Editing Last Exit to Springfield (section)

==Cultural references==
[[File:LisaPurpleSubmarine.png|right|200px|thumb|Lisa's dream sequence, based on ''[[Yellow Submarine (film)|Yellow Submarine]]''.<ref name="bbc"/> Everything in the sequence had to be slightly changed for copyright reasons.<ref name="Jean"/>]]
The title of the episode is an homage to [[Hubert Selby Jr.]]'s novel ''[[Last Exit to Brooklyn]]'', one subplot of which involves the corruption and downfall of a union leader during a strike.<ref name="Turner2010">{{cite book|author=Chris Turner|title=Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lm43EetfI8kC&pg=PA84|date=28 May 2010|publisher=Random House of Canada|isbn=978-0-307-36609-2|page=84 |quote=Note first that the title of this episode—“Last Exit to Springfield"— is a play on Last Exit to Brooklyn, Hubert Selby's scathing literary portrait of twentieth-century labour relations}}</ref> The body of the union president, Chuckie Fitzhugh, is seen buried under a football field, an homage to the mystery surrounding the whereabouts of [[Jimmy Hoffa]] and his alleged burial at [[New Jersey]]'s [[Giants Stadium]].<ref name="Jean"/> Mr. Burns' outfit in the flashback to his childhood is based on [[Buster Brown]].<ref name="Kirkland"/> Homer's fantasy of a life of organized crime is based on [[Don Fanucci]]'s first appearance in ''[[The Godfather Part II]]'', accepting donuts rather than a necklace and an orange.<ref name="Kogen">{{cite video |people=Kogen, Jay |date=2004 |title=The Simpsons season 4 DVD commentary for the episode "Last Exit to Springfield" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref>

Lisa's [[nitrous oxide]]-induced hallucination echoes [[The Beatles]] film [[Yellow Submarine (film)|''Yellow Submarine'']], which Al Jean says had to be changed slightly for legal reasons. In the script, the name was changed to "purple submersible", and letters spelling "HATRED" can be seen in the background; a contrast to the message of love popular in the 60s. [[Paul McCartney]] says "Look fellas, it's Lisa in the Sky!", and [[George Harrison]] notes "no diamonds though", a reference to the Beatles song "[[Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds]]". [[Ringo Starr]] says "Look out for the [[camp (style)|campy]] drawing of [[Queen Victoria]]!"<ref name="Jean"/> The scene where Lisa sees a reflection of her monstrous braces, laughs maniacally and breaks the mirror is based on the scene from  [[Tim Burton]]'s [[Batman (1989 film)|''Batman'']] (1989) where Jack Napier discovers his transformation into [[Joker (character)|the Joker]].<ref name="bbc"/>

When Homer is escorted by the hired goons into Burns' conservatory, a Burns-headed bird is sitting in the foreground. This is a reference to the shrieking cockatoo in ''[[Citizen Kane]]''.<ref name="Jean"/> The page Mr. Burns reads from the monkey's typewriter ("It was the best of times, it was the BLURST of times!") is a reference to the first line of ''[[A Tale of Two Cities]]''. After concluding her protest song,  Lisa plays "[[Classical Gas]]" at [[Lenny and Carl#Lenny Leonard|Lenny]]'s request. To reach the main power switch, Mr. Burns and Smithers walk down a long hall with multiple layers of security doors (a reference to the opening credits of ''[[Get Smart]]''), then slide down twin fire poles and pass through a revolving door disguised as a bookcase (a reference to the original ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' TV series); the music accompanying the latter scene references [[Danny Elfman]]'s theme from the Burton ''Batman''. Before Mr. Burns shuts off the town's power in response to the strike, he says, "From Hell's heart I stab at thee", a reference to [[Ahab (Moby-Dick)|Captain Ahab]]'s curse in ''[[Moby-Dick]]'', one of Wolodarsky's favorite books.<ref name="Wolodarsky">{{cite video |people=Wolodarsky, Wallace |date=2004 |title=The Simpsons season 4 DVD commentary for the episode "Last Exit to Springfield" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> The workers' resistance to the power outage, and Mr. Burns's response, is a parody of [[Chuck Jones]]'s [[How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (TV special)|''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'']].<ref name="Kirkland"/> When Homer succeeds in getting the dental plan reinstated, he celebrates by spinning around on the floor and yelling “woo-woo-woo” à la [[Curly Howard]] of [[The Three Stooges]].

The episode features a running gag, Mr. Burns's inability to remember Homer. He asks Smithers, "Who is that young firebrand?" Smithers says, "Ah, that's Homer Simpson, sir." Burns replies, "Simpson, eh? New man?" Smithers says "He [[Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish|thwarted your campaign for governor]], [[Bart Gets Hit by a Car|you ran over his son]], [[Homer Defined|he saved the plant from meltdown]], and [[Brush with Greatness|his wife painted you in the nude]]..." Burns says, "Eh... doesn't ring a bell."