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Moaning Lisa
The Call of the Simpsons
The Telltale Head

Debut Appearances[]

Characters making a first appearance in this episode are:

Trivia[]

  • The 2023 Super Mario Bros. Movie had a scene which bore resemblance to Maggie's brief status as leader of the bear family, where Baby Peach stuck her pacifier in a Toad's mouth after entering The Mushroom Kingdom for the first time as an infant. However, unlike Maggie, Peach would become the permanent leader of the creatures she won the affection of and not just a temporary one.
  • Maggie's relationship with the bear family appears to take aim at Disney's 1954-1955 television miniseries Davy Crockett, which involved Davy killing a bear off-screen by "grinning it to death." In Maggie's case, she gained influence over a family of four bears after giving one of them a pacifier and did not intend to kill them. Her control instead involved using the bears to obtain things that pleased her.
  • The grim organ music which plays after the RV crashes bares resemblance to wrestling legend The Undertaker's first theme music which was used between 1990 and 1994. The Call of The Simpsons aired nine months before Mark Calaway, who at the time was wrestling in WCW as Mean Mark Callous, debuted his WWF Undertaker persona.
  • The motto of Bob's RV Round-Up is "We'd rather make a friend than a profit."
  • The episode marks the first appearance of recurring guest star Albert Brooks. In this episode, and all of his subsequent appearances he is credited as A. Brooks.
  • Flanders makes $27 more a week than Homer does (although this is based on Ned's original job at a pharmaceutical company, not the Leftorium). This would mean as a pharmacologist Ned Flanders made $1,404 a year greater than Homer's salary, although Ned makes far better use of his credit.
  • Signs at Bob's RV-Roundup (formerly RVs R Us): "We want to make friends:-) Not Profit:-(" "We give credit to everyone!"; "Bad Credit. Good!"; "Bankruptcy Shmankruptcy."
  • The Ultimate Behemoth RV: two-stories high with a fireplace, a full kitchen, four deep fryers---"one for each part of the chicken," a big-screen television set, and its own satellite, the Vanstar I.
  • For all its great status as a "castle on wheels", Ned's Land Behemoth RV is not seen again. Presumably Ned sold the Land Behemoth in order to raise capital to acquire the Leftorium.
  • A much later episode does make reference to Ned still owning the RV. When trying to come up with a way to raise money for the church he mentions that he has an RV he never uses that they could sell.
  • The breaking Bigfoot report interrupts the president's address.
  • Signs advertising the Bigfoot cottage industry include "Half-Man, Half-Ape Burgers" and "Get Your Photo Taken with Bigfoot."
  • This is the first time we see Homer naked.
  • The fact that Homer is indeed the missing link is referenced again in Season 17's "The Monkey Suit".
  • This is the first episode in which Rod Flanders appears, though only briefly, and he does not make a second appearance until the next season, and would not speak again until "Bart the Daredevil".
  • This episode was the theme of a Burger King promotion including kids meal toys and collectable cups.
  • At the time of production, the writers and producers felt that this episode had the potential to be made into a two-part story. However, they eventually chose to make it as a single episode.
  • The scene with Bart and Homer making a trap was used in the season four episode "So It's Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show" (the first clip show on The Simpsons). The part where Homer is naked after losing his clothes in the waterfall dive was used during the "hardcore nudity" montage at the end of the season seven clip show episode "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular".
  • This is the first official Simpsons episode to have Maggie make sounds. (In this episode, she makes shivering sounds.)
  • In the United Kingdom, this was one of the first episodes released on video cassette in the early 1990s (on a tape paired with "Bart the Genius"), and thus was many viewers' introduction to the series (especially in the days before the series was shown on terrestrial television). A second tape featuring "Bart the General" and "There's No Disgrace Like Home" was released at the same time.
  • This is the first time Ned uses his catchphrase "Diddly."

Goofs[]

Nobow5

Maggie without her bow

  • When Maggie watches Homer and Bart running away in terror, the bow on her hair is missing.
  • As Homer notices that his clothes are gone, a branch is covering him, however it wasn't there before when he swam to shore.
  • When Lisa reminds Homer, her shirt is green. It is normally red.
  • Lisa tells Homer that the handle of the Big Dipper points to the North Star. This is incorrect. The handle points to Arcturus, "Follow the Arc to Arcturus". Instead it is the two stars which make the "front" of the Dipper's "cup" point to the Polaris.
  • When the RV falls off the cliff, dust rises from the floor of the canyon before the sound of impact is heard.

Cultural References[]

  • The tune for the camping scenes is called "The Happy Wanderer".
  • The episode title is a reference to the novella "The Call of the Wild" by Jack London.
  • When Homer is shot with tranquilizer darts, his last words to Bart before he loses consciousness are "Avenge my death." This is similar to Harry Dean Stanton yelling out to his two sons in Red Dawn.
  • When the camper is filming the deer grazing in the mud which Homer falls into, there is a short excerpt from the main theme of Claude Debussy's 'Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune'.
  • The title of this episode is extremely similar to the Season 2 episode tilted "The War of the Simpsons".
Shorts: Season 3 Season 1 References/Trivia Season 2
Simpsons Roasting on an Open FireBart the GeniusHomer's OdysseyThere's No Disgrace Like HomeBart the GeneralMoaning LisaThe Call of the SimpsonsThe Telltale HeadLife on the Fast LaneHomer's Night OutThe Crepes of WrathKrusty Gets BustedSome Enchanted Evening
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