Difference between revisions of "To Courier with Love/References"

Revision as of 14:40, January 4, 2026

Cultural references

• In the "Dawn of Time" segment:
  • There is a Triceratops skull in the cave.
  • Homer's hammock is a saber-toothed tiger pelt.
  • The art Maggie is putting on the wall is one of the Lascaux cave paintings.
• The title of the episode is a reference to the title of the film To Sir, with Love.
  • The film has also been referenced in the title of the episodes "To Surveil with Love" from Season 21 and "To Cur, with Love" from Season 24.
• A V-Twin three-wheeler Morgan vehicle is found by Lisa and Homer in the garage.
• Homer misinterprets the law of Trover. Bart mentions his dad learned about that on Medieval Tomb Robbers, a fictitious program on the History Channel.
• Homer refers to his good luck saying "Fortune favors the bald," a play on the proverb "Fortune favors the bold."
• Homer gives Lisa a Rag doll and Bart a Florida orange. Florida, California, and Texas are the main orange producers in the United States.
• Comedian Jay Leno arrives to the Simpsons' house with his 1973 Citroën DS Pallas.
  • Jay Leno, who buys the car from Homer, is well known as a classic car enthusiast.
  • He later ask Homer for a refund because he buys a modern Toyota.
• There is a poster of Keflavík, a town in southwest Iceland, at the Springfield Travel Agency. The poster, however, has a picture of the Hallgrímskirkja church which is located in Reykjavík.
  • Other items at the agency include a Hong Kong poster, a Big Ben-shaped teapot and a Moai.
• Some magazines seen at the airport store are real-life parodies:
  • Jugs & Ammo is a parody of Guns & Ammo.
  • Peephole is a parody of People.
  • Playdude is a parody of Playboy.
  • Men's Fatness is a parody of Men's Fitness.
• In the flight to Paris, Marge says she has to go to "the Louvre" (the loo).
• The snake Homer finds in his luggage is an "Amazon Blue Constrictor". However, there are no blue boas constrictor in the Amazon region.
• The plane lands at Charles de Gaulle, the largest international airport in France.

Homer rides on a luggage carrier with four Michelin Men

• Homer rides on a luggage carrier with four Michelin Men. He shows them a video of the Springfield Tire Fire, and they react in horror, being made of tires themselves.
• Aquarium by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns is heard when the Simpsons visit the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral.
• In Paris, Lisa is dressed as Madeline, a character from a French book and TV series of the same name.
• The house from Up is seen flying in the sky.
• Homer imagines the Venus de Milo made of rats.

The picture at famous Café des 2 Moulins is a reference to Pepé Le Pew from the Looney Tunes

• Marge, Bart and Maggie go to Café des 2 Moulins, a famous café in Paris.
  • The café has a picture of Pepé Le Pew on the wall.
  • Marge asks Bart to drop the pâté at the back alley. Several starving models steal the plate and enter the "Paris Vogue Week Show".
  • The Paris Vogue Fashion Week is shown. Vogue Paris is a fashion magazine.
  • Runway models, known for being extremely thin, are here shown in side view as being thin as playing cards and they act like playing cards, even riffle shuffling themselves.
• Homer and Lisa have to use the Paris Métro to get to the gardens of the Louvre.
  • The ticket machine was in French and Homer accidentally buys one with Argenteuil as the destination.
• Ugolin and Cesar try to find Homer and Lisa playing Marco Polo.
• Homer mentions Burger King.
• Lisa was amazed when she arrived at Rue des Lombards. This street is famous for hosting three of the main French jazz clubs: Le Baiser Salé, Le Duc des Lombards and the Sunset/Sunside.
  • Homer prefers to be executed in the guillotine rather than visiting the jazz clubs.

The scene at the "Place de la Pointillisme" is drawn in the art technique of Pointillism

• While the jazz piece "It's Been a Long, Long Time" is heard during the night of Paris, Homer and Marge visit the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and Jim Morrison grave site.
  • The scene where Homer and Marge stroll past the "Place de la Pointillisme" is drawn in the art technique of Pointillism, created by French artists.
• Strolling along the Seine with Marge, Homer says "Plastered in Paris, there's no better feeling" a play on plaster of Paris.
• Homer and Marge are next to a statue of Napoleon Bonaparte tells Marge about the briefcase and admits defeat by saying, "Yes, this is my Battle of Essling. Unless Napoleon had a more famous defeat I'm not aware of." where the joke is about not saying the more famous defeat at the Battle of Waterloo.
• Homer, when talking to a policeman, states that "our family is falling apart like your European Union". This is clearly a reference to the Brexit, the British EU Membership Referendum, in which the UK voted to leave the European Union.
• Homer gives Lenny a "French Coca-Cola" and Carl gets a miniature statue of the Empire State Building from Homer's layover in New York City.
• Matt Groening appears at the end as a caveman.

Continuity

• Ugolin and Cesar appear. ("The Crepes of Wrath")
• The Simpson family travels on an Air Springfield airplane. ("Fear of Flying")
• Marge mentions bad journeys of the Simpson family:
  • Australia ("Bart vs. Australia"),
  • Brazil ("Blame It on Lisa", "You Don't Have to Live Like a Referee"),
  • Japan ("Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo"),
  • London ("The Regina Monologues"),
  • China ("Goo Goo Gai Pan"),
  • World's Fair Bart drove to ("Bart on the Road"),
  • That place with the underground jockeys ("Saddlesore Galactica"),
  • Itchy & Scratchy Land ("Itchy & Scratchy Land"),
  • Outer Space ("Deep Space Homer").

Trivia

• The Duff blimp in the couch gag says Season 27 ep. 20, the season and episode number of this episode.
• French versions of Chief Wiggum, Eddie and Lou appear.

Goofs

• Lisa's headphones disappear on the plane.
• At the airport, there's a gate "E33", but there's no "E33" gate on the Charles de Gaulle Airport, the airport used as inspiration for it.
• A poster in the travel agent's office is titled "Kaflavik", but the picture is of the landmark Hallgrímskirkja church in Reykjavík: perhaps knowingly done, as Kaflavik has no landmarks of its own but relates to a word spoken by Professor Frink.
• When the Simpson family arrives at the airport, they are in the departure lounge.
• The plane seating plan is not used on any plane.
• It would be impossible to get a live snake through security.