# Explain this Simpsons reference

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-simpsons-reference/407041>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [June 6, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-simpsons-reference/407041 "2007-06-06T20:49:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 14\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-simpsons-reference/407041/1 "2007-06-06T20:49:37Z")

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When it comes to Simpsons trivia or explanations, I’m usually on the answering side rather than the asking side. However, this is something I always feel like I’m missing whenever I watch the episode.

In the episode **Boy Scoutz 'N the Hood**. Homer and Bart go on the father-son river rafting trip. The Simpson/Flanders raft takes a wrong turn and gets separated from the rest. When the scene cuts back to Ernest Borgnine and the rest of the group to see what they’ve been up to, there are several shots that feel like they’re a reference or _homage_ to some movie or other show. It shows them slowly rafting through a dark jungle, with creatures (humans? natives?) scurrying around in the shadows. And there’s also the “monster” attack at the very end.

Anyone know what this is in reference to?

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**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-simpsons-reference/407041/2 "2007-06-06T21:01:41Z")

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I thought the jungle part was a reference to Deliverance, but could be wrong.

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**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-simpsons-reference/407041/3 "2007-06-06T21:01:44Z")

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[QUOTE=Jayrot]  
When it comes to Simpsons trivia or explanations, I’m usually on the answering side rather than the asking side. However, this is something I always feel like I’m missing whenever I watch the episode.

In the episode **Boy Scoutz 'N the Hood**. Homer and Bart go on the father-son river rafting trip. The Simpson/Flanders raft takes a wrong turn and gets separated from the rest. When the scene cuts back to Ernest Borgnine and the rest of the group to see what they’ve been up to, there are several shots that feel like they’re a reference or _homage_ to some movie or other show. It shows them slowly rafting through a dark jungle, with creatures (humans? natives?) scurrying around in the shadows. And there’s also the “monster” attack at the very end.

Anyone know what this is in reference to?  
[/QUOTE]

Not the monster attack, but the rustling on the banks may reference [Deliverance](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068473/).

Joe

Curses! Foiled by a little bastard!

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**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-simpsons-reference/407041/4 "2007-06-06T21:09:09Z")

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If I’m remembering the scene correctly, it’s taken from **Night Of The Hunter** , where the kids are slowly drifting downstream: the shot is from the POV of various creepy-crawlies lurking in the undergrowth that screens the riverbank.

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**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-simpsons-reference/407041/5 "2007-06-06T21:21:53Z")

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[snpp.com](http://snpp.com) thinks the “closing scene around campfire”- not sure if this the part you mean with the bear- references Friday the 13th.

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**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-simpsons-reference/407041/6 "2007-06-06T21:28:20Z")

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[QUOTE=Scissorjack]  
If I’m remembering the scene correctly, it’s taken from **Night Of The Hunter** , where the kids are slowly drifting downstream: the shot is from the POV of various creepy-crawlies lurking in the undergrowth that screens the riverbank.  
[/QUOTE]

Since you hear part of “Dueling Banjos” being played during the scene, I would say it’s definitely a **Deliverance** reference. In addition, the “various creepy-crawlies” you see and hear chuckling menacingly along the riverbank in the foreground are actually a reference to the film’s crazed inbred rednecks who were looking for “city boys” to violate.

Also, the last scene at the abandoned summer camp is a parody of the **Friday the 13th** movies.

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**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-simpsons-reference/407041/7 "2007-06-06T22:19:53Z")

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[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]  
[snpp.com](http://snpp.com) thinks the “closing scene around campfire”- not sure if this the part you mean with the bear- references Friday the 13th.  
[/QUOTE]

There was no reference to a bear in the OP, although there _is_ a scene in which Ernest Borgnine attempts to fight off a bear with a Swiss army knife, not realizing Homer stole it. The closing scene is definitely a play on _Friday the 13th_- it even has Jason’s signature “chee-chee-chee ahh-ahh-ahh” sound effect.

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**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-simpsons-reference/407041/8 "2007-06-06T23:15:04Z")

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Thanks for the explanation, y’all. Deliverance and Friday the 13th it is!

Let me just also say how much I love this episode. Many a great moment:[ul]  
[li]The video game arcade with Martin playing My Dinner With Andre (“tell me more!”)[/li][li]Going crazy, Broadway Style![/li][li]The 10 Do’s and 500 Don’ts of Knife Safety (“Don’t do what Donny Don’t does”)[/li][li]The utterly random guest appearance of “that Borgnine guy”[/li][/ul]

And so forth.

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**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2007, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-simpsons-reference/407041/9 "2007-06-07T00:29:30Z")

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[QUOTE=Jayrot]

[li]The video game arcade with Martin playing My Dinner With Andre (“tell me more!”)[/li]

[/QUOTE]

This is one my favorites of all time- bon mot and trenchant insight buttons as well.

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**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2007, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-simpsons-reference/407041/10 "2007-06-07T02:19:51Z")

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The episode also features one of the greatest Homer observations to himself of all time (perhaps second only to “They have the internet on computers now”): “There’s a _new_ Mexico!” Just the way he says it in that “ah, that’s interesting” voice of his.

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**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-simpsons-reference/407041/11 "2007-06-17T14:30:40Z")

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“Ooo, floor pie!”

“Stupid poetic justice!”

“Steak?” “Money’s too tight for steak.” “Steak?” “Uh, sure…steak.”

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**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-simpsons-reference/407041/12 "2007-06-17T14:49:23Z")

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[QUOTE=mobo85]  
The episode also features one of the greatest Homer observations to himself of all time (perhaps second only to “They have the internet on computers now”): “There’s a _new_ Mexico!” Just the way he says it in that “ah, that’s interesting” voice of his.  
[/QUOTE]  
I thought the “_New_ Mexico?” line was Mr. Burns, said in the episode where Smithers was going to Santa Fe for a production of the musical he’d written.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-simpsons-reference/407041/13 "2007-06-17T20:53:11Z")

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[QUOTE=Fiver]  
I thought the “_New_ Mexico?” line was Mr. Burns, said in the episode where Smithers was going to Santa Fe for a production of the musical he’d written.  
[/QUOTE]

It did appear in that episode, but it appeared first in this one.

“Twenty dollars? But I wanted a peanut!”  
“$20 can buy many peanuts.”  
“Explain how.”  
“Money can be exchanged for goods and services.”  
“Woo-hoo!”

“Cartoons don’t have to be 100% accurate.”  
[a second Homer walks by]

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-simpsons-reference/407041/14 "2007-06-17T21:00:16Z")

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“We tried to tell you, these are _unmanned_ oil rigs.”

Of course, the unhelpful dolphins remain my favourite moment in this episode.
