The Boy Who Knew Too Much/References

General

References/Trivia

Appearances

Gags

Credits

Quotes

	Season 5 Episode References
← 100 "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song"	101 "The Boy Who Knew Too Much"	"Lady Bouvier's Lover" 102 →

Trivia

• Matt Groening is the court-appointed artist.
• When Bart is running away from Principal Skinner, one of the scenes is of Bart running down a hill, which was reused from the Season 4 premiere "Kamp Krusty".
• This is the first episode to feature Bart's "Li'l Bastard" prank kit. Here he uses the "Li'l Bastard Clock-Tampering Kit".
• There is "El Barto" graffiti outside the courthouse.
• The sign outside Quimby's house reads: "Thursday Is Ladies' Night"
• The lawyer who represents Freddy is similar to the Blue-haired lawyer.

Cultural references

• The title is a reference to the Alfred Hitchcock film The Man Who Knew Too Much.
  • The film title was also punned in the episodes "The Girl Who Slept Too Little", "The Dad Who Knew Too Little" and "The Man Who Grew Too Much".
• More similarities between Rainier Wolfcastle and the man on which he is based, Arnold Schwarzenegger, are revealed in this episode, including:
  • Both have wives named Maria.
  • Both drive a Humvee.
  • Bart also tell Wolfcastle his last movie "sucked," while Chief Wiggum says "magic ticket, my ass," a reference to the critically panned Schwarzenegger film Last Action Hero.
• The scene featuring Principal Skinner chasing Bart (both the music and animation) is based on the Gunslinger's chase of Peter Martin from the film Westworld.
• When the Quimby trial becomes a topic of conversion at the breakfast table, Bart tries to change the subject by opening the newspaper to the funnies and reading from Peanuts.
• The plot, especially Bart's fantasy, a based on Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. His fantasy also features Abraham Lincoln.
• Skinner picking up the cigar butt in the hotel room with an umbrella references the opening credits of The Odd Couple.
• In the court, Homer sings the jingle for Meow Mix cat food in his head.
• Homer watches the "director's cut" of Free Willy, which features Willy the whale crushing Jesse to death.
• The accident-prone waiter is a parody of Inspector Clouseau, despite his claims to the contrary.
• Bart hides from Skinner under a green blanket in a corvertible, a reference to Back to the Future Part II.

Goofs

• When Bart looks out the classroom window, the sun and a rainbow are both in the sky. But in order to see a rainbow, the sun has to be behind the viewer.
• In the first shot of Bart's classroom, Bart's eyes briefly disappear and Lewis' legs are yellow.

← Season 4 Season 5 References Season 6 →

Homer's Barbershop Quartet • Cape Feare • Homer Goes to College • Rosebud • Treehouse of Horror IV • Marge on the Lam • Bart's Inner Child • Boy-Scoutz 'n the Hood • The Last Temptation of Homer • $pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling) • Homer the Vigilante • Bart Gets Famous • Homer and Apu • Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy • Deep Space Homer • Homer Loves Flanders • Bart Gets an Elephant • Burns' Heir • Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song • The Boy Who Knew Too Much • Lady Bouvier's Lover • Secrets of a Successful Marriage