Bart's Dog Gets An F - Cultural References

Cultural References

Dr. Hibbert's home and family resemble that of the The Cosby Show, a program that at the time competed with The Simpsons for the Thursday 8:00 p.m. time slot. The high tech and expensive sneakers Assassins are reference to the Nike Air Jordan, an athletic shoe brand which was expensive in the early 1990s, and was expected to sell on the basis of brand loyalty and celebrity endorsements. When Lisa shows Marge her sewing finger, the music from the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial plays. Lisa touching Marge's finger is reference to the final scene of that film. The second frame in the Bouvier family patchwork quilt depicts a poster for one of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Shows. In addition, the photograph The Falling Soldier by Robert Capa is the third frame in the quilt. When the scene changes to Santa's Little Helper's point of view, a small explosion sound is heard; this sound is used in the film Predator, when the camera switches to Predator's point of view. The dramatic music from the film Jaws is used just before Santa's Little Helper attacks something. The dog obedience school has different categories named after famous dogs, which are Rin Tin Tin, Benji, Toto and the one in which Santa's Little Helper attends, Cujo. Winthrop is based on British dog trainer and author Barbara Woodhouse. One of the dogs seen in the graduation ceremony is named after Lao Tzu, an ancient philosopher of China. At the end of the episode, the eventual fate of the various dogs in the class are captioned at the bottom of the screen, a reference to the ending of the film National Lampoon's Animal House.