Difference between revisions of "It's a Wonderful Life"

Revision as of 12:02, July 16, 2020

It's a Wonderful Life (1946) is a classic Christmas film directed by Frank Capra. The film has become a tradition in the United States television market, being aired annually during the Christmas holiday season.

The film's plot follows the life story of main character George Bailey (played by Jimmy Stewart) as he grows up, marries, has a family, and rises to a position of prominence in his hometown, Bedford Falls, becoming the manager of the local Building & Loan bank. When a large quantity of the bank's money is misplaced and it appears that George is about to lose everything, he laments that he wishes that he had never been born. George's guardian angel, called Clarence, shows George what things would have been like for the town and people of Bedford Falls if George had never existed. George begs to have his real life back, which Clarence grants, and all turns out OK as George's friends donate more than enough money to replace the bank's missing funds and George gains a new appreciation for his life.

It's a Wonderful Life has been referred to several times in The Simpsons: in television episodes, comic books, and video games.

References

Television episodes

Picture	Season	Episode number	Episode name	Reference
	2	15	"Simpson and Delilah"	The scene where Homer runs joyfully through the streets of Springfield after finding that Dimoxinil has restored his hair is a parody of the scene near the end of the film where George Bailey gets his real life back and runs through the streets of Bedford Falls, saying "Hello!" to everyone and everything he meets.
	3	38	"When Flanders Failed"	The scene where everybody gathers around with the Flanders family is a parody of the final scenes of It's a Wonderful Life.
	5	90	"The Last Temptation of Homer"	Homer is visited by an angel disguised as Isaac Newton to show Homer what his life would be like without Marge. In the film, James Stewart's character is visited by an angel to show him what things would have been like for his loved ones and his hometown if he had never existed. The angel in Wonderful Life, however, is Clarence, Angel Second Class, working to get his wings. Newton is not a factor.
250px	6	124	"The PTA Disbands"	The First Bank of Springfield manager who attempts to stop a run on the First Bank of Springfield (caused by one of Bart's pranks) looks and sounds like Jimmy Stewart. His lines as he speaks to the Springfield townspeople are also very similar to George Bailey's as he talks to the Bedford Falls Building & Loan customers. However, where George succeeds in calming the customers and averting the bank run, the Springfieldians misunderstand the bank manager's words and start a riot.
	9	188	"Miracle on Evergreen Terrace"	The scene where the people of Springfield gather at the Simpson home and donate thousands of dollars to replace the Simpsons' lost Christmas presents is a reference to the scene at the end of the film where the people of Bedford Falls gather at the Bailey home and make contributions to replace the money that was lost from George Bailey's bank.
250px	203	"Natural Born Kissers"	Bart and Lisa go on a treasure hunt and dig up a reel of film with a previously unseen alternate happy ending for Casablanca. The Old Jewish Man sees them with the film, says that his studio made it and pays them to re-bury it, along with a reel of film labeled "It's a Wonderful Life (Killing Spree Ending)".
250px	11	235	"Grift of the Magi"	Moe Szyslak gives the Simpsons a plump Christmas goose after having a dream where he saw what the world would be like if he never existed.
250px	19	409	"Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind"	Much of the plotline and imagery are strongly reminiscent of the movie, especially the scene where Homer is on the bridge.
	23	495	"Holidays of Future Passed"	Homer wonders how his life would have turned out if he didn't see the movie.
	25	538	"White Christmas Blues"	It's a Wonderful Knife is a parody of It's a Wonderful Life.
250px	27	596	"Orange Is the New Yellow"	When Homer's friends and neighbors appear bearing assorted foodstuffs (after Marge is sent to prison), it is a callback to the movie's end scene where the Bedford Falls townspeople donate money to replace the bank's missing funds. Homer, waxing emotional, says he's the richest man in town (as Harry Bailey says regarding George); also, the Christmas carol "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" plays briefly in the background, as it does through the scene in the movie.

Comics

Picture	Comic issue	Story name	Reference
	Itchy & Scratchy Comics Holiday Hi-Jinx Special	It's a Wonderful Knife	The story's title is a pun on It's a Wonderful Life.
	Simpsons Comics #47	It's a Wonderful Slice	The movie is punned in the title and parodied throughout the story.

Video games

Picture	Game	Reference
	The Simpsons: Virtual Springfield	It's a Wonderful Belt is a reference to It's a Wonderful Life.

External links

It's a Wonderful Life at Wikipedia

Cultural references

view • talk • edit • past Television
The A-Team • All in the Family • Alvin and the Chipmunks • America's Funniest Home Videos • Animaniacs • Barney & Friends • Battlestar Galactica • Baywatch • Beauty and the Beast • Bewitched • The Big Bang Theory • Black Mirror • Bob's Burgers • The Brady Bunch • Breaking Bad • Charlie's Angels • Cheers • The Critic • CSI • Dallas • Davey and Goliath • DC Comics • Dennis the Menace • Dilbert • Disenchantment • Doctor Who • The Dukes of Hazzard • Family Guy • The Flintstones • Frasier • Futurama • Game of Thrones • Garfield • Gilligan's Island • Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. • Happy Days • The Honeymooners • Gunsmoke • I Dream of Jeannie • I Love Lucy • The Jetsons • King of the Hill • Late Show with David Letterman • Law & Order • The Lone Ranger • Looney Tunes • Lost • Lost in Space • Married... with Children • Marvel • MAS*H • Matlock • Monty Python's Flying Circus • Mork & Mindy • The Munsters • The Muppets • My Little Pony • MythBusters • The Odd Couple • Orange Is the New Black • Peanuts • Pokémon • Popeye • The Powerpuff Girls • The Ren & Stimpy Show • Rick and Morty • The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show • Sailor Moon • Scooby-Doo • Sesame Street • Seinfeld • The Smurfs • The Sopranos • South Park • SpongeBob SquarePants • Stargate • Starsky & Hutch • Star Trek • Stranger Things • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles • Teletubbies • That '70s Show • Thriller • The Tracey Ullman Show • Transformers • The Twilight Zone • The Walking Dead • When Animals Attack! • Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? • The Wonder Years • The X-Files

view • talk • edit • past Films
2001: A Space Odyssey • Alice in Wonderland • Alien • Alvin and the Chipmunks • Apocalypse Now • Avatar • Back to the Future • Beauty and the Beast • Ben-Hur • Das Boot • C.H.U.D. • Charlie's Angels • Casablanca • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory • A Christmas Carol • Citizen Kane • A Clockwork Orange • Close Encounters of the Third Kind • DC Comics • Dial M for Murder • Die Hard • Dracula • The Dukes of Hazzard • The Exorcist • Fantasia • The Fly • Frozen • Garfield • Ghostbusters • The Godfather • Godzilla • Gone with the Wind • Harry Potter • Home Alone • The Hunger Games • Indiana Jones • It's a Wonderful Life • James Bond • Jaws • Jurassic Park • King Kong • Laurel & Hardy • The Lion King • The Little Mermaid • The Little Rascals • The Lone Ranger • Looney Tunes • The Lord of the Rings • MAS*H • Mad Max • Marvel • The Marx Brothers • The Matrix • The Odd Couple • Pirates of the Caribbean • Planet of the Apes • Pokémon • Popeye • Psycho • Pulp Fiction • RoboCop • Saw • Scooby-Doo • The Shawshank Redemption • The Shining • The Silence of the Lambs • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs • The Sound of Music • Soylent Green • SpongeBob SquarePants • Star Trek • Star Wars • A Streetcar Named Desire • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles • Terminator • Thelma & Louise • They Saved Hitler's Brain • The Three Stooges • Thriller • Titanic • Toy Story • Transformers • When Harry Met Sally... • The Wizard of Oz

view • talk • edit • past Video games
Angry Birds • Candy Crush Saga • Donkey Kong • Grand Theft Auto • The Legend of Zelda • Mario • Minecraft • Pokémon

view • talk • edit • past Magazines
Cracked • MAD • The New Yorker • Playboy • Rolling Stone

view • talk • edit • past Books
Alice in Wonderland • Beauty and the Beast • Ben-Hur • The Catcher in the Rye • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory • A Christmas Carol • A Clockwork Orange • Dial M for Murder • Dracula • The Exorcist • Fahrenheit 451 • The Fly • Game of Thrones • The Godfather • Gone with the Wind • Goosebumps • Harry Potter • The Hunger Games • James Bond • Jaws • Jurassic Park • The Little Mermaid • The Lord of the Rings • Moby-Dick • The Old Man and the Sea • Planet of the Apes • Psycho • The Silence of the Lambs • The Shining • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs • A Streetcar Named Desire • The Wizard of Oz

view • talk • edit • past Comics
DC Comics • Dennis the Menace • Dilbert • Garfield • Life in Hell • Marvel • Mary Worth • My Little Pony • Peanuts • Popeye • Sailor Moon • The Smurfs • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles • Tintin • The Walking Dead

view • talk • edit • past Other
Art references • Gilbert and Sullivan • Hindenburg disaster • References in other media