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Little Big Mom |
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Cultural References[]
- The episode title is a pun on the film Little Big Man (and/or the identically-named novel).
- The Virtual Doctor website says that it's from the creators of Dragon Quest and SimSandwich. Dragon Quest is a series of RPGs released by Square Enix (originally released as Dragon Warrior in the US). SimSandwich is a reference to the Sim series of games by Maxis (later acquired by Electronic Arts, who made The Simpsons Game), the most famous of which are SimCity and The Sims.
- The "You Got Leprosy" line said by the Virtual Doctor is modeled after AOL's "You Got Mail" greeting considering that Elwood Edwards, the voice behind the trademark greeting, guest stars in the episode for this one role.
- In the hospital, Homer and Bart squirt interferon at each other. This medication is used to treat various cancers (e.g., leukemia, melanoma, AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma). It is also used to treat virus infections (e.g., chronic hepatitis B and chronic hepatitis C). This medication is the same as a protein that your body naturally produces (interferon)
Previous Episode References[]
- Mr. Plow, Rosebud, and Team Homer: Reference to leprosy ("Live from Hawaii's beautiful Molokai Islands. We're not just for lepers anymore!"/Homer wants "$1 million and three Hawaiian islands. Good ones, not the leper ones" in exchange for Bobo the teddy bear/Mr. Burns loses a fingernail to leprosy while trying to fish out his napkin boat from Homer's beer/Lisa tricks Homer and Bart into thinking they have leprosy).
- Summer of 4 Ft. 2: Marge correcting Lisa by referring to leprosy as Hansen's Disease ("...just like that horrible cream soda") is similar to when she said, "Girls, Lisa. Boys kiss girls" after Lisa laments that Gore Vidal kissed more boys than she ever will.
- Two Bad Neighbors: Marge's line, "Who's Disco Stu?" sounds like it was reused for this episode.
- Mountain of Madness: The Simpsons go on a mountain trip.
- The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show and Treehouse of Horror IX ("Terror of Tiny Toon"): Poochie appears on an episode of The Itchy & Scratchy Show, despite Krusty's official affidavit stating that Poochie will never come back for any future episodes.
- Bart Sells His Soul: Someone answers the door in a decontamination suit.
- The War of the Simpsons, Homer Alone, Marge in Chains, $pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling), Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily, and Bart After Dark: Marge goes away (or is, otherwise, unable to do housework) and The Simpson house goes to pot.
- My Sister, My Sitter: Lisa has a hard time babysitting Bart.
- Homer Loves Flanders: Homer runs after a moving vehicle (Flanders' car/the Goodwill truck)
- Bart the Lover: Flanders' mustache is removed.
- Natural Born Kissers: A Simpsons episode was initially rated TV-14 (for sexual situations and nudity on the former episode/for gross and crude humor, moderate comic violence, and moderate sexual references for the latter) on American TV.
- Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo: A Simpsons episode is banned from airing in Japan for being culturally insensitive (see "Censorship and Bans").
- So It's Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show: A Simpson family member (Homer/Lisa) tricks another (Bart/Bart and Homer) into thinking they have a serious medical condition (going blind [caused by Homer duct-taping Bart's eyes shut]/leprosy [painting green splotches all over their body]).
Trivia[]
- This is the first episode of 2000, though not of the new millennium, as it didn't start until 2001.
- This episode premiered on the same day as Malcolm in the Middle (which was described by critics as "...a live-action Simpsons.")
- At the time the episode aired, Japan, which refused to air "Little Big Mom" (see "Censorship and Bans" below), was facing numerous lawsuits from former leper patients who suffered discrimination through the nation's 89-year-long leprosy prevention laws. The laws, which started in 1907, were not abolished until 1996. The lawsuits were filed two years later (1998) and were successfully won three years after that (2001).[1]
Censorship and Bans[]
- Much like season 10's "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo", this episode is not shown in Japan (on TV, DVD, and streaming) because the story of Lisa tricking Bart and Homer into thinking they have leprosy is considered very culturally insensitive (as Japan has a long and shameful history of discriminating against lepers and, as mentioned above in "Trivia", lost a discrimination suit to former patients who were treated unfairly because they had the disease).
Goofs[]
- When Bart is skiing, he is wearing gloves in most shots, but his gloves are missing at one point.
- Although the clock falls on Marge's left leg, it only breaks her right leg.
- Even if Marge's right leg became hairy after not shaving it for a week, the left one should have been just as hairy.
- Lisa paints green spots on Bart and Homer to trick them into thinking they have leprosy, but in real life, leprosy spots are red or brown.