Treehouse of Horror IV/References

Episode	References	Gags	Appearances	Gallery	Quotes	Credits

◄ Rosebud

Treehouse of Horror IV

Marge on the Lam ►

◄ Treehouse of Horror III

Treehouse of Horror IV

Treehouse of Horror V ►

Trivia

• The Jury of the Damned includes Lizzie Borden, Benedict Arnold, Blackbeard, Jonathan Dillinger, John Wilkes Booth, The Starting Line of the 1976 Philadelphia Flyers, and Richard Nixon (who, at the time, wasn't dead, and was implied to be in the Jury of the Damned because he sold his soul to the Devil to either be U.S. President or get out of being impeached for the Watergate scandal. Six months after this episode aired, the real Richard Nixon did die).
• Also, the 1976 Flyers in this episode sport blue and white jerseys. In real life, the team's colors are orange and black.
• In the beginning of "Bart Simpson's Dracula", the boat picture in the living room is replaced by the Dogs Playing Poker picture.
• The Devil is established to already know Bart in "The Devil and Homer Simpson." This could possibly reflect their brief meeting when Bart narrowly averted death in "Bart Gets Hit by a Car."
• Homer's appearance with his donut head, after the devil curses him, is an alternate costume in Level 7 of The Simpsons: Hit and Run.
• This is the third Treehouse of Horror to have the cast's names changed because of Halloween e.g. Bat Groening. The first two being "Treehouse of Horror II" and "Treehouse of Horror III".
• "Terror at 5½ Feet" is mistitled Nightmare at 5½ Feet in The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family.
• This is one of the two Halloween specials where Lisa is about to be bitten by a vampire only to be interrupted, the other special was "Treehouse of Horror XXI".
• Beginning with this episode, many Treehouse of Horror episodes have a woman screaming during the Gracie Films logo.
• In "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular", there is a deleted scene which shows Lionel Hutz returning with an empty pizza box. In the final version, Hutz escapes through the bathroom window due to unintentionally aiding the Devil in court.
• This is the last Halloween Special to use bridging sequences between segments.
• This is the only Treehouse of Horror not to feature a warning from either Homer or Marge just before the opening sequence, although Marge told Bart to do it he never did.
• This episode was featured in the Map of Hell 2016 TV movie.
• This episode is included on The Simpsons: Heaven and Hell DVD/VHS, alongside "Bart Sells His Soul", "Homer the Heretic" and "In Marge We Trust".

Goofs

The Devil and Homer Simpson

• When Homer says to the Devil that if he eats what's left of the donut he is going to be in Hell, the remains have some pink cream and sugar. When Homer eats it, however, the pink cream and the sugar disappear.

Terror at 5½ Feet

• When the camera zooms at Bart and Lisa talking, the bowl Marge is holding and the bowls on the table are empty. But when Marge puts the bowl on the table, the bowls are full of cereal and oatmeal.
  • Also, the bowl Marge was holding doesn't have a spoon on it. But when she puts it on the table, a spoon appears on it.
• When the camera zooms in as Bart starts eating, there is a bowl of cereal with a spoon beside Bart's bowl. But when the camera zooms on the family, the bowl and the spoon disappear.

• 

  Sherri and Terri with miscolored skin

  In the scene of the family and Homer holding the objects he found on the pier, Bart has his hands on the table. But in his closeup, he has one hand with a spoon of cereal.
• Bart and Lisa do not have backpacks when they enter the bus.
• Uter is on the left side of the seat. But when Milhouse sits on the seat, Uter is on the right side of the seat.
• Directly after Otto rams Hans Moleman, Sherri and Terri appear with the same skin color as the main cast instead of their correct lighter shade.
• When Bart opens the bus window, everyone starts screaming and panicking. However, when Homer drives by to say hi, some of the children can be seen through the windows, sitting peacefully.

Bart Simpson's Dracula

• In the news, Mr. Burns has some blood on the left side of his face. But when he licks the blood, the blood is on the right side of his face.
• When Lisa opens the curtain, Janey, Ralph, Milhouse and Martin are not there. But in the next scene, they appear.
• When Bart is about to bite Lisa, both of the bookshelves in her room appear empty.
• When the family is ready to bite Lisa, Maggie has her mouth open with her fangs. But in a split second, a pacifier appears on her mouth.
  • It's possible it's a reference to Snoopy: At the end of A Charlie Brown Christmas, from 1965 to 1967, the closing singing of the lyrics to "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" included Snoopy mouthing the words; this was corrected in 1968 for all subsequent broadcasts.
• Marge says that she is the head vampire, but that should mean Lisa would be a vampire, too.
• When Marge comes into Bart's bedroom, Maggie is not seen. But when Bart flies out the window she appears.
• Even though the family (barring Lisa) were supposed to be vampires as a result of Marge biting them at some point, they don't disintegrate despite clearly being in the house during the daytime, with no blockages to the windows.

Citations

Opening sequence

• In the opening sequence the following tombstones can be read: "Elvis - Accept It", "A Balanced Budget", "Subtle Political Satire", and "TV Violence", with several gun shots being fired at it.
• The tombstone about Elvis is a reference to the conspiracy theory that Elvis is still alive.
• At the beginning, the paintings that Bart passes by are Lisa in a version of The Scream, Marge's shadow on wall (in the style of de Chirico), Homer (Van Gogh's self portrait), Maggie with melted pacifiers (Dali's "Persistence of Memory"), Lisa playing sax (Picasso's "Three Musicians"), and Homer chasing Bart (Escher's "Ascending and Descending").  The final story that Bart passes is the paintings of Bart behind an apple (Magritte's self-portrait, "The Son of Man") and the "Dogs Playing Poker" picture.
• This is a parody of Rod Serling's "Night Gallery".

The Devil and Homer Simpson

• The demon who is feeding Homer donuts says: "I don't understand it. James Coco went mad in fifteen minutes!" James Coco was a character known in the 1970s. He parodied the Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot, penned by Agatha Christie. In the movie, James Coco’s character throws a volley of subtle food jokes. In his last years, Coco received attention for his culinary talents and best-selling cookbooks. The James Coco Diet, an educational book which included chapters on menu planning and behavior modification as well as choice recipes, was just one that he promoted on the talk show circuit. It is probably not a coincidence that he often played characters with extreme food issues.
• When the Devil Flanders gets angry at Homer at the nuclear power plant, the form he assumes is exactly like the demon Chernabog in the "A Night on Bald Mountain" segment from Fantasia.
• Homer's ironic punishment of being force-fed donuts is a parody of the Merrie Melodies cartoon Pigs is Pigs. (The scene where Piggy is being force-fed is creator Matt Groening's favorite scene in animation.)
• Lionel Hutz combs his hair with a fork, in much the same way Ariel combs her hair as directed by Scuttle the seagull from Disney's adaptation of The Little Mermaid.
• Devil Flanders describes the soul donut as "scrumdiddlyumptious," a word originating from the original film adaptation of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
• Lionel Hutz references Webster's Dictionary.
• Domino's Pizza's "30 minutes or it's free" from Lionel Hutz.

Terror at 5½ Feet

• The episode is a parody of the Twilight Zone episode Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.
• "Psycho" Skinner's mother.

Bart Simpson's Dracula

• The episode is a parody of the 1931 film Dracula.
  • Burns' manor being set in Pennsylvania is an obvious parody of Transylvania, Dracula's rumored living place.
• The winding road up to the castle the front door opening by itself Burns materializing on the stairs Burns's clothing Burns's shadow having a life of its own. Plus it had those horrifying pointy fingers. The spookiness of the vampire Count Orlok's shadow was one of the best elements of the film Nosferatu.
• The painting for the segment is the famous painting Dogs Playing Poker.
• Eddie throws the Mona Lisa painting on the fire.
• The book "Yes, I am A Vampire" is written by Monty Burns and Foreword by Steve Allen.
• Bart Simpson does impressions of Shemp and Curly from "The Three Stooges".
• Bart floating outside the window as a vampire is referenced from the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
• Bart changing into a bat and fleeing into the night is referenced from the 1993 film Happily Ever After.
• At the end of Bart Simpson's Dracula, the segment transitions into a parody of the Peanuts special "A Charlie Brown Christmas".
• When Lisa deduces a vampire is responsible for the attacks, she uses the terms Nosferatu and Das Wampyr, which are synonyms for "Vampire." Coincidentally, "Wampyr" was the planned name for what would ultimately become Count Dracula when Bram Stoker was writing his book.

Closing sequence

• In the closing credits of the episode the end music is spoofing the famous Addams Family theme song with the Simpsons theme song in it.

Notes

◄ Season 4	Season 5 References/Trivia	Season 6 ►
Homer's Barbershop Quartet • Cape Feare • Homer Goes to College • Rosebud • Treehouse of Horror IV • Marge on the Lam • Bart's Inner Child • Boy-Scoutz 'n the Hood • The Last Temptation of Homer • $pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling) • Homer the Vigilante • Bart Gets Famous • Homer and Apu • Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy • Deep Space Homer • Homer Loves Flanders • Bart Gets an Elephant • Burns' Heir • Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song • The Boy Who Knew Too Much • Lady Bouvier's Lover • Secrets of a Successful Marriage