Kamp Krusty/References

Cultural references

 * When the kids, teachers, and staff wreck Springfield Elementary School in Bart's dream, the song playing is "School's Out" by Alice Cooper.
 * Some of the depictions of conditions at Kamp Krusty are taken from the Allan Sherman song "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah".
 * Ben-Hur: When Kearney beats a drum to make the kids in the sweatshop work harder, it's a reference to the slave galley scene from the movie.
 * The French Lieutenant's Woman: Referenced in the scene where Lisa gives a bottle of whiskey to a man on horseback as payment for delivering a letter. Lisa is also dressed much like Meryl Streep's character Logo.gif in the film scene.
 * The sequence where Bart leads a revolt and the kids take over the camp is reminiscent of Lord of the Flies.
 * The 1991 fall of the Soviet Union is referenced when the rebelling campers uproot a totem pole of Krusty, parodying rioting Russians tearing down statues of Lenin, Stalin, and other Soviet dictators.
 * Note for Star Wars fans: The scene cannot be a reference to the Emperor's statue being torn down at the end of Return of the Jedi. The episode aired in 1992, but the scene with the Emperor's statue occurs in the Special Edition, which wasn't released until 1997.
 * The post-revolt Kamp Krusty (where Bart is in charge and the camp has been renamed to "Camp Bart") strongly resembles Colonel Kurtz's camp in Apocalypse Now.
 * The song played over the closing credits is "South of the Border". However, the singer is not Frank Sinatra, but a sound-a-like.
 * Krusty's daughter on "President Klown" ("I don't know her name, but she held up a liquor store last year") may be a reference to troubled Diff'rent Strokes star Dana Plato, who held up a video store in February 1991. Kamp Krusty first aired on September 24, 1992.

Trivia

 * When Dolph serves the "Krusty Brand Imitation Gruel" to the kids, he is wearing a hairnet, making it one of the few times both his eyes are visible.
 * Bart's remark of "No way would I lend my name to a crummy product" is an ironic one; a likely reference to the Butterfinger commercials Bart has starred in.
 * When Kent Brockman comments that he has reported on Afghanistan and Iraq, he was referring to the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the 1991 U.S. invasion of Iraq (the first Gulf War), not the current conflicts, where the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003 (though thanks to those two invasions, the joke isn't dated).
 * According to the DVD commentary, Frank Sinatra did not sing the song "South of the Border" during the closing credits. A sound-alike sang the song.
 * The episode was inspired by a staff member who worked as a teenager as a counselor in a summer camp and saw exposed live wires and other hazards. The producers said this episode was meant to relate to those who went to summer camps or took jobs in one.
 * The summer holiday countdown is similar to the two new millennium countdowns in the pilot episode of Matt Groening's other show, Futurama.
 * This episode was originally the plot to a feature-length film version of The Simpsons, but was canned because the writers couldn't stretch the story to fit 90 minutes to 2 hours. "Cape Feare" from season five and "Bonfire of the Manatees" from season 17 were also considered for the plot of The Simpsons Movie, but were scrapped for having thin plots.

Goofs

 * When the kids sing the Kamp Krusty Theme Song, Martin Prince is present, despite being in Fat Camp instead of the regular camp.
 * Ralph appears to be larger than usual, sounds a bit different and is not wearing his usual blue collared shirt when he receives his change of underwear.
 * During Bart's dream of everyone trashing the school, Bart is shown in mercenary/Rambo style with bandoliers across his chest and a high-powered machine gun. After the scene of the kids burning their permanent records, Bart is shown in his normal clothes, working a wrecking ball machine.