How Munched is That Birdie in the Window?/References

Episode	References	Gags	Appearances	Gallery	Quotes	Credits

◄ The Fool Monty

How Munched is That Birdie in the Window?

The Fight Before Christmas ►

Cultural references

• The episode title is a reference to the children's song "How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?".
• The supposedly dead ostrich opening its eyes is a reference to the Giant Chicken fights in Family Guy, when Peter wins a battle with Ernie the Giant Chicken and Ernie awakening. The same music is played.
• The scene in which Bart has a Chinese food box of worms could be a reference to a scene from the 1987 film The Lost Boys.
• The Itchy & Scratchy short is based on the 1935 Disney short Pluto's Judgement Day. The set up is similar with a bloodhound on trial with a jury of black cats. In the contexts of their plots, Bart shows the cartoon to Santa's Little Helper in an attempt to teach him a lesson, which fails. In the context of the source material, most of the short is a nightmare Pluto has to scare him straight, which does work.

Trivia

• The last time Bart becomes supportive of birds occurred in "Bart the Mother", or he at least believed they were birds until they hatched.
• The first time Homer got attacked by an ostrich was in "Jaws Wired Shut".
• The last time Bart tied an object to a bird's leg for his own purposes occurred in "Lost Verizon".
• The first time Nelson didn't feel like delivering his catchphrase due to a parental problem occurred in "A Milhouse Divided".
• This is the second time the Simpsons wanted to get rid of Santa's Little Helper. The first is "Bart's Dog Gets an F".
• The last time the TV fell down in the opening sequence occurred in The Great Wife Hope.
• This episodes plot would have similarities to the Family Guy Episode Dog Bites Bear which would air seven and a half years later.

Goofs

• Lisa is scared of pigeons in this episode, yet in other episodes featuring pigeons, Lisa is not scared of them. She even thanked one in "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two)" while trying to clear Homer of trying to kill Burns. -That pigeon was relatively far away from her.
• Either Sherri or Terri is shown in Edna Krabappel's classroom, but there is no sign of the other twin.
• In the Itchy & Scratchy short which takes place in the 1930s the first mobster is using an M16 rifle, despite the M16 was built in the 1960s.
• In some scenes in Bart’s room, Maggie disappears and reappears.