The Fight Before Christmas/References

References/Trivia

Season 22 Episode References

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"The Fight Before Christmas"

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Cultural references

The Polar Express is based on the train from the book and film The Polar Express. In the film, it also goes to the North Pole.
The Bumble from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer appears washing the floor.
The scene where the train is divided into four is reference to the Yellow Submarine Nowhere Man sequence.

Marge killing Hitler is a reference to the film Inglourious Basterds.
The flying elephant may be a reference to the film Dumbo. More specifically, it is possible that it is a parody of Walt Disney's animation studio being hired to make war propaganda films during the war years.

The family sing "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Breakfast", a parody of the song "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas".
A song from The Nutcracker is heard, as typically heard in any Christmas Simpsons episode.

Katy Perry's appearing as her real-life self while the rest of the cast are puppets is a parody of celebrity guest appearances on The Muppet Show.
Grampa and Jasper are parodying Statler and Waldorf from The Muppets.
When Katy Perry kisses Mr. Burns, he says "I kissed a girl, and I liked it", a reference to Katy Perry's song "I Kissed a Girl".
Mr. Burns says that he was visited by three ghosts, a reference to A Christmas Carol.
The song "The Thirty-Nine Days of Christmas" is an extended version of the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas".
Moe acts like the Cookie Monster from Sesame Street when he eats the cookies.

"The Fight Before Christmas" is notable for being the third episode to have part of it set in the real world, having the characters in puppet form with Katy Perry playing herself in real life. The previous two were "Treehouse of Horror VI", where Homer went into the real world; and "Treehouse of Horror IX", where Bart and Lisa briefly appeared on Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, splashing into a pot of soup.
In place of the theme music, an instrumental version of "Carol of the Bells" plays over the opening credits.
Moe is called a goblin twice in the episode: Once in Bart's dream and once in Maggie's dream.

In the first segment, Santa is shown to have a name label on his desk, but in a later scene, it has disappeared.
A post outside the tire fire says it has been burning since 1961, however in an earlier season (Season 1/2), a post says it has been burning since 1989.