In the world oftelevision,The Simpsonsis the king of parodies, both prolonged and brief. There areentire episodes that work as extended send-upsof famous movies, such as season five’s “Cape Feare,” season eight’s “You Only Move Twice,” season six’s “Bart of Darkness,” or any number of the Treehouse of Horror segments. Longerparodiescan be a lot of fun, but a smaller allusion can be just as much of a treat. Whereas an episode-length spoof can lead viewers to expect certain scenes to pop up, short ones come out of nowhere and boast the element of surprise.
That’s what the following movie parodies are below: nice and short. But they’re more than just unexpected; they’re also marvelously funny, and very cool for those who’ve seen the movie (or movies) they’re calling attention to. The best parodies can even occur in episodes that are mostly taking aim at completely different works, which just adds to the fun.The following tenEaster Eggsdisplay a righteous mixture of homage and comedy, ranked by their humor, ability to evoke the films (and/or characters) they’re referencing, and their levels of ambition.
The Simpsons
10Homer Dances in his Underwear
Taken from ‘Risky Business’
In season four’s “Homer the Heretic,” Homer (Dan Castellaneta) doesn’t want to go to church. Marge (Julie Kavner) almost succeeded in changing his mind, but Homer’s church pants ripped so badly that he decided he’d stay home. While Marge and the kids attend a particularly freezing Sunday mass, Homer gets to relax all morning. He actually calls it the best day of his life, doing everything from eating a stick of butter wrapped in waffle runoff to watching a football game. He also dances to “Short Shorts” in his tighty-whities.
Note the sunglasses he’s wearing and the way he’s framed in the center of the shot. This is a reference to one ofTom Cruise’s best movies, a1983 comedy calledRisky Business. In that film, the young and pants-less Cruise is also dancing while wearing sunglasses in the middle of his living room. However, he dances to the much more recent “Old Time Rock & Roll” by the greatBob Seger.
9Chewbacca in Springfield
Taken from ‘Star Wars’ Franchise
“The Springfield Files” is apretty weirdSimpsonsepisode. One of the reasons for that is its unusual abundance of science fiction references, including a shot of several very famous aliens in a police lineup. Among them is none other than Chewbacca, who probably stands out more than anyone else in this remarkable shot (due to the fact thatStar Warswas arguably the most well-known out of all the franchises on display there).
Chewy returns at the end of the episode, too. Like many others, he’s wearing a shirt that reads “Homer is a Dope.” Since Disney currently owns Fox,The Simpsonswouldn’t have any legal trouble bringing him back nowadays. At the time, however, it was very impressive that the show was able to get away with crossover. Overall, the wookiee plays a big part in making this episode a true homage to the science fiction genre.
8Torture Scene in Itchy and Scratchy
Taken from ‘Reservoir Dogs’
Of all the episodes, it’s season eight’sMary Poppins-parody episode that features this brief reference to one of the 90’s most gruesome movie scenes. Itchy and Scratchy comes on TV, and the title of this entry is “Reservoir Cats.” For those who’ve seenQuentin Tarantino’s breakout film,Reservoir Dogs, they know that what’s coming next is right down this diabolical show’s alley. Scratchy is tied up in a chair while Itchy dances to “Stuck in the Middle with You” and pours kerosene on him. He also cuts off one of the cat’s ears.
This all happens in Tarantino’s film, as a thief tortures a police officer when there’s no one around.The Simpsonsdefinitely knew this movie well, since they went so far as to pan the camera away from the violent pair when Itchy cuts off Scratchy’s ear—just like Tarantino’s camera does in his film. This is especially noticeable, since any other Itchy and Scratchy cartoon would absolutely show the mouse lopping off any part of Scratchy’s body. In a way, that makes this parody even more disturbing.
7Homer Puts on Glasses
Taken from ‘The Wizard of Oz’
What would you do if you found a pair of glasses in a public toilet? Wear them, of course, which is exactly what Homer Simpson does in one of season five’s best episodes, “$pringfield: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling.” After putting them on, he points to his head and says something to sound intelligent: “The sum of the square roots of any two sides of an isosceles triangle is equal to the square root of the remaining side.” Then someone sitting on a toilet in the background yells, “That’s arighttriangle, you idiot!” This is rightly followed by a “D’oh!”
This is a hilarious reference to the end ofThe Wizard of Oz: when the scarecrow is given a degree by the Wizard, he says the exact thing (with the finger pointing at his head) and we’re lead to think it’s true.The Simpsonspointing out this isn’t true is a great poke at a beloved movie. Technically, the guy on the toilet could have added that it can’t beanytwo sides of a right triangle (the square root of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the square roots of the two remaining sides). But whatever—we don’t go to the movies for precise mathematics, and we don’t watch TV for that either.
6Rainier Wolfcastle Movie
Taken from Several Action Movies
Every McBain parody is priceless. It’s one ofthe best running gags ofThe Simpsons, so choosing a favorite is pretty subjective. However, there is one that references more than one franchise. Season two’s “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?” shows one particular scene in which Mendoza and a bunch of his powerful friends sit around a table. They’re all under the impression that McBain has been killed, which allows them to move forward in their plans.
Unfortunately for them, McBain is very much alive. He shoots most of them, but throws Mendoza out the window—and the guy falls to his death not unlike Hans Gruber inDie Hard. After McBain declares that he’d like to hold another meeting in bed with his lady-friend, we cut to end credits that look (and sound) very similar to the typicalJames Bondtheme. Along with Rainier Wolfcastle himself being an obvious exaggeration ofArnold Schwarzenegger, this triple-parody is a top-shelf send-up of male action-hero tropes.
5Bart Steals from Homer
Taken from ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’
“Bart’s Friend Falls in Love” begins with an epic spoof ofIndiana Jones. A jar of Homer’s coins glows in a beam of light in the Simpson parents' bedroom. Wearing a red cap as Indiana wears his fedora, Bart (Nancy Cartwright) tiptoes toward the jar and carefully takes it off the drawer as if it’s booby-trapped. Exiting the room, the ground began to shake. As Bart turns around, we see Homer coming out of his master bedroom in his underwear: “Why you little!” Then the classicIndiana Jonestheme kicks in.
Bart runs down the stairs, at which point his father trips and rolls down the staircase behind him, not unlike the boulder inRaiders of the Lost Ark. The boy gets past Snoball II and Santa’s Little Helper, Maggie tries to shoot him with a toy gun, and Homer presses the button on the garage door to prevent Bart from leaving. He just barely escapes, picking up his hat and getting driven away by the school bus while Homer babbles with a rake in his hand. It’s outstanding.
4Homer Chases Flanders
Taken from ‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’
In “Homer Loves Flanders,” Mr. Simpson becomes so attached to his next-door-neighborino that Flanders (Harry Shearer) actively tries to avoid him. This actually turns into a chase, as Homer wields two golf clubs to see if Flanders wants to go to the pitch-and-put. Ned has other plans, driving away in his car with the rest of his family. But Homer becomes unusually good at running here, marvelously turning this into a hilarious spoof of one ofthe greatest action movies of all time:Terminator 2: Judgement Day.
It’s got the music, it’s got the metal golf clubs to allude to the terminator being made of metal, and it’s got the shot of the kids peering out from the backseat as this man gets closer and closer. The blank stare on Homer’s face makes him look just as lifeless as the liquid terminator in the film, and watching him climb aboard the Flanders' car with those clubs is genuinely unnerving. Ned is finally able to swerve the car so that Homer flies off, and Homer absurdly assuming they must not have seen him is hilarious.
3Mr. Burns' Flying Monkeys
Mr. Burns is sucha delightfully evil characterthat he has an alarm that goes off when someone charges room service to the company. In this case, that would be Homer in season five’s “The Last Temptation of Homer.” When Smithers lets his boss know, Mr. Burns responds as only he can: he says “we’ll just see about that,” walks over to some kind of object covered by a sheet with the letter B on it, and pulls off the sheet to reveal several winged monkeys locked in a cage. Opening the door to this cage, he orders them to “Fly, my pretties! Fly!”
This makes fun of that moment inThe Wizard of Ozwhen the Wicked Witch of the West releases her flying monkeys to catch Dorothy. The witch’s magic is clearly superior to Burns' money, though, as the nuclear plant owner’s monkeys merely tumble out the window and plummet to the ground. His response is so cold, turning to his assistant and telling him to “continue the research.” Even viewers who haven’t seenOzwill go bananas for this scene.
2Ayn Rand’s School for Tots Taken Over By the Babies
Taken from ‘The Birds’
“A Streetcar Named Marge” is one of the best parody episodes out there, largely because its main plot and subplot are both extended parodies. For Marge, the story is taken fromA Streetcar Named Desire. For Maggie,trapped in a nursery, it’sThe Great Escape. However, since this list is about smaller references, this episode makes the list because of what happens after Maggie succeeds at retrieving her binky. Homer, Bart, and Lisa come to pick her up, but they open the door to find a room absolutely covered in eerily quiet, staring babies.
Homer screams in horror, then calmly walks over to his baby, picks her up, and slowly backs out of the room. Meanwhile, the only things we hear are pacifiers getting sucked on and Homer’s echoing footsteps. Along with how the camera shows him surrounded by the infants and does close-ups of them beautifully mirrors the end ofAlfred Hitchcock’sThe Birds. And, as in Hitchcock’s films, a cartoon version of the director appears briefly when Homer exits the building. This scene is masterful in every way.
1Homer’s Dream
Taken from ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’
The beginning of season three’s “Lisa’s Pony” is absolutely stellar. It’s also not at all what you expect from an episode about a pony. We’re presented with what can only be a parody of2001: A Space Odyssey’s “Dawn of Man” sequence. Homer is one of the apes, and the monolith is there in the middle of the frame as he and the other apes gather around it. Then the famous “Thus Spake Zarathustra” music comes up, and the animation’s craft makes it breathtaking to behold.
Instead of having just one ape discovering the bone as a weapon, a few more of these cartoon apes make different breakthroughs at the same time. One comes up with the wheel, another discovers fire, and the Homer one realizes you can lean your back against an object to take a nap. He tips this imposing, towering monolith over slightly to make it into a prehistoric couch. We then cut to him snoozing at work, which is a perfect transition. The incredible combination of wonder, humor, and reverence forStanley Kubrick’s most significant workelevates this parody above the rest.
