"Eversmile, New Jersey"?
July 27, 2013 6:21 AM Subscribe
That somehow seems like a completely appropriate first comment for a post about references in The Simpsons.
posted by DoctorFedora at 8:00 AM on July 27, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by DoctorFedora at 8:00 AM on July 27, 2013 [6 favorites]
Boy, I really hope someone got fired for that blunder.
posted by gompa at 8:03 AM on July 27, 2013 [13 favorites]
posted by gompa at 8:03 AM on July 27, 2013 [13 favorites]
Actually, in Episode 1F21, "Lady Bouvier's Lover", the fact that it is indeed a reference to The Gold Rush is acknowledged directly when Grampa Simpson is threatened by lawyers representing the estates of long-deceased actor Charlie Chaplin.
posted by Lorin at 8:06 AM on July 27, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by Lorin at 8:06 AM on July 27, 2013 [4 favorites]
This is a real joy, and I hope there's more to come.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:07 AM on July 27, 2013
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:07 AM on July 27, 2013
This FPP and thread is relevant to my interests.
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 8:16 AM on July 27, 2013 [7 favorites]
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 8:16 AM on July 27, 2013 [7 favorites]
Actually, in Episode 1F21, "Lady Bouvier's Lover", the fact that it is indeed a reference to The Gold Rush is acknowledged directly when Grampa Simpson is threatened by lawyers representing the estates of long-deceased actor Charlie Chaplin.
No, I know. That's why I say it's really a reference to Benny & Joon; the whole thing is just Johnny Depp stealing bits from silent movies. Also, the timing: B&J came out one year before that episode.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:25 AM on July 27, 2013
No, I know. That's why I say it's really a reference to Benny & Joon; the whole thing is just Johnny Depp stealing bits from silent movies. Also, the timing: B&J came out one year before that episode.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:25 AM on July 27, 2013
Good point, but I couldn't resist! Overall though I am impressed at how thorough this thing was.
posted by Lorin at 8:28 AM on July 27, 2013
posted by Lorin at 8:28 AM on July 27, 2013
Is the dolly zoom on Lisa really a reference to Vertigo? That seems like a bit of a stretch.
posted by kenko at 8:35 AM on July 27, 2013
posted by kenko at 8:35 AM on July 27, 2013
I'm skeptical that they managed to catch every movie reference in a mere 19 minutes. Especially since the creators have joked that you could probably piece together the whole of Citizen Kane and the Godfather from all the references they made in those early years.
posted by TwoWordReview at 8:48 AM on July 27, 2013
posted by TwoWordReview at 8:48 AM on July 27, 2013
Having said that, even in the first minute there were a few I hadn't caught/known the source material before, so it's no small feat either way to put this together.
posted by TwoWordReview at 8:50 AM on July 27, 2013
posted by TwoWordReview at 8:50 AM on July 27, 2013
Sorry, but Homer whistling "The Happy Wanderer" is not an allusion to The Sound of Music since that song is not from that movie/play.
posted by FelliniBlank at 9:35 AM on July 27, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 9:35 AM on July 27, 2013 [4 favorites]
That made me simultaneously nostalgic for the gold old days of the Simpsons and patriotic about our fine history of American cinema.
posted by sweetkid at 9:43 AM on July 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by sweetkid at 9:43 AM on July 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
Sorry, but isn't child-turned-into-vampire-beckoning-outside-second-story-window from Salem's Lot, not The Lost Boys?
posted by Bromius at 10:07 AM on July 27, 2013
posted by Bromius at 10:07 AM on July 27, 2013
Sorry, but isn't child-turned-into-vampire-beckoning-outside-second-story-window from Salem's Lot, not The Lost Boys?
Yes. Yes it is.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:19 AM on July 27, 2013
Yes. Yes it is.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:19 AM on July 27, 2013
They missed one.
No, they got it, it just went by quick. Watch again.
posted by kenko at 10:22 AM on July 27, 2013
No, they got it, it just went by quick. Watch again.
posted by kenko at 10:22 AM on July 27, 2013
That somehow seems like a completely appropriate first comment for a post about references in The Simpsons.
You misspelled "perfectly cromulent."
posted by radwolf76 at 10:22 AM on July 27, 2013 [5 favorites]
You misspelled "perfectly cromulent."
posted by radwolf76 at 10:22 AM on July 27, 2013 [5 favorites]
I'm skeptical that they managed to catch every movie reference in a mere 19 minutes.
They definitely didn't. They'd have to include the entirety of Monorail, for one.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 10:47 AM on July 27, 2013 [5 favorites]
They definitely didn't. They'd have to include the entirety of Monorail, for one.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 10:47 AM on July 27, 2013 [5 favorites]
19 animated minutes of annotated, context-free movie references and it's STILL more cohesive than Family Guy.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 11:41 AM on July 27, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 11:41 AM on July 27, 2013 [4 favorites]
Is the dolly zoom on Lisa really a reference to Vertigo? That seems like a bit of a stretch.
I would say it absolutely is. That camera move is actually referred to as The Vertigo Effect
posted by dobbs at 12:46 PM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
I would say it absolutely is. That camera move is actually referred to as The Vertigo Effect
posted by dobbs at 12:46 PM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
But did Vertigo make use of it for anything but the iconic POV stairs shot?
I'd say its use on a character's face to represent their Oh Shit moment comes more from Jaws. (But I don't think that clip from The Simpsons is a reference to Jaws; it's just using established film language.)
posted by Sys Rq at 1:50 PM on July 27, 2013
I'd say its use on a character's face to represent their Oh Shit moment comes more from Jaws. (But I don't think that clip from The Simpsons is a reference to Jaws; it's just using established film language.)
posted by Sys Rq at 1:50 PM on July 27, 2013
This is a real joy, and I hope there's more to come.
Unfortunately there were only 5 seasons of The Simpsons - on the bright side, they ended on a high note.
posted by crayz at 2:15 PM on July 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
Unfortunately there were only 5 seasons of The Simpsons - on the bright side, they ended on a high note.
posted by crayz at 2:15 PM on July 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
When they zoom in on the green-headed Lisa (at about 1:45), it's like the dream sequence in Vertigo — you can see Jimmy Stewart's green head coming toward the camera at about 1:15 here.
posted by John Cohen at 6:44 PM on July 27, 2013
posted by John Cohen at 6:44 PM on July 27, 2013
Yet another reason why The Simpsons is so much better than Family Guy - in Simpsons, they throw out a reference in a way that works intrinsically with the scene so that the dialog, music, and setting makes a plot point and gets a laugh regardless of whether you know the reference. Often you don't catch the specific movie, but you understand the reference is a call to a genre. The writers let whatever part of the audience that catches the reference get a higher level joke.
In Family Guy, they methodically say "remember that time I was in the desert with Laurence of Arabia..." and bludgeon you to death with the joke. I suppose you can't expect more from a bunch of manatees.
posted by Muddler at 7:52 AM on July 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
In Family Guy, they methodically say "remember that time I was in the desert with Laurence of Arabia..." and bludgeon you to death with the joke. I suppose you can't expect more from a bunch of manatees.
posted by Muddler at 7:52 AM on July 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
Yet another reason why The Simpsons is so much better than Family Guy - in Simpsons, they throw out a reference in a way that works intrinsically with the scene so that the dialog, music, and setting makes a plot point and gets a laugh regardless of whether you know the reference.
That's how it was when The Simpsons was any good at all, but those days are long gone. Now its nods to pop culture come in the form of flash-in-the-pan celebrity walk-ons, where the celebrities play themselves and invariably say, "Hi, my name is..." Subtle!
posted by Sys Rq at 2:42 PM on July 28, 2013
That's how it was when The Simpsons was any good at all, but those days are long gone. Now its nods to pop culture come in the form of flash-in-the-pan celebrity walk-ons, where the celebrities play themselves and invariably say, "Hi, my name is..." Subtle!
posted by Sys Rq at 2:42 PM on July 28, 2013
Follow up: The same folks have posted another compilation for seasons 6-10.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 5:57 PM on July 30, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 5:57 PM on July 30, 2013 [1 favorite]
« Older A Secret Folk Music Holds Firm In China's Badlands | Final Encore Blues For Mister JJ Cale Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by Sys Rq at 7:59 AM on July 27, 2013 [5 favorites]