Bart vs. Thanksgiving/References

Episode	References	Gags	Appearances	Gallery	Quotes	Credits

◄ Dead Putting Society

Bart vs. Thanksgiving

Bart the Daredevil ►

Trivia

• Greg Berg voices Rory the Bum.
• This is the first Thanksgiving-themed episode in the series.
• This is the fourth episode to have Bart's name somewhere in the title. The next episode was the fifth to feature Bart’s name.
• This is sometimes erroneously titled Bart Versus Thanksgiving.
• When Homer says to Bart that if every cartoon character was made as balloons it would be a farce, a Bart Simpson balloon appears on the TV and Homer and Bart are oblivious about this (as well they should be). 1990, which was the year this episode was released in, was also the year Bart was made as a balloon for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.
• This is the second appearance of Kent Brockman, with his first appearance being "Krusty Gets Busted".
• This is the first episode displaying Bart and Lisa's sibling rivalry.
• This is the first of many episodes where either Bart or Lisa give each other a kiss. Others include "'Round Springfield", "Bart Sells His Soul", "Homer vs. Patty and Selma", "Future-Drama", "Lisa Goes Gaga", and "Barthood". In this episode, Lisa kissed Bart on his lips after accepting his apology.
• This is the first time that Mr. Burns hounds are seen.
• This is the first appearance of Jacqueline Bouvier outside of flashback form.
• The toy stuffs in this episode was later seen in The Simpsons Movie on the roof, when the Simpson family's house gets destroyed.
• The dress Lisa Simpson wears in the episode title card is the same as the one in "All About Lisa" and "Angry Dad: The Movie", albeit in a different color, and without the white high-class gloves.

Cultural References

• Homer and Bart watch Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. They discuss the helium balloons modeled after Bullwinkle and Underdog. It should be noted that around the same time the episode premiered, Bart was featured as a balloon in the real parade.
• While Homer is watching football, the announcer says the teams are playing in the Pontiac Silverdome, yet when it cuts to the television, the stadium is an open air stadium.
• Mr. Burns lives on the corner of Croesus and Mammon, two symbols of wealth.
  • Additionally, when Bart is discovered attempting to steal a pumpkin pie from the window sill, one of the guards can be seen reading Les Misérables, in which the main character is imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread after breaking a window.
• Kent Brockman references Emmett Kelly, the Charlie Chaplin character the Tramp and the Red Skelton character Freddy the Freeloader.
• The music Bart sings when he brings the turkey to the table is the music heard in the 20th Century Fox opening.
• The poem Lisa is seen writing in her room is a direct parody of the first lines of Allen Ginsberg's most famous poem, Howl.
• Two of the football players are named "Kogen" and "Wolodarsky". Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky were two former producers and writers for the Simpsons who often worked together.
• The halftime show during the football game, Hooray For Everything, is a parody of the group Up With People, a band which made five Superbowl halftime appearances during the '70s and '80s.
• Lisa has an "End Apartheid" poster on her wall, referencing the policy of racial segregation in South Africa which would be repealed in 1991. On her bookshelf is On the Road by Jack Kerouac as well as unknown works by Edgar Allen Poe and Allen Ginsberg.

Goofs

Patty in a blue dress

• When Bart was looking for the can opener to open the cranberry sauce, Marge said that it was in the second drawer on the right. However, it was in the first drawer. She simply could have been mistaken.
• When Patty arrives her dress is blue in one scene and then back to normal.
• Homer calls Patty "Selma" and vice versa. It was revealed in "Principal Charming" that Homer couldn't tell the two apart.
• Homer punished Santa's Little Helper for taking a turkey drumstick, but Thanksgiving turkey is poisonous to dogs.
• In Bart’s nightmare, when his family were evilly laughing, two Lisa’s were seen, and Marge and Homer switched places by the time Marge tells the family they can blame Bart for everything.