El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer)/References

Trivia

 * The episode was originally pitched by long time writer George Meyer during season 3. The staff felt it was too odd for the show, but showrunners Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein decided to use it.
 * This is the second episode to have its English title in another language, the first being "Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk".
 * Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan were the writers' two choices to play the coyote. Bob Dylan had turned the show down many times, so Johnny Cash was given the part.
 * The coyote was intentionally drawn in a more boxy way so that it looked unlike the other Simpsons characters. It was also done that way to resemble the representations of coyotes in American Southwestern art.
 * Most of the chili pepper sequence was animated completely by David Silverman, who wanted it to look just right and didn't want to risk sending it to Korea.
 * The shot of real life clouds is only the second time live-action footage was used in The Simpsons. The first time was in "Treehouse of Horror VI". Afterwards there was also live-action footage in "Treehouse of Horror IX".
 * Some 3D computer animation is used in this episode for the giant butterfly seen during Homer's hallucination. Also, during the same hallucination, Ned Flanders' line ("What can I do-diddily-doodily-diddly-hobbily-hibbily-gobbily-gobbily-gobble-gabba-gabba-hey!") was also treated on an Macintosh computer so that it increased and decreased pitch. A sample of Flanders saying this can be heard on the track "The Nebbish Route" on the album Nothing Lasts...But Nothing Is Lost by Ambient Techno group Shpongle.
 * This episode's commentary on the season 8 DVD set was the first commentary to include children.
 * The FOX censors sent a note to the writers about the part where Homer coats his mouth with hot wax so he can eat Chief Wiggum's super-spicy chili pepper. The actual note reads as follows: "To discourage imitation by young and foolish viewers, when Homer begins to pour hot wax into his mouth, please have him scream in pain so kids will understand that doing this would actually burn their mouths."
 * This episode mentions that Springfield slopes westward to the sea, indicating that it is either on the West Coast or western Florida.
 * Ralph seems to act smarter than usual in this episode, an example being when he tells Homer he will accidentally drink wax.

Cultural references

 * There are many similarities in the appearance of the dog guide to the coyote from Carlos Castaneda's "The Teachings of Don Juan". In the book, after Carlos ingests peyote he plays in the desert with a wild coyote, which may or may not be a hallucination.
 * There are also allusions in the episode to the works of Richard Bach, whose works often focus on the concept of "soulmates" and typically involve quests led by spirit guides. At the end of the episode, the Sea Captain refers directly to Bach's most famous book, by exclaiming, "Arr! Jonathan Livingston Seagull!"
 * When Homer begins to hallucinate Jasper says "Goo goo gajoob?" which is a line from The Beatles song "I Am The Walrus".
 * During Homer's hallucination, Ned Flanders' non-sensical talk includes the words "Gabba Gabba Hey" which is a reference to The Ramones.
 * When Homer hallucinates, Ms. Krabappel sounds like Miss Othmar from the screen adaptations of the comic strip Peanuts.
 * When they are in the lighthouse discussing their similarities, the line "It's like you're (Marge) from Venus... and you're (Homer) from Mars" is used.
 * After Homer's hallucination, he passes Bart and Lisa talking in the kitchen. (Bart) "So I says to Mabel, I says... I'll continue this later." Then again, (Bart) So I says to Mabel I says..."  This is an allusion to the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Music

 * The theme to The Good The Bad And The Ugly by Ennio Morricone is briefly used as Homer approaches Chief Wiggum at Springfield Chili Cook-Off.
 * "At Seventeen" by Janis Ian plays in the background as Homer walks through the town of Springfield looking for his soul-mate after we wakes up from his vision.
 * "Short Shorts" by The Royal Teens plays at the end of the episode (and over the credits) after Lenny (while holding a pair of hot pants), yells into the crowd: "Hey, who like short shorts?"