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

Revision as of 16:00, October 31, 2013

Cultural references

Opening sequence

• The characters standing on the sidewalk 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 tattooed man, a reference to his book The Illustrated Man.
  • Fantasy and science fiction author Richard Matheson standing next to a hooded, cloaked figure wearing dark glasses, a zombie from the 1971 movie The Omega Man, based on Matheson's novel I Am Legend.
• Among the creatures and characters in the field next to the Simpsons' house 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, which could also reference Pepper from American Horror Story: Asylum.
  • "The Man in the Beaver Hat" from the 1927 lost film London After Midnight.
  • Rod Serling, author and host of the TV series The Twilight Zone, 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.
• Guillermo del Toro references:
  • Mr. Burns is re-imagined as the Pale Man from Guillermo del Toro's Oscar-winning "Pan's Labyrinth", who ends up eating the unfortunate pixie Smithers.
    • The family also later recreates the final scene of the film during the couch gag.
  • Maggie rides on the grocery checkout belt with scarabs from del Toro's first film, "Cronos"
  • del Toro's second film, "Mimic", is referenced, with Marge as the giant cockroach.
  • Homer is a pale-skinned ghost with a smoking head from "The Devil's Backbone"
• Others:
  • The Universal monsters (Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, the Wolf Man, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Mummy, the Bride of Frankenstein, the Invisible Man, and the alien from "This Island Earth") chase after the mob from "Frankenstein"
  • Hypnotoad from Futurama makes an appearance.
  • Matt Groening's original designs for the Simpson family from "The Tracey Ullman Show" are buried underground, as well as the skeleton of Godzilla.
  • Lisa falls down the rabbit hole a la "Alice in Wonderland"
  • Maggie terrorizes Milhouse behind the wheel of the evil 1971 Lincoln Continental Mark III from "The Car".

"Oh The Places You’ll D’oh"

• "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.

"Dead and Shoulders"

• The title of the second segment, "Dead and Shoulders" is a reference to the shampoo brand Head & Shoulders.
• The second segment is similar to the Futurama 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. It is also similar to the ending of the segment "Homer's Nightmare" in "Treehouse of Horror II" where Mr. Burns' head ends up attached to Homer's body. It 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.

"Freaks no Geeks"

• The title of the third vignette, "Freaks No Geeks" is a pun of the title of the TV 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 Freaks, a 1932 Pre-Code horror film about sideshow performers. 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 his 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.

Trivia

• This is the second Treehouse of Horror episode to have a Halloween-themed opening sequence. The first was "Treehouse of Horror IX" in Season 10.
• With an airdate of October 6, 2013, "Treehouse of Horror XXIV" is so far the Treehouse of Horror episode that has aired the earliest in the calendar year.
• This is the first (and only) Treehouse of Horror episode since "Treehouse of Horror IX" to have a chalkboard gag.
• This episode features the first Halloween-themed couch gag since "Treehouse of Horror X".