In episodes before this one, including The Pagans short, Bart did believe of the concept of a soul.
The Raving Derelict acts and screams gibberish very similar to a character to be introduced two seasons later, Eleanor Abernathy, aka the Crazy Cat Lady.
The shot of Bart screaming after his nightmare is stock footage taken from "Treehouse of Horror II".
This is the first Episode where Bart can be seen kissing Lisa.
An episode of "Danger Force" has a similar episode title to this episode "Miles Sells His Soul"
Seven Deadly Sins[]
This episode is notable for featuring the Seven Deadly Sins:
Lust: Homer and Marge remember making out to In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (In the Garden of Eden) and everyone in church looking sweaty and disheveled as if they just had sex.
Gluttony: When Moe is converting his bar into a restaurant, he acquires a gigantic deep-fat fryer, claiming it can deep-fry a buffalo in forty seconds, to which Homer grouses, "Oh, I want it now!" Later, Homer gets Bart's meal at Moe's Tavern.
Greed: Reverend Lovejoy counting church collection money, Milhouse avariciously celebrates owning Bart's soul, saying, "Who's stupid now?" Moe starting a restaurant because restaurants make more money than bars, Homer's brain telling him, "Quiet, you fool! It can be ours!" when Bart leaves his dinner sitting out (see also Gluttony).
Sloth: Bart and Milhouse slacking off cleaning the organ.
Wrath: Reverend Lovejoy gets angry at being fooled; Moe screams at a little girl who says her "sodie" is too cold; Bart gets angry at Lisa when she starts praying for everyone's soul.
Envy: Moe envies the profits of family restaurants. Lisa wants five dollars after Bart tells her he had five dollars. Bart envies the kids in his dream for their souls.
Pride: Bart being too proud to believe he has a soul - until all of the strange things happen that make him believe that he really did lose it.
Citations[]
Bart saying that a soul is something adults make up to scare kids "like the Boogeyman or Michael Jackson" is a reference to the allegations of child sexual abuse against Michael Jackson since 1993 (though Bart should already know that Michael Jackson does exist, as seen in "Stark Raving Dad", unless the revelation that "Michael Jackson" was just a big, bald mental patient made him believe that Michael Jackson doesn't exist. However, that doesn't explain why he has the Thriller album both on "Stark Raving Dad" and the Treehouse of Horror story "Dial Z for Zombie").
Moe reads a book titled Your Gimmicky Restaurant by Bennigan and Fuddrucker. The authors' names are references to the restaurant chains Bennigan's and Fuddruckers.
Bart's prayer, "Are you there, God? It's me, Bart Simpson," is a reference to the young adult novel, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume, which is actually about a girl who worries that she'll be the last in her friend circle to hit puberty rather than a story about a child losing his or her soul.
Milhouse violently playing Army guys with the "Bart's Soul" paper in the backyard is a reference to the Michael Richards' recurring character, Battle Boy, on the early 1980s ABC sketch show, Fridays.
Ned Flanders' line "Well, I expect that type of language at Denny's, but not here!" is a reference to Denny's racial discrimination lawsuit in the early 1990s, in which African American customers were refused service, forced to wait longer, or charged more for their meals than white customers.
In most international versions, "McDonalds" is mentioned instead of "Denny's", while Germany's dub changed "Denny's" to "Burger King".
Milhouse trades Bart's soul for some Gordon Shumway pogs.
Goofs[]
Jasper with a yellow beard
Wendell is yellow in the second row
In one scene at Moe's Tavern, Carl has yellow skin rather than black.
In another shot during the church scene, Wendell is colored bright yellow instead of his correct pale color.
Barney with reddish-brown pants
When Bart receives his soul back, his hair is normal. But when he goes to thank Lisa, his hair is messed up.
When Homer, Moe and Barney come out of Moe's Tavern and they see the deep fryer, Barney's pants change from blue to reddish brown.
Jimbo without the skull on his shirt
In Bart's dream, the skull on Jimbo's shirt disappears a few times. However, this is a dream.
On the walls of Uncle Moe's Family Feedbag, the New Hampshire license plate 100-767 changes to 100-761 later on in the scene. Also, Springfield is not located in New Hampshire.
How could Dr. Hibbert think Moe's Tavern is a family restaurant when he’s been there before in Krusty Gets Kancelled? He probably thought it was a bar just for the Krusty Comeback Special after-party. Some restaurants that otherwise serve families can and do have private parties where they serve alcohol.
When Moe is angry at Snake Jailbird for getting his food free, the red and white stripes on his right arm sleeve switch places with each other a few times.
When the Simpsons go inside Uncle Moe's Family Feedbag Marge sees an alligator head with sunglasses. The look of the alligator is actually more of the look of a crocodile since real alligators have no teeth on their lower jaw but real crocodiles do have teeth on their lower jaw. It's possible that Marge just isn't knowledgeable enough about the subject to recognize the difference, and incorrectly assumes it to be an alligator.
