Elementary School Musical/References

Cultural references

• The title of the episode is a pun on the High School Musical movie series.
• There is also an episode of South Park that is also entitled "Elementary School Musical".
• This title is similar to The Fairly OddParents episode, School's Out The Musical.
• The opening title screen gag pays homage to the Partridge Family.
• The chalkboard gag is a reference to the film Inception.
• When the Gracie Films logo appear, we hear the jingle first, then a cow moo just like Mad Cow Productions.
• The cast of Glee sing a take on The Beach Boys song, "Good Vibrations".
• Sprooklyn, Springfield's district in this episode, is a parody of Brooklyn, a borough of New York City.
• Sprubway is a parody of Subway, a sandwich shop.
• Dregs is possibly a parody of Greggs, a bakery in the UK.
• Krusty having a Super Bowl nip-slip, using a child as a shield and appearing on The Electric Company is similar to the character Greg Stillson from The Dead Zone.
• Spider-Man, the Marvel superhero, is shown on the The Electric Company doing the monkey dance
• When Stephen Hawking says "A Brief History of Rhyme", it is a parody of "A Brief History of Time". Additionally there is also an album by MC Hawking entitled "A Brief History of Rhyme: MC Hawking's Greatest Hits".
• When Lisa gets back from Performing Arts Camp, in band class, the School Band playing "My Country Tis Of Thee" and Lisa interrupting by playing Jazz is a reference to the Season 1 episode Moaning Lisa, and maybe the Opening Sequence.
• A mechanical clock is shown with an automated figure of Adolf Hitler who comes out on the hour and gets hit on the head.
• Krusty, shown having a Super Bowl nip slip is a reference to the Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake Super Bowl incident that happened in Houston Texas. It is sometimes referred to as Nipplegate, a word pun of Watergate from the Watergate scandal.
• Ethan Ballantyne says he plays a Gibson Guitar.
• The councilors; Kurt Hardwick and Ethan Ballantyne are based on the New Zealand comedy duo band; Flight of the Conchords that consists of the actors and musicians; Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie who both played Kurt and Ethan in the episode.

Trivia

• When Otto is playing the bus driving game, the console he is playing on looks very similar to the Nintendo GameBoy Advance.
• The handcuffs placed on Krusty before Homer and Bart come in are shaped like the currency symbol for the European Union.
• Fake Trivia: On December 28, 2019, When this episode was on FOX, the broadcast was hijacked by a scary pig called "Scare Pig".

Goofs

• Kent Brockman says that Krusty joins the likes of Gandhi as a Nobel Peace Prize winner. However, Gandhi did not receive the award.
• Springfield International Airport's sign reads "Springfield Airport".
• When Lisa meets Lea Michele and Cory Monteith, her saxophone disappears.
• When Lisa is dropping her saxophone out of her bedroom window, there is a rope. When she leaves, the rope is gone.
• At one point during the "Artists" song, Ethan's tongue briefly turns white.

International premieres

• "Elementary School Musical" premiered on October 7, 2010 in the UK.