Bart's New Friend/References
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Cultural references
- Attractions at the circus:
- Celtic Charms are a parody of Lucky Charms.
- Sven Golly's name is a pun on Svengali, a manipulative character which was featured in the novel Trilby.
- It may also be a pun on the hosted horror movie show Svengoolie.
- The ride attraction at Itchy & Scratchy Land where they were flying through Springfield is a reference to Mystery Science Theater 3000.
- The saxophone riff that Lisa plays for Homer is from the 1978 song "Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty.
- The Shawshank Redemption: Bart spray-paints "El Barto was here" on a wall, and Homer follows suit with "Homo too". The scene is a callback to the halfway house apartment to which both Brooks and Red are paroled. Brooks finds himself unable to adjust to life outside of prison and hangs himself from a support beam, first carving "BROOKS WAS HERE" into the beam. Years later, after Andy's escape, Red is paroled and lives in the same apartment. Red also struggles with adjusting to the outside world, but rather than killing himself, he decides to take Andy up on his invitation to join him in Mexico. Before he leaves, he carves "SO WAS RED" into the support beam next to Brooks's graffito.
- There is a tribute to the Charlie Hebdo shooting: Just before the closing credits, Maggie appears on a screen card holding a flag that reads "Je suis Charlie".
- The final scene, where Sven Golly is in an underground prison under the police station and Chief Wiggum plays chess with him:
- Is a reference to the X-Men film series. Magneto is locked in a plastic prison at the end of X-Men and the beginning of X2. Golly's prison bears a very strong resemblance to Magneto's.
- Loki appearing in the prison may be a reference to The Avengers where Loki was locked in a glass prison.
Continuity
