Ernst

Ernst Jorgenson and his partner Gunter Schnieder are performers who use white tigers, such as Anastasia, in their act.

The duo preforms at the Monty Burns Casino with their tiger Anastasia. Anastasia has a dream about her life in the past and then her eventual capture by Gunter and Ernst (via a tranquilizer dart). Anastasia then goes out of control and attacks them. The duo appears later in the episode when Marge gets hypnotized by gambling and Maggie goes of and runs into Anastasia while Gunter and Ernst are talking to a guy who believes they live in the casino. Barney however rescues Maggie from Anastasia and then gives her back to Marge.

Behind the Scenes
Gunter and Ernst share similarities with Seigfried and Roy. In a case of fact following fiction, the 1993 episode “$pringfield” depicts the duo being savagely mauled by their trademark white tiger, Anastasia. Ten years later, the trained white tiger Montecore dragged Roy Horn off-stage by his neck during a performance at The Mirage.