The Honking - Cultural References

Cultural References

• The factory where Project Satan was initiated is called Anti-Chrysler, a humorous portmanteau of Antichrist and the car company, Chrysler.
• The eerie sound that is heard in the castle is the default startup tune for Windows 98. Also when the Gypsy's reading the book about the Were-car the book also says Windows 98.
• One of the robot ghosts chasing Bender is the Microsoft Windows logo. Another is a flying toaster.
• The town of Thermostadt is a pun on Thermostat, a device used to adjust the temperature in many homes, using the common German suffix "-stadt" or "town." Note that a thermostat, which can sense its environment and make changes to it, is often used as an example of an extremely primitive robot.
• One of the tombstones in the castle cemetery reads "The Red LeBaron", a punning reference to the Red Baron and the Chrysler LeBaron, foreshadowing the were-car plot.
• Uncle Vladimir's spoiled son Tandy is named for the Tandy Corporation (now the RadioShack Corporation). On his torso is written "Euro-TRaSh-80", a reference to Tandy's TRS-80 personal computer, nicknamed the "Trash-80".
• When the will is read, the line for Tandy is a parody of a line from the famous Volkswagen commercial "Funeral."
• The painting with the moving eyes is that of "Commodore LXIV", referring to the Commodore 64 personal computer.
• Calculon's claim that he was all of "history's greatest acting robots" is a subtle reference to the immortal Mr. Flint from the Star Trek episode "Requiem for Methuselah". David X. Cohen confirms this Star Trek reference in the DVD commentary.
• Calculon claims that he was once David Duchovny.
• The impound lot in which Bender wakes up has the slogan "The Happiest Place on Earth", a reference to Disneyland.
• Fry draws attention to himself shouting "I'm a blind pedestrian, 20 points!" refers to Death Race 2000 (and its successors, i.e. Carmageddon).
• Project Satan refers to "Ed Begley, Jr.'s electric motor, the most evil propulsion system ever conceived!" Begley is known for his environmentalism and support for hybrid vehicles like the Toyota Prius, and owned a General Motors EV1.
• At one point, Doctor Zoidberg attempts to sell Mary Kay products to his co-workers.
• The castle that once belonged to Bender's uncle is located in the former Robo-Hungarian Empire, a reference to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
• Calculon says that the most evil parts of the most evil people's cars were used to build Project Satan, like the steering wheel from Adolf Hitler's staff car and the left turn signal of Charles Manson's VW. He also mentions the windshield wipers from KITT from the series Knight Rider, to which Fry says "Knight Rider wasn't evil!". Calculon responds "His windshield wipers were! It didn't come up much on the show, though."