Fat Man and Little Boy/References

Cultural references

 * The episode is named after the two nuclear bombs that were dropped on Japan during World War II, codenamed Fat Man and Little Boy.
 * The eccentric Goose Gladwell seems to be a parody of Willy Wonka. This episode was released six months before the 2005 movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory starring Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka. Gladwell's appearance, however, is based more on Gene Wilder's Wonka in the 1971 version (Willy Wonka &amp; the Chocolate Factory).
 * Homer mentions strange adults befriending small children, which is a possible reference to Michael Jackson as well as to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. When the episode first aired, Jackson was dealing with child molestation charges and movie posters featuring Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka were appearing in theatres as part of the pre-release publicity for the movie. Some moviegoers found Depp's appearance in the posters to be eerily similar to Jackson's real-life appearance.
 * The song Lisa and Janey are singing at the beginning is "Miss Lucy Had a Steamboat."

Trivia

 * Songs used:
 * "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas (When Bart burns his toys.)
 * "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred (When Bart models his T-shirts around school and at the mall.)
 * "Get Ready for This" by 2 Unlimited (At the Springfield Novelty Expo, when Krusty's booth appears and destroys Bart's.)
 * The Pink Panther Theme (When Homer breaks into the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant to steal plutonium.)
 * In The Simpsons Game, Matt Groening calls Homer and Bart a "Fat Man" and a "Little Boy".
 * Homer's process for building a nuclear reactor is similar to what Boy Scout David Hahn did in 1994.
 * Among the items in Goose's store are a 8-ball fortune teller and a Star Destroyer model.
 * When Bart is autographing T-shirts at Goose's store, a sign outside says that Bart will not say "Cowabunga," which is one of Bart's old catchphrases.
 * Smithers replies "Today is Christmas, sir" when Mr. Burns asks why everyone is so insolent. However, there are no holiday decorations in the power plant or the Simpson home, and no snow to be seen. This indicates that Smithers' reply may have been a last-minute addition when it was noted that the episode was slated to air around Christmastime.
 * Before the episode first aired, Matt Groening registered the domain nuclear-secrets.com, but never created a website.
 * Bart's Toys (and their real-life analogues):
 * Spirogram (Spirograph)
 * Sketch-an-Etch (Etch-a-Sketch)
 * Sock-Em Knock-Em Cyborgs (Rock-Em Sock-Em Robots)
 * Ravenous Ravenous Rhinos (Hungry Hungry Hippos)
 * Duopoly (Monopoly)
 * Parchoosey (Parcheesi)
 * Humor Putty (Silly Putty)
 * In addition to Bart and Krusty, the exhibitors at the Springfield Novelty Expo include the following:
 * Duff Beer
 * Erotic Ashtrays
 * Hairy Golf Balls
 * Exploding Hearing Aids
 * Untoastable Bagels
 * Poison Ice Cubes
 * Mood Lollipops (Apu, attending the expo as a retailer, tries one and is singularly uninpressed.)

Bart's T-Shirt Slogans

 * Adults Suck, Then You Are One
 * Life Ends at Ten
 * Bored in the USA
 * This Shirt Sucks
 * Everything Sucks
 * Sucking Sucks
 * Wake Me When It's Recess
 * I've Puked More Beer Than You've Drunk
 * Pobody's Sherfect, Nithead
 * Impeach Everybody
 * My Other T-Shirt Is Also a Joke T-Shirt
 * Think Globally, Fart Locally
 * Weapon of Ass Destruction
 * I ♥ ♥ Attacks
 * Get Bent (Flanders thinks it refers to kneeling down to pray.)
 * Do Not Resuscitate (Dr. Hibbert takes a dozen: "These could get me out of a lot of sticky situations.")
 * Proud Nubian Princess (Chief Wiggum takes this one when the police bust Bart's stand and confiscate the shirts; it's the only one that fits him.)
 * Jews for Jebus
 * Body by Oreo
 * Don't Blame Me, I Voted for Scooby-Doo
 * If You Can Read This, the Backpack Fell Off
 * Stop Staring at My Man Boobs
 * I'm Not Getting Older, I'm Getting Bitter
 * Wish You Were Beer
 * Top of the Dude Chain
 * America's Least Wanted
 * Stop World Hunger, Eat My Shorts! (Bart poses with this one on the cover of a magazine running an article about his shirts.)
 * Don't Wake Me, I'm Working (Homer wears it to work and gets suspended without pay.)
 * I'm Not Fat, I'm Enormous (Comic Book Guy brings it to Bart for an autograph.)
 * Also, Moe asks if Bart has any shirts with Calvin peeing on Hobbes. When Bart says "Sorry," Moe asks, "What do you got in 'peeing on'?"
 * Osama bin Scratchy is a reference to Saudi Arabian Osama bin Laden.