The Telltale Head/References

== Cultural References ==
*The episode title is a reference to the short story The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe. In addition, Bart actually hears the head talking when he is overcome with guilt, similar to Poe's character's hearing the still-beating heart of the man he murdered in the story.
*The Bridge over the River Kwai - the line "What have I done?", as quoted by Bart just after he cuts the head off the statue.
*When Bart awakes to a find the head of Jebediah Springfield in bed next to him, it is reminiscent of the scene from The Godfather where Tom Hagen (played by Robert Duvall) "persuades" studio chairman Jack Woltz to cast Fontane in the movie by leaving the severed head of the producer's prize racehorse in his bed.
* When Bart skateboards in the streets, he shouts "Cowabunga!", the battle cry of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. At the time, the CBS cartoon also featured skateboards known as Cheapskates. Bart had also previously said this phrase while skateboarding down a hill in a February 7, 1988 Tracey Ullman Show Simpsons short titled Skateboarding, which ironically aired before the Ninja Turtles first started using Cheapskates on the CBS cartoon.
*Though not dressed like the Ninja Turtles, Bart would don a black Ninja outfit to what appears to be Japanese battle music as he made his evening journey to the Jebediah Springfield statue and sawed off its head.
*Originally, this episode was not a flashback, and it was made this way during the final stages of production.https://twitter.com/AlJean/status/801829464371929088
*This episode is referenced in the South Park episode titled "The Simpson Already Did It".
== Trivia ==
*This episode featured Bart beheading a statue five years before a band of students threw rock at, and also cursed at, a statue of Christopher Columbus in Higher Learning. Like Columbus, Jebidiah Springfield was regarded a land discoverer. Like Columbus, Jebidiah Springfield would also be later be exposed in negative light, in this case by Lisa Simpson in the 1996 episode Lisa the Iconoclast.
*When Bart meets Jimbo (with Kearney), he apparently knows of him already and tells us that he's "the worst kid in school".
*Marge pulls a Radioactive Man comic book from inside Bart's jacket before leaving the house for church.
*Homer has an 8-track tape deck in his car.
*This episode marks the final time in airing order Mr. Burns was voiced by Christopher Collins (AKA, Christopher Latta). The crew fired him from the show as he was "too difficult to work with", and he would be replaced by Harry Shearer for all future appearances after this episode.
*Ironically, Bart would dress up like a Ninja and say the word "Cowabunga" in this Simpsons episode which aired shortly before the 1990 live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle film was released in theaters on March 30, 1990. Fox would later acquire international distribution rights to the film's two sequels, with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Secret of the Ooze even featuring Bart on a nuclear mutagen antidote cup, and at least two Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle shows which aired after the then-CBS cartoon ended in 1996.
*This is the first episode in which Barney Gumble has brown hair instead of blond.
*A member of the angry mob carries a sign with the likeness of Jebediah Springfield's head bearing the words, "Have You Seen Me?"
*The football announcer on Homer's car radio says, "This could be the most remarkable comeback since Lazarus rose from the dead."
*Announcer: "Wolodarsky takes it at the 5... oh my, he fumbles," reference to show writer-producer Wallace Wolodarsky.
*A sign inside church where Rev. Lovejoy has just given a sermon on the evils of gambling reads, "Bingo---Tuesday Night. Monte Carlo Night---Wednesday. Reno Retreat Saturday."
*The movie marquee reads, "Space Mutants IV: The Trilogy Continues."
*Among the items Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearney steal from the Kwik-E-Mart is a copy of Playdude magazine which is a parody of Playboy.
*Kearney stands on the lawn and leans on a sign that reads "Keep off the Grass."
*Sideshow Bob's hair started as an afro in the middle of the episode, but in the final scene, he has his trademark spiky hair.
*When Bart asks Dolph, Kearney and Jimbo how they got the stolen merchandise from the Kwik-E-Mart, Jimbo replies, "Five finger discount, man," even though characters in The Simpsons only have four fingers.
*First full appearance of Krusty the Clown on the show.
*First appearances of Reverend Lovejoy, Apu, Ms. Albright, Sideshow Bob, Dolph, Kearney, and Jimbo Jones.
*First appearance of the First Church of Springfield, Bart and Lisa's Sunday school, the Kwik-E-Mart and the Aztec Theater.
*This is the first time Smithers is shown with light gray hair and a green jacket.
*This is the first time Chief Wiggum is shown with brown skin and black hair, although he made his debut appearance in "Homer's Odyssey" with his blue hair and yellow skin.
*According to the producers, this episode marked the first hint towards Smithers' sexuality (When Mr. Burns mentioned that he loved Smithers, Smithers replies that "the feeling is more than mutual, sir.")
*When Barney asks how long Bart's story will take Bart says, "23 minutes and 5 seconds," meaning the length of the episode.
*In this episode, Dolph and Jimbo originally had each other's voice before they were later switched.
*When the bullies and Bart were watching the clouds, Kearney noted a man being cut in the back by a switchblade; that man resembled Hans Moleman.
*Several reruns of this episode, as well as the American DVD release of The Complete First Season cut out part of Bart's speech to the mob, in which he points out that removing the head made everyone realize that they were "taking the town's heritage for granted". This specific part of the speech did not exist in the original reel of the episode that was delivered to the Fox Network, and was the editorial creation of the network censors in compliance of the FCC's 1989 ruling that every serial animated television show transmitted include at least 28 seconds of educational content. However, this version of the ending is preserved on international non-USA editions of the DVD, as well as the episode's release on Disney Plus.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld964NBMjtk
*It is not explained how the citizens of Springfield came across the knowledge needed to arrange themselves into a mob to confront Homer and Bart with the head (although it is possible that Homer contacted the authorities beforehand).
*Starting in Season 20, Jebidiah's head is sawed off in the intro by Jimbo and Kearney, despite them saying in this episode that they would never cut the head off.
*This is the first episode to feature Tress MacNeille in the voice cast, voicing Dolph and Ms. Albright. She would later go on to appear in every episode, more than any of the "Also Starring" cast members, starting with Season 11.
*The questions which Ms. Albright is asked, such as "do cavemen go to Heaven?" are all taken verbatim from a 1985 Life in Hell comic strip entitled "Kids' Questions About Death."
*This is the first episode along with "Bart Gets Hit By A Car" shows the title name.
*Dolph is not named until "Kamp Krusty".
*When bouncing the four from the Aztec Theater, it is implied in this episode that Kearney is still a kid as the Theater Guy threatens to call all four characters' parents if they tried to sneak into another movie again. However, later episodes indicate that Kearney is in fact an adult.
*Bart broke the fourth wall, by mentioning that his story would take about 23 minutes, which is just short of the total length of the episode.
==Goofs==
*When Barney asks how long Bart's story will take, the bottom of his face is noticeably lighter in color than the rest of his face.
*When Bart fails to hear Marge's requests about his behavior in Sunday school, his headphone isn't colored in for a frame, making it look like Bart has a hole in his ear.
*This episode implies that the Presbylutheran Church bans gambling. This is inconsistent with later episodes. It's possible that the church has changed its position on gambling.
*When Bart is asking Ms. Albright questions, the upper portion of his face moves to the opposite side of his mouth.
*Ms. Albright's teachings are incorrect; the Bible explicitly states that humans and animals coexist in Heaven. Her lines in later episodes suggest that she may have misread parts of the Bible.
*In the Space Mutants movie, the woman in the car is wearing a bra-like top exposing most of her torso. However, for a frame, her torso beneath her arm is colored red like her top, making it look like she is wearing a shirt or dress.
*When Bart enters the Kwik-E-Mart, the doors need to be pushed open to get through. When Bart leaves, the door slides open.
*The man with the mustache watching Space Mutants 4 is first seen with yellow skin, but it turns brown when Bart blows a raspberry.
==References==
fr:Bart a perdu la tête/Références
Category:Trivia
Category:Goofs