Treehouse of Horror II/References

Episode	References	Gags	Appearances	Gallery	Quotes	Credits

◄ Like Father, Like Clown

Treehouse of Horror II

Lisa's Pony ►

◄ Treehouse of Horror

Treehouse of Horror II

Treehouse of Horror III ►

Cultural References

• The introduction in Bart's nightmare is based on Rod Serling making the introduction to the Twilight Zone episodes. The nightmare was also inspired by the 1961 Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life". However, that Twilight Zone episode was not set in a highly populated urban community like Springfield and was set in a fictional small-town rural community in Ohio called Peaksville. Rather than the father, it was a town resident who would be turned into a Jack-In-The-Box. It also did not feature any sort of father-son reconciliation, with the antagonist kid remaining spoiled throughout the episode.
• During Homer's nightmare, Bart and Lisa are watching Johnny Carson perform his Carnac the Magnificent routine.
• At school, Seymour Skinner sings "Michigan Rag" for Bart Simpson on the PA system, which is from the Looney Tunes's episode "One Froggy Evening".
• Snowball II looks like Daffy Duck breathing flames from the cartoon Duck Amuck.
• Charlie Brown and friends are seen trick-or-treating outside the Simpsons home.
• A monkey's paw that grants wishes is based on The Monkey's Paw horror story by W.W. Jacobs.
• Bart's nightmare was also largely based on the "It's a Good Life" segment of The Twilight Zone Movie. The segment of the 1983 movie featured Bart's voice actress Nancy Cartwright in the role of Ethel.
• During Lisa's nightmare, when the Simpsons are about to board the plane, the Moroccan police stop them by aiming pistols at them in the kneeling position, then lift up Homer's shirt to find smuggled items taped to his abdomen, parodying the opening scene of Midnight Express.
• The end is similar to the film, The Thing With Two Heads.
• In Homer's nightmare, Mr. Burns is humming "If I only had a brain" from The Wizard of Oz while removing Homer's brain and the near-quote "You clinking, clattering, cacophony of collagenous cogs and camshafts!" was originally used as an insult to the Tin Man.
• Homer, when arriving at Morocco, references Grace Kelly, or rather, her post-marriage title of Princess Grace of Monaco, while clearly mistaking Morocco for Monaco. Lisa is quick to point out his mistake.

Trivia

• The episode which featured a Monkey's Paw granting the Simpson family four wishes aired the year before the Disney animated movie Aladdin. As in Aladdin, Homer obtained his source of wishes from an Arabian country. Like most characters in The Simpsons, including the peddler who gave Homer the Monkey's Paw and even the Monkey's Paw which granted the Simpson family four wishes, the peddler in Aladdin and the Genie who granted Aladdin three wishes had only four fingers. Though a genie residing in an oil lamp would grant only three wishes to Aladdin himself, the film's title character had a pet monkey who frequently accompanied him named Abu. The episode also featured the alien invaders-as not in the newspaper- okaying a slavery plan the year before Aladdin antagonist Jafar made slaves out of the Princess and Sultan when used his first two wishes to solidify hold on power. Coincidentally, Homer Simpson's voice actor Dan Castellaneta would later voice the Disney Aladdin franchise's animated Genie whenever Robin Williams did not. This included on the Aladdin television series, The Return of Jafar, the House of Mouse television series and the Kingdom Hearts video games. The exact location of the Agrabah Sultanate where Disney's Aladdin was set is not identified. One hint of Agrabah's location is its description of being a place where "caravan camels roam." Ironically, Morocco, where Homer obtained his source of wishes, was a Sultanate until 1957. It is known as an ancient source of caravan camel trains.
• This is the first episode to be entirely non-canon, due to the ending of the episode with the wraparounds. The first Treehouse of Horror also had wraparounds, but they are canon to the actual timeline of the show, and the episode's main segments are non-canon.
  • Some viewers interpret the ending as being a part of Homer's dream, allowing the previous wraparounds to be canon.
• The episode features a Monkey's Paw that grants four wishes per each of its four fingers. Ironically, comedian Jordan Peele would create a film and television production company called Monkeypaw Productions in 2012, 21 years after the episode aired. When the paw was used by the Simpson family, three wishes (made by Bart Lisa and Homer) brought more misfortune than the first wish that was made by Maggie. Maggie wished simply for a new pacifier and brought no misfortunate, while Bart wished for the Simpsons to be rich and famous (which soon got everybody to hate the family), Lisa wished for world peace (which made Earth vulnerable for an alien invasion and becoming alien slaves) and Homer wished for a turkey sandwich (which saw the turkey be a little dry). Ironically, Peele would direct three films and write three other films for Monkeypaw Productions before the fourth film he was supposed to write and direct for Monkeypaw Productions got pulled from Universal Pictures' release schedule; it was allegedly due to the recent Hollywood writers and actors strike.https://ew.com/jordan-peele-next-movie-pulled-2024-release-calendar-8419720
• The Moroccan peddler who sold Homer the Monkey's Paw claimed he bore great misfortune when he previously served as President of Algeria. Ironically, former Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who served between 1999 and 2019, was born and raised in Morocco. At the time the episode aired, Boutefilka was serving as a senior member of the Central Committee for Algeria's ruling National Liberation Front. At the time the episode aired, Algeria was also undergoing internal power struggles. Despite his political influence, Boutefilka opted to not take power for a while and sidelined himself from government politics amidst ongoing power struggles in the country and even declined a chance to become President of Algeria sooner in 1994. Boutefilka, who suffered a major stroke in 2013 which left him infirm for the rest of his life, died in 2021. Despite resigning in what appeared to be disgrace amidst protests in 2019, Boutefilka would be given a state funeral and was even buried in Algeria's national El Alia cemetery.
• The scene where Marge gives her warning to the audience is purposely similar to her warning in the first Treehouse of Horror, but with different dialogue.
• When Kang and Kodos's ship lands on the Statue of Jebediah Springfield, the statue's head falls off as the rest of the statue falls over, as a reference to "The Telltale Head".
• A character also wishes for world peace in "Springfield Up".
• This is the only THOH episode where titles of the segments don't appear. The segments have been named by fans instead.
• Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart, also played a character in the "It's a Good Life" segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie, which the second segment is parodying.
• The DVD commentary of the episode reveals that the names of Kang and Kodos are from Star Trek.
• According to Jim Reardon, the ending in the Monkey's Paw, where Flanders got a castle was a last minute addition.
• The Pentagon appears as a shopping center in "Monkey's Paw".
• This is the first Treehouse of Horror to have the cast's names changed due to Halloween e.g. Bat Groening.
• The credits and font is the same as the original "Treehouse of Horror" but have different notices. J.D. Maria joined in as Assistant to Mr. Sakai.
• So far the only THOH episode with no deaths (unless one counts Mr. Burns's head being separated and placed onto Homer's head as a death).
• This is the first Halloween special where the Gracie Films logo has a different variant, this one with the jingle played on a Pipe Organ.
• In "Another Simpsons Clip Show", they remember Moe's prank call, even though all of the stories are in the form of nightmares by Lisa, Bart, and Homer.
• Although the episode itself (and the second segment where Bart is shown to read minds) is not canon, Bart being able to read minds in itself was later alluded to in "The Boy Who Knew Too Much", where Skinner mentally threatened Bart.
• In the Latin American dub, The Simpsons Go Calypso! music is an instrumental.
• Part three was later referenced in the "SpongeBob SquarePants" episode "Welcome to the Chum Bucket".
• While the "Monkey's Paw" segment is non-canon, it does technically feature the Simpsons' first international trip as a family. The first canon international family trip would not happen until "Bart vs. Australia" in Season 6.

Goofs

Sherri and Terri's skin is bright yellow instead of its usual pale

• England and Argentina reconcile and embrace at the United Nations. England does not have a seat at the UN, instead being represented by the United Kingdom.
• When Flanders owns the Monkey's Paw nothing bad seems to happen to him after he makes the first wish. This may not necessarily be a mistake but a joke about only good things happening to Ned.
• After Flanders makes his wish to improve his house, the camera cuts to Homer where Ned's house still looks like it did before.
• When Lisa gives Bart her candy necklace, one of the blue pieces of candy turns purple for a frame.
• When Bart wakes up screaming after his dream, his tongue disappears. This also happens in Bart Sells His Soul.
• During Bart's dream Sherri and Terri's skin color changes during the scene in the classroom.

Bart missing his tongue