Celia Gómez recently put together a video supercut that compiles many of the movie tributes that have appeared on The Simpsons. The tributes include Mr. Burns as the title character out of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) and Bart Simpsons as Indiana Jones from Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).
Although most of the tributes are ones most people would catch, some of the best references are ones you may have missed while watching The Simpsons. The cuts showing both the movie scenes and the scenes from The Simpsons highlights the animators’ attention to detail. Check it out.
The music accompanying the video is “Sing Sing Sing With a Swing” by the Benny Goodman Orchestra.
What is your favorite Simpsons movie tribute? Leave your two cents in the comments.
This week, The Simpsons ran its 25th “Treehouse of Horror” episode. One of the three segments in the show was “A Clockwork Yellow,” which spoofed films by director Stanley Kubrick. This clip includes references to A Clockwork Orange (1971), Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Full Metal Jacket (1987), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), and Barry Lyndon (1975). [2019 Update: Unfortunately the clip from “Treehouse of Horror XXV” is no longer available for embedding.]
Director Guillermo del Toro created the upcoming The Simpsons “Treehouse of Horror XXIV” opening sequence. The nearly three-minute opening features enough movie and horror references to make it worth re-watching to try to catch all of them. del Toro does a cool job of incorporating all of the references with the traditional Simpsons’ opening, including Bart’s blackboard, the trip to the grocery, and the ending on the couch. Watch for some Alfred Hitchock, an appearance by Edgar Allen Poe, and many movie references, including Mr. Burns in a sequence using del Toro’s own Pan’s Labyrinth(2006).
The segment is pretty cool, and at the least, del Toro’s involvement has garnered a lot of press for the twenty-fourth installment of the Halloween tradition. What is your favorite part of the intro? Leave your two cents in the comments.
A new video from NextMovie compiled all of the references to movies that occurred during the first five seasons of The Simpsons. Some are more obvious than others (like the Lawrence of Arabia one), but the video helps you out by telling you the movies. 2016 Update: Unfortunately, that video is no longer available, but below is a similar compilation of movie references from the first two seasons. This video was created by Quiritare Cinema.
How many do you recognize? Check it out.
What is your favorite Simpsons movie reference? Leave your two cents in the comments.
In a recent discussion of the song “The Raven” from The Alan Parsons Project album Tales of Mystery and Imagination: Edgar Allan Poe, I promised to revisit the 1976 album. My favorite song on Tales of Mystery and Imagination tells the saga of one of my favorite Edgar Allan Poe stories, “The Cask of Amontillado.”
“The Cask of Amontillado” is narrated by a man taking revenge upon a person named Fortunato for some unnamed insult. The narrator tempts Fortunato to his basement with a cask of the alcoholic beverage Amontillado, a type of sherry. And then begins his plan.
This fan video for The Alan Parsons Project song helps illustrate the disturbing tale, beginning with the wonderful opening haunting line by The Alan Parsons Project that encapsulates Poe’s story: “By the last breath of the four winds that blow / I’ll have revenge upon Fortunado.”
Toby Keith used the idea of “The Cask of Amontillado” in a video for his song “A Little Too Late” from the CD White Trash With Money“ (2006). In the video, Keith uses the same idea that appears in the Poe story of building a tomb of bricks around one’s “enemy.”
Although Keith’s song is not literally about the Poe story, the video, directed by Michael Salomon and featuring actress Krista Allen, gives a humorous twist to the original disturbing ending of the Poe story. Check it out.
“The Cask of Amontillado” has inspired other songs, TV shows, etc., in pop culture, such as an episode of The Simpsons where Mr. Burns tries the tactic on Homer. The twist in the Toby Keith video reportedly copied a 1971 episode of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery called “The Merciful” (available on Hulu) so it is unclear how much the director was thinking of Edgar Allan Poe and how much of Rod Serling.
Finally, did you know there is a word for building a wall around someone so they die? “Immurement.” Anyway, these immurements made some interesting stories and songs.
What do you think of “The Cask of Amontillado”? Leave your two cents in comments.
“ (2006). In the video, Keith uses the same idea that appears in the Poe story of building a tomb of bricks around one’s “enemy.”