The 50 Greatest Simpsons Movie References
Smart and funny riffs on classic cinema moments...
BY Jun 6th 2009 6:06AMFILED UNDER: Features
User Comments (12)
36. Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Episode: Cape Feare (Season 5)
The original moment: Johnny Depp’s manmade clipper-handed loner is adopted by the Bogg family, and wows the neighbourhood with his extraordinary hedge-trimming abilities.
The Simpsons moment: After terrifying Bart (in the Nightmare On Elm Street reference) Flanders completes an Edward Scissorhands-style hedge sculpture – only his is an angel, rather than a dinosaur.
35. The Birds (1963)
Episode: A Streetcar Named Marge (Season 4)
The original moment: With the menace of the birds reaching a fever pitch, Tippi Hedren’s Melanie Daniels walks past a school yard and a tree which are unnaturally crowded with birds.
The Simpsons moment: Homer, Bart and Lisa go to collect Maggie from the Ayn Rand School For Tots (the same one as per the Great Escape moment), and find the place littered with packs of silent, starting babies sucking on pacifiers. There’s also a shot of Hitchcock, recreating the director’s appearance in his own film.
34. Citizen Kane (1939)
Episode: Mr Plow (Season 4)
The original moment: The opening scene of the world’s greatest film: on his deathbed, the old media mogul Charles Foster Kane holds a snowglobe, which tumbles to the floor and breaks as he whispers his last word, ‘Rosebud’.
The Simpsons moment: Homer commissions a glitzy advertisement for his successful snow plow business. The arty result is probably a parody of David Lynch’s 1992 ad for YSL’s Opium, but the close-up on the snowglobe is straight from Kane.
Next: Cape Fear, Dracula, Ben-Hur...
Print Comments (12)
1: mattburgess says
#16 - Treehouse of Horror III (Season 4), while the photo is from The Simpsons Movie.
Posted: Jun 15th 2009 // 10:11PMAlert a moderator
2: mattburgess says
Are all the movie references you've highlighted from the first 11 seasons and the movie because that's all that has been released on dvd so far? And *someone* in Total Film has been watching them too much? Maybe *everyone* in Total Film? :-P
Posted: Jun 15th 2009 // 10:15PMAlert a moderator
3: theirishgrover says
Well the first one's from Season 14 but I assume they are mostly from the first few seasons since they were cr*p after season 8
Posted: Jun 16th 2009 // 4:02PMAlert a moderator
4: leecrocker says
Missed my favorite...though probably because it's not at all visual: In the episode where they vacation in Japan, Marge says "We saw that movie 'Rashomon', you liked that.", to which Homer replies "That's not the way I remember it."
Posted: Jun 19th 2009 // 8:13AMAlert a moderator
5: aaweeble2 says
OMG dude the Simpsons like totally ROCK!
RT
www.anonymity.tk
Posted: Jun 19th 2009 // 12:07PMAlert a moderator
6: durden says
absolutely awesome article!!!although i don't agree upon number one...still,the simpsons rock!!!
Posted: Jun 19th 2009 // 12:26PMAlert a moderator
7: seanjohntx says
Are you kidding me? You expect me to click through 18 pages? No thanks. Next time, cut down on the click throughs. Buried on digg.
Posted: Jun 19th 2009 // 2:12PMAlert a moderator
8: somewhatfrail says
Great number one choice.
Although I must say that the Terminator one should be omitted in favour of the far greater T-2 homage in the one episode when Homer befriends Flanders. Walking through the hedge like the T-1000 through the prison bars and then chasing the car with the golf clubs? Priceless.
Posted: Jun 19th 2009 // 3:05PMAlert a moderator
9: adman says
Cookie jar? Um, isn't that Homer's penny jar?
No doubt about it though; this is hands-down the number one. Top stuff guys.
Posted: Jun 19th 2009 // 3:06PMAlert a moderator
10: somewhatfrail says
Also, here's a whole compendium of Simpsons Terminator references:
http://www.duffzone.org/content.php?title=reft2
Posted: Jun 19th 2009 // 3:07PMAlert a moderator
11: avoidz says
#20 - Mrs Krabappel puts her leg up in the classroom, not "waggling her leg from the bed".
Posted: Jun 21st 2009 // 3:19PMAlert a moderator
12: avoidz says
Notice how most of the clever, inventive references are all from the early seasons? What does that tell you about the quality of the show later on...
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