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The Boy Who Knew Too Much |
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Trivia[]
- The episode's plot was loosely based on the criminal trial of prominent U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy's nephew William Kennedy-Smith. Like Freddie Quimby's trial, William Kennedy-Smith's trial also ended in an acquittal. However, Kennedy-Smith's trial, which took place in 1991, was based on a charge of raping a woman rather than non-sexual assault and battery to a waiter. At the time the episode aired, William's mother, as well as Ted Kennedy sister, Jean Kennedy-Smith was serving as U.S. Ambassador to Ireland.
- Matt Groening is the court-appointed artist.
- When Bart is running away from Principal Skinner, one of the scenes is of Bart running down a hill, which was reused and mirror-flipped from the Season 4 premiere "Kamp Krusty".
- When Bart is running away from Principal Skinner, one of the scenes is of Bart running across a field to a wall, which was reused from Season 3 episode "Dog Of Death".
- This is the first episode to feature Bart's "Li'l Bastard" prank kit. Here he uses the "Li'l Bastard Clock-Tampering Kit".
- There is El Barto graffiti outside the courthouse.
- The sign outside Quimby's house says, "Thursday Is Ladies' Night."
- Bart catches a fish while lying near the river.
- The Rat Trap Delivery truck that the waiter falls into has the date "Since 1989" written on the side, which is a reference to the year The Simpsons first premiered.
- Bart apparently is capable of reading minds, due to Skinner mentally threatening Bart from the jury box.
- Bart misspells Abraham Lincoln's surname as "L-I-N-C-O-N," missing the silent 'L'.
- Freddy Quimby drives a Fox-body, presumably a late 1980s/early 1990s Ford Mustang convertible.
- This is the second time Bart cleared someone of a crime he didn’t commit. The first being Krusty in "Krusty Gets Busted" when Sideshow Bob framed him.
Citations[]
- The title is a reference to the Alfred Hitchcock film The Man Who Knew Too Much.
- The film title was also punned in the episodes "The Girl Who Slept Too Little", "The Dad Who Knew Too Little" and "The Man Who Grew Too Much".
- The chalkboard gag is a reference to a song from 1976 film Bugsy Malone.
- Bart's fantasy, is based on Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. His fantasy also features Abraham Lincoln.
- The scene featuring Principal Skinner chasing Bart (both the music and animation) is based on the Gunslinger's chase of Peter Martin from the film Westworld.
- Bart hides from Skinner under a green blanket in a convertible, a reference to Back to the Future Part II.
- More similarities between Rainier Wolfcastle and the man on which he is based, Arnold Schwarzenegger, are revealed in this episode, including:
- Both have wives named Maria.
- On a related note, this also is a reference to the Kennedys, as Maria Shriver, Schwarzenegger's former wife, is related to the Kennedys, and Maria, Rainier's wife, is implied to be related to the Quimbys.
- Both drive a Humvee.
- Bart also tells Wolfcastle his last movie "sucked," while Chief Wiggum says, "Magic ticket, my ass, McBain!" These are references to the critically panned Schwarzenegger film Last Action Hero, about a boy who ends up inside an action movie because of a magic ticket.
- Both have wives named Maria.
- Mr. Lacoste, the clumsy waiter, voiced by Hank Azaria, is an homage to Peter Sellers's Pink Panther film series character, Jacques Clouseau, the Inspector of the Paris, France Police Department. Lacoste even directly references Clouseau when denying being clumsy up until he inadvertently confirms Bart's claim.
- The plot of the episode is based on the movie 12 Angry Men.
- Freddy Quimby's lawyer uses the Blue-Haired Lawyer's voice, but has a completely different character design. In the DVD commentary, the participants call him "Burns's Lawyer" without addressing the design change at all.
- During Skinner's Vietnam PTSD dream while acting as a juror, Skinner while sleeptalking said "Oh no! Walter Cronkite's turned against us!", referring to how Cronkite claimed in his Tet Offensive report that America's dealing with the VC during that time as well as the entire war effort amounted to a stalemate at best.
- In the court, Homer sings the jingle for Meow Mix cat food in his head.
- Skinner picking up the cigar butt in the hotel room with an umbrella references the opening credits of The Odd Couple.
- Homer watches the "director's cut" of Free Willy, which features Willy the whale crushing Jesse to death.
- The character McGarnagle appears to be a spoof of the Clint Eastwood character 'Harry Callahan' from the 'Dirty Harry' film franchise.
- The police chief in McGarnagle speaks like and resembles Dennis Franz's character Andy Sipowicz from NYPD Blue. Franz would later play himself (portraying Homer in a movie) in the episode "Homer Badman".
Skinner without the lines on his face
Goofs[]
- When Principal Skinner first threatens to send Bart off to military school, the age lines on Skinner's face momentarily disappear a few times.
- In the scene where Skinner threatens Bart while he and Lisa are in the bus, the interior of the bus has the Prison Bus grey colors when, as shown in the opening shot of this scene, they are in fact in the regular school bus.
- There are pencils and Bart's nameplate on his desk, but when he stands up, they aren't there.