Bart! Lisa! Time for church! — Marge
Milhouse! Time for church! — Luann Van Houten
Shlomo! Time for your violin lesson! — Some guy, “Bart’s Girlfriend”
(Before we begin, I’d like to mention that today’s post was suggested by faithful McGarnagalian Adz, who inquired as to this reference in the comments section of a post last week. So, of course, I would like to extend this same option to other readers. Got a Simpsons reference that you just haven’t been able to crack? Hit me in the comments, and I’ll get at it to the best of my abilities.)
The brilliantly-scripted scene at the opening of “Bart’s Girlfriend” in which the various children are hunted down by their parents for church is a parody of a similar scene in the 1968 monkey snuff film Planet of the Apes.
It’s a really great scene, but unfortunately those do-gooders at Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. have recently taken down the YouTube video I was going to show. To ensure the people at Fox get all the money that’s coming to them, everyone please go out and buy a copy of the film. I’ll wait.
Or, I suppose you could read this humorous recap that does include some choice stills such as the one above.
From what I remember, Planet of the Apes is actually a pretty good movie, and of course it certainly pops up in The Simpsons from time to time. Oh, yes, and it has that human zoo fantasy that we’ve all nurtured at one point or another:
In “Bart Gets an F,” during the snow day there is a scene where Patty and Selma pass across the screen on a sled. The way it is animated makes it seem like it’s a reference to some painting or photo, or something else. Any idea where this comes from?
I’m on my way!