horror IX" to have a chalkboard gag.
• This episode features the first Halloween themed couch gag since "Treehouse of Horror X".