Guillermo del Toro opening sequence/References

General

References/Trivia

Appearances

Cultural references

• The first part with the zombies is a reference to The Night of the Living Dead.
• There is a Mecha and a Kaiju battling it out in a reference to the 2013 del Toro's film, Pacific Rim.
• The Dead Raven landing on the Tire Fire is a reference to Planet of Vampires.
• Lard Lad becoming alive is a reference to "Treehouse of Horror VI".
• Chief Wiggum looks similar to the Cyclops from the 7th Voyage of Sinbad.
• Alfred Hitchcock tosses bird seed on Mrs. Krabappel and birds attack her, referencing the movie, The Birds.
• The blackboard gag's text is a reference to The Shining.
  • The man standing next to him is Stephen King, author of The Shining.
• Groundskeeper Willie's appearance is a reference to Hellboy and the character he buries under the leaves is Karl Ruprecht Kroenen from the film.
• Homer's mutated appearance is a reference to the reapers from Blade 2. Carl's appearance is a reference to Blade as well.
• Lenny's mug saying "I Hate Mondays" is a reference to Garfield.
• Matt Groening's original designs for the Simpson family from "The Tracey Ullman Show" are buried underground, as well as the skeleton of Godzilla.
• Mr. Burns is re-imagined as the Pale Man from Guillermo del Toro's "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".
• The cash register reads 666, the number of the beast.
• del Toro's second film, "Mimic", is referenced, with Marge as the giant cockroach.
• The music class is substituted by the phantoms of The Phantom of the Opera, Dewey Largo, instead, is dressed as The Phantom of the Paradise.
• Pictures of the music class refer to (from left to right): Starships Poopers from "Treehouse of Horror IX", The Island of Dr. Hibbert from "Treehouse of Horror XIII", The Raven from "Treehouse of Horror" and Milhouse and the Great Pumpkin from "Treehouse of Horror XIX".
• The monster which picks Bart with its tentacles is Cthulhu from At the Mountains of Madness.
• 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 three-eyed raven to alight, a reference to Poe's poem "The Raven".
  • Ray Bradbury adding tattoos to The Illustrated 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.
• The Universal monsters who chase after a crowd of Springfield citizens, referencing the mob that chases after the monster:
  • Count Dracula.
  • Frankenstein's Monster.
  • The Wolf Man.
  • The Creature from the Black Lagoon.
  • The Mummy.
  • The Bride of Frankenstein.
  • The Invisible Man.
  • The Mutant from Metaluna from This Island Earth.
• Maggie terrorizes Milhouse behind the wheel of the evil 1971 Lincoln Continental Mark III from The Car.
• Among the creatures and characters in the field next to the Simpsons' house are:
  • A creature from Hellboy II: The Golden Army, also from del Toro.
  • Rod Serling, author and host of the TV series The Twilight Zone, smoking a cigarette.
  • The robot from the TV series Lost in Space.
  • The alien from the 1979 movie, Alien.
  • "The Man in the Beaver Hat" from the 1927 lost film London After Midnight.
  • A mole from The Mole People, writing "El Muerto" on the wall, a reference to El Barto.
  • 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 robot monster from the 1953 movie Robot Monster.
  • 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 object that collides into Kang and Kodos Spaceship is a reference to The First Man in the Moon.
  • Two aliens from the 1957 movie Invasion of the Saucer Men.
  • The Thing from Another World from the movie with the same name.
  • The vampire Count Orlok from the 1921 movie Nosferatu.
  • 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.
  • Brundlefly from the film The Fly.
  • The pinhead Schlitzie from Tod Browning's 1932 movie Freaks, which could also reference Pepper from American Horror Story: Asylum.
  • The Mummy and the Invisible Man again.
  • Rondo Hatton from House of Horrors.
  • Death.
• Homer is Santi from del Toro's "The Devil's Backbone"
• Lisa falls down the rabbit hole à la Alice in Wonderland.
• Hypnotoad from Futurama makes an appearance.

Continuity

• A reconstructed Griff McDonald is seen as one of the soldiers fighting off zombies. ("Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish"")
• The Lard Lad statue comes to life again. ("Treehouse of Horror VI", The Simpsons Game)
• Pictures in the music room include:
  • The Raven Narrator. ("Treehouse of Horror")
  • Alien Maggie. ("Treehouse of Horror IX")
  • The Manimals. ("Treehouse of Horror XIII")
  • The Grand Pumpkin. ("Treehouse of Horror XIX")