Treehouse of Horror XXIV/References

Episode	References	Gags	Appearances	Gallery	Quotes	Credits

◄ Homerland

Treehouse of Horror XXIV

Four Regrettings and a Funeral ►

◄ Treehouse of Horror XXIII

Treehouse of Horror XXIV

Treehouse of Horror XXV ►

Cultural References

Intro

• The three-eyed crow from "Take My Life, Please" appears and is struck by lightning.
  • The billboard "Krusty... now doing funerals" can be seen the intro. It also appeared in "Take My Life, Please", which introduced the HD intro.
• The zombie invasion of Springfield could be any zombie work, but it's most likely a reference to Night of the Living Dead.
• The background fight between a giant robot and a giant monster is a reference to Pacific Rim.
• Lard Lad being zapped by lightning and coming to life is a reference to "Treehouse of Horror VI".
• The giant Wiggum-Cyclops is based on the Cyclops from The 7th Voyage of Sinbad.
• Alfred Hitchcock's cameo, and the crows perched all over a climbing frame before attacking Krabappel, reference Hitchcock's 1963 natural horror-thriller film of The Birds.
• Bart and Stephen King writing "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" is a reference to Stanley Kubrick's version of The Shining. The first segment of Treehouse of Horror V is an homage to The Shining.
• Groundskeeper Willie's appearance is a reference to Hellboy, while his fight with Kroenen is a reference to the film.
• Homer's mutated appearance is a reference to Blade II, the monstrous Reapers and Cyanide & Happiness while Carl's costume references Blade himself.
• Corpses of the 'Tracey Ullman Show' versions of the Simpsons family can be seen underneath the Nuclear Power Plant, as well as Godzilla's skeleton. This is actually the second episode where corpses of the Tracy Ullman Show versions have been shown underground, following "Adventures in Baby-Getting".
• Mr. Burns and Smithers resemble, respectively, the Pale Man and a fairy from Pan's Labyrinth.
• Items on the store checkout resemble devices from the film Cronos and Hellboy II: The Golden Army.
• Maggie is priced at the checkout as 666, the 'number of the beast'.
• The resemblance of the store cashier, Marge and Baby Gerald as oversized insects is a reference to the film Mimic.
• The school band features: the original 1916 Phantom of the Opera, the 1925 version, 1943 version, and 1962 version. Mr. Largo, however, resembles the Phantom of the Paradise.
• As Lisa leaves the music room, paintings are hanging on the wall showing: the alien Maggie from Treehouse of Horror IX's Starship Poopers, Dr Hibbert and human-animal hybrids from Treehouse of Horror XIII's The Island of Dr. Hibbert, Homer as the Raven-tormented narrator Treehouse of Horror's The Raven and the Grand Pumpkin from Treehouse of Horror XIX's It's the Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse.
• Cthulhu makes an appearance; this may also be a reference to Guillermo del Toro's planned film of At the Mountains of Madness.
• Horror/science-fiction writers H. P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Ray Bradbury and Richard Matheson all make a cameo, doing things relating to their works: Lovecraft (author of the Cthulhu Mythos) drinks tea with one of Cthulhu's tentacles, Poe (author of The Raven) feeds a three-eyed raven, Bradbury (author of The Illustrated Man) draws on a tattooed man, and Matheson (author of I Am Legend) stands next to one of the novel's vampires.
• The mob of classic monsters chasing Bart and the others consists of: Boris Karloff's Frankenstein's Monster, Bela Lugosi's Dracula, Lon Chaney Jr's the Wolfman, the Metaluna Mutant from This Island Earth, Karloff's Mummy, Gillman from Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Bride of Frankenstein, and Claude Rains' Invisible Man.
• Maggie drives the sedan from the movie The Car attempting to run over Milhouse. Homer also considered running over Milhouse in the "I Know What You Diddily-Iddly-Did" segment of "Treehouse of Horror X".
• Characters appearing in the panning shot are: the plant god from Hellboy II, Rod Serling (Twilight Zone creator/narrator), the Robot from Lost in Space, the Man in the Beaver Hat from London After Midnight, a Xenomorph from Alien, the Ymir from 20 Million Miles to Earth, one of the Mole People, the skeleton soldiers from 1963's Jason and the Argonauts, the creature from The Thing from Another World, a Morlock from The Time Machine, Ro-Man from Robot Monster, Cavor's craft from First Men in the Moon, Count Orlok from Nosferatu, aliens from Invasion of the Saucer Men, the Fly, Klaatu's spaceship and the robot Gort from The Day the Earth Stood Still, two of the 'freaks' from Freaks, and Rondo Hatton from House of Horrors.
• In the panning shot, Hans Moleman is seen painting the Alfred Hitchcock Presents / Shamley Productions logo on a wall.
• The wall that Moleman is painting on has "El Muerto" painting on it, possibly a reference to Bart's "el Barto" signature and Dia de los Muertos.
• In the couch gag, Homer resembles the ghost Santi from The Devil's Backbone.
• Lisa falls down an Alice in Wonderland-style portal, wearing Alice's iconic costume.
• Hypnotoad from Futurama makes a cameo appearance.
• The final segment references Pan's Labyrinth again: the throne room is the same, Marge and Homer resemble the King and Queen of the underworld, Lisa is dressed as protagonist Ofelia, there are small fairies flying about, and Bart resembles the Faun.
• At the last scene showing the TV, the final notes of the traditional Treehouse of Horror end credits music can be heard playing.

Oh, the Places You'll D'oh!

• This segment is a parody/tribute to the works of Dr. Seuss.
  • The title is a parody of his final book, Oh, the Places You'll Go!
  • The story is primarily a parody of The Cat in the Hat. Bart and Lisa's outfits resemble the ones that Sally and Conrad wear in the story.
  • The little helpers under the Fat's hat is a reference to the book's sequel, The Cat in the Hat Comes Back.
  • The Borax is a parody of the title character of The Lorax. The Fat in the Hat calls him a "sell-out" for plastering his face on merchandise, a reference to the controversial advertising campaign of the 2012 film adaptation of the story.
  • The Fat in the Hat knocks over a tower of turtles stacked on one another, a reference to Yertle the Turtle.
  • Ned Flanders' appearance resembles that of a Sneetch from The Sneetches.
  • The inanimate pair of pants is a reference to the story What Was I Scared Of?
  • Mr. Burns calls the Fat in the Hat a "son of a gritch", a reference to the Grinch from How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. In addition, Maggie's outfit resembles that of Cindy Lou Who.
  • A drunkard sleeping outside of Moe's is surrounded by hats, a reference to The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins.
  • A parody of Horton the Elephant from Horton Hears a Who! can be seen at Moe's drinking from a tap with his trunk.
  • Moe's appearance here does visually resembles The Grinch, because of their shared grouchiness.
  • The "three-humped Gumbamel" is a reference to the "seven-hump Wump" from One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.
• The mask the Fat in the Hat wears when blowing up city hall looks similar to Guy Fawkes' mask from the film V for Vendetta.
• The classic MGM lion roar can be heard when the Fat in the Hat frees the animals in the zoo.
• As he dies, the Fat in the Hat wishes that he would not be played by Mike Myers, a reference to his role in the critically-panned 2003 live-action adaptation of The Cat in the Hat.
  • That same movie has Dan Castellaneta, who is not just Homer, but many others as Grampa, Groundskeeper Willie, Sideshow Mel, and etc voice actor, staring in it as Thing 1 and Thing 2.
  • Ironically, Myers also played Shrek in the heavily praised 2001 DreamWorks film of the same name.

Dead and Shoulders

• This segment a parody of the film, The Thing with Two Heads.
• The title is a parody of the shampoo brand, Head & Shoulders.

Freaks No Geeks

• The segment is a parody of the 1932 pre-Code horror film Freaks.
• The title is a parody of the short-lived show, Freaks and Geeks.
• Nelson's appearance as the "Donkey Boy" is a possible reference to Walt Disney's Pinocchio.
• Moe being the most horrendous person in the freak show is possibly a reference to season 11's "Pygmoelian", where it was revealed that Moe is ugly.
• An elephant named Jumbo giving Moe a shower is a reference to Dumbo.
• The scene of Rabbit Ears and Big Mouth is similar to one from Futurama (episode "Less Than a Hero").
• The last scene where Homer says "And that, kids, is how I met your mother" references the series How I Met Your Mother, and its theme music plays over the end credits.

Trivia

• This is the first Treehouse of Horror episode since "Treehouse of Horror X" to have a couch gag.
• The "Dead and Shoulders" storyline of was previously used in the "If Only I Had a Brain" segment of "Treehouse of Horror II". It was also used in the Futurama episode "Put Your Head on My Shoulders".
• Marge's face is never seen in the first segment (Oh, the Places You'll D'oh!).
• Skinner appears as a freak called the Spineless Man. He also appeared spineless in "Treehouse of Horror XIV". The title also pokes fun at Skinner's own personality.
• The Gracie Films logo didn't have the scream, instead it was replaced by people shouting "One of us!"
• This is the second Treehouse of Horror opening to be based off the normal opening, following "Treehouse of Horror IX".
• Because The Simpsons moved to FXX, this was the last time a Halloween episode aired in November.
• In the John Frink's credit, The Text written backwards as "EREH NI DEPPART KNIRF" which Also reads "FRINK TRAPPED IN HERE"
• This is the final Halloween special to have the same Halloween remixed ending theme from Treehouse of Horror XVI.
• In the cast credits, Denise Sirkot is represented by an app icon with a Simpson-ized caricature of herself, similar to the Tapped Out logo.
• In the ending credits, this is the second Treehouse of Horror episode to have Nancy Cartwright's Halloween name as "NecroNance", following "Treehouse of Horror XXI".

Goofs

• This episode aired in 2013 and Freaks, No Geeks was supposed to take place in 1932 but when Homer tells the kids his story it is in the present time. Since this is non-canon, he could have lived for 81 years after the incident but it says in the last article that he passed away. He must have faked his demise at the time.
• In the sawmill scene during the Dead and Shoulders segment, Bart and Lisa's tongue color palettes change from red to dark brown.