The Color Yellow/References

Episode	References	Gags	Appearances	Gallery	Quotes	Credits

◄ Boy Meets Curl

The Color Yellow

Postcards From the Wedge ►

Cultural references

• The episode title is a reference to the Alice Walker novel The Color Purple.
• The episode makes reference to the movie National Treasure: The Book of Secrets when Lisa tells about Eliza Simpson and Milhouse shows another diary.
• When Ralph Wiggum steps up to the stage, he then tells a spoof about the TV show Sesame Street and the Toy Story film series: "The King had dreams! Dreams where Elmo and Toy Story had a party!"
• The line where Homer tells Bart to "march to Selma" is a spoof of the Selma to Montgomery marches that occurred in 1965, where African-Americans led a civil-rights protest by marching from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital in Montgomery, in an attempt to register African-American voters in the Southern United States.
• After showing the stop while your ahead quilting thing, they mention a famous scene from the original 1974 movie Carrie (1974), they mention when she was being crowned prom, she was splattered with pig's blood and got angry. Plus since she has supernatural powers, she gets angry and scares everyone away.
• Mr. Burns outfit and mannerisms are reminiscent of Colonel Sanders.
• Simpson ancestor Bart-Beard the Pirate is a reference to Blackbeard the Pirate.
• Another Simpson ancestor in Victorian garb holding a bloody axe is a reference to Lizzie Borden.
• Simpson ancestor dressed as a Prohibition era gangster with a scar on his check and holding a Tommy gun is a reference to Al Capone.
• Several of the images of Simpson ancestors were from the illustrated family tree in The Simpsons Uncensored Family Album such as Pepita Hernandez, Mort Krupp, Remus Krupp, Woody Schedeen and Hugo Simpson. Also the prison snitch relative from "Lisa the Simpson".

Goofs

• As Eliza falls in front of the hay after she was scared by an owl, she drops her lantern. But in the next shot, she's holding it.
  • Eliza could've repicked up the latern offscreen.
• There is an anachronism in this episode. In one scene, there is a flashback from the diary of Eliza Simpson, which shows a scene taking place in 1860, at a party in Kentucky where the music playing is Blue Danube waltz. However, the Blue Danube was composed in Vienna, 1866.

• The Canadian flag that appears in the episode is not the official flag of Canada until 1965.
• Why would Lisa just focus on the Simpsons's side (her dad's side) of the family? What about her mom's side (the Bouviers) or Grampa's side of the family before they took on the last name Simpson? Or Herb Powell's side of the family (which included that carny woman that had sex with Abe for money)? Or Abbie's?

• Mr. Burns says that Colonel Burns was his father, but his real father is Clifford Burns.
  • It could be possible that Burns was just lying to Lisa or that he missaid himself.

Trivia

• The family tree in this episode contradicts with the original Simpson Family Tree found in The Simpsons Uncensored Family Album, with Howland Simpson as Homer's Great-Great-Grandfather and not Abraham Simpson I.
  • However, there is a possibility that Grampa made up the story, either due to his dementia/habit of making up stories or he wanted to make Lisa feel better. Although it could be true since he already knew so much about Virgil and Mabel even before Lisa found out especially due to the fact Virgil isn't mentioned due to the Simpsons blocking any relation to him and possibly just lying about Abe's great grandfather in the family photo album
• When Lisa goes to the attic, many objects from previous episodes can be seen, including:
  • An "I Didn't Do It" T-shirt ("Bart Gets Famous")
  • Homer's Astrolabe ("'Tis the Fifteenth Season").
  • Homer's Spacesuit ("Deep Space Homer")
  • A large model rocket, taped back together ("She of Little Faith").
  • A calendar with Marge posing on the cover ("The Devil Wears Nada").
  • Funzo ("Grift of the Magi")
  • A Princess Penelope doll ("Once Upon a Time in Springfield").
  • The stone head of Xtapolapocetl ("Blood Feud").
  • Homer's Grammy and a Be Sharps record ("Homer's Barbershop Quartet").
  • The statue of a Golem ("Treehouse of Horror XVII").
  • Homer's Mr. Plow jacket ("Mr. Plow")
  • The vibrating chair given to Homer by Herb Powell ("Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?")
  • One of Marge's paintings of Ringo Starr ("Brush with Greatness").
  • The upper half of Homer's homemade bear protection suit ("The Fat and the Furriest").
• Before Abe told the story of Eliza, he was talking about D-Day.
• Although this episode heavily contradicts the established family tree in The Simpsons Uncensored Family Album, Hugo Simpson I, Woody Sheeden, Remus Krupp and Mort Krupp, relatives who before were only ever seen in the book, made their first ever episode appearance in the photos Lisa found when she was searching for information on noble Simpson relatives. It seems that either this family tree was only partially reconnected, or that Abe was lying about Virgil and he is not a direct descendant of Mabel and Hiram, who are related via a different branch in the family tree than that of Garwood and Clowta.
• The second librarian is the same character design as Lisa's new teacher after toy manufacturer Kid First Industries privatized Springfield Elementary in "Grift of the Magi".