Recap / The Simpsons S 15 E 11 Margical History Tour

Original air date: 2/8/2004 (produced in 2003)

Production code: FABF-06

The Springfield Library is dilapidated, filled with bums, and hardly contains any books. Bart, Lisa and Milhouse expect to find material to work on their history class, and Marge fills in with three historical pieces from her own memory.

General

• But You Were There, and You, and You: Stories of three famous historical figures are retold with a Simpsons twist, with the historical figures portrayed by various residents of Springfield.
• Logo Joke: The Gracie Films jingle is redone in a medieval style, similar to the one in "Lisa's Wedding".
• Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: The title of this episode is a reference to the Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour".
• Shout-Out: Among the things the library is reduced to stocking are Everyone Poops: The Video and Yu-Gi-Oh! trading guides.
• Three Shorts: The episode is split into three segments interspersed with wraparounds of Marge telling each story.
• Trip Trap: After Marge finishes telling the story of Henry VIII, Nelson, who's hiding behind a bookshelf, sticks out his leg to trip Milhouse.
  Nelson: (stealing Milhouse's history report) Wow, the library really is a great resource! And I just came in here to trip nerds for nothin'.
• "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: Spoofed, lampshaded by Homer:
  Animal House, house, house.
  Then they did the end like American Graffiti!
  Where you found out what happened to everyone!
  • Henry VIII still holds the world turkey-leg-eating record.
  • Sacagawea went on to great riches posing for butter boxes.
  • Mozart's burial site is now the most popular gas station in Vienna.
  • That night, Homer watched Animal House again. He went to work the next day in a toga.

Henry VIII

• Adipose Rex: Henry VIII is portrayed as a grossly fat and gluttonous figure, and gets a quick song number about just how much he loves to eat.
  Homer/Henry VIII: I'm Henry the Eighth I am
  Henry the Eighth I am, I am
  I've been eating since 6 AM
  For dessert I'll have dinner again
  My name's synonymous with gluttony
  I'll always eat a turkey or a ham.
• Artistic License – History:
  • Henry was a huge eater, but he didn't become obese until a jousting accident caused him a shin fracture that never healed and made him an invalid. Before this, he was the epitome of the chivalrous knight.
  • The segment completely ignores the fact that Henry VIII did father a few sons (although the only legitimate one who lived long enough to see his first birthday was from his third wife).
  • Only two of Henry's wives were beheaded. However, he did execute a huge number of other people, so the "running out of pikes" joke isn't entirely inaccurate.
  • Catherine of Aragon (Marge) wasn't at Henry's death bed because she died 11 years before him.
  • Catherine of Aragon mentions that she could have married the king of France, whom she implies is gay. This would never have happened as the Houses of Aragon and Valois were ancient enemies. Moreover, Francis I was known for his many affairs, all with women.
  • Henry never confined Catherine of Aragon to a dungeon, although he did banish her from court.
  • While Henry is often depicted eating vast quantities of turkey legs, this is inaccurate because turkeys were not introduced to England until three years after his death.
  • Thomas More (Ned Flanders) was beheaded, rather than being shot out of a cannon.
  • While More certainly did oppose Henry's religious reforms from the outset, Henry did not execute him right away, owing to their personal friendship. More eventually was executed for refusing to sign the Oath of Succession recognizing Henry's supremacy over the Pope, which happened after Henry had married Anne Boleyn (Lindsay Naegle).
  • Anne Boleyn, who was quite thin, was not known for her child-bearing hips.
  • Anne Boleyn was beheaded with a sword, not an axe.
  • Anne Boleyn's wedding to Henry took place in front of only a few select witnesses, not the large crowd seen in the segment.
  • Jane Seymour (Miss Springfield) was Henry's favorite wife and died of childbed fever after giving birth to Edward VI.
  • Anne of Cleves (Otto) was never beheaded; she and Henry annulled their marriage amicably and remained on friendly terms.
  • Catherine Parr (Agnes Skinner) was also never beheaded; she was still living and married to Henry upon his death.
  • While Catherine Parr was certainly the oldest of Henry's wives, she did not bear any children before their marriage and only bore one daughter before her death.
  • Elizabeth I did not become queen directly after Henry's death. Edward VI and Mary I, reigned in between them.
• Big Eater: Henry VIII. During his song he claims to have been eating since dawn and for dessert will have another dinner.
  Henry VIII: I eat, and eat, and eat, and I never get any thinner.
• Comically Missing the Point: Henry VIII eats a lot and don't understand why he can't lose weight. He actually thinks he should lose weight as a consequence of eating lots of food.
• Cute, but Cacophonic: Jane Seymour, much to Henry's frustration. Immediately after their wedding, he has her beheaded.
• Distinction Without a Difference: Catherine of Aragon (Marge) trying to explain to Mary why she and Henry are getting divorced:
  Catherine of Aragon: It's not your fault. It's just that you came out the wrong sex and ruined everything.
• Ear Ache: When Margerine catches Henry talking to Anne Boleyn, she grabs him by the ear and drags him off to marriage counseling.
• False Reassurance:
  • When Sir Thomas More (Flanders) disputes Henry's intentions in starting his own church, Henry says "Because you stuck to your guns, I'm going to canonize you." Cut to Moore being shot out of a cannon.
  • After Anne Boleyn gives birth to a daughter, Henry promises to love the child the same way he loves Anne, who's about to be beheaded. We never see what became of the child.
• Heir Club for Men: Henry VIII wants a son. Mary asks why women can't be rulers — or better yet, why leaders aren't elected by the people — but Henry threatens to execute her instead of answering her question.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: Henry VIII is normally characterized as fat and beheading prone. Here he is displayed as a totally gluttonous pig who never stops eating, and will not hesitate to have someone killed for even slightly annoying him or not immediately giving him what he wants.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Henry invented the divorce but had to give his ex-wife a part of his Kingdom as a result because he didn't invent the pre-nuptial agreement.
• Human Cannonball: Henry decides to perform "canonization" to Thomas More. Rather, shoving him into a cannon and having him shot out of it. He ponders doing this to Princess Mary before she takes the hint and bails.
• Insane Troll Logic: King Henry expects his constant eating to make him lose weight.
• I Will Show You X!: Subverted; Henry tries to use the stock quote to refute a messenger's warning, but then takes a look.
  Messenger: Sire, I know what you usually do to the bearer of bad news, but, um...well, we’re running out of pikes to stick’ your wives’ heads on.
  King Henry: I'll show you we're running out of pikes!
  [Henry checks the pike storage, which is completely empty.]
  King Henry: Hey, what do you know? You were right! [holds up the messenger's now-severed head]
  Messenger's Head: That means a lot.
• My Card: "Anne Boleyn — 'A son will come out — tomorrow!'"
• Pragmatic Villainy: Henry won't behead his first wife because her father is the King of Spain.
• See You in Hell: Margerine says this as she suffocates Henry with his pillow.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Princess Mary protests Henry's decision of wanting a male heir and not giving it to the females, he ponders if he can canonize her. She quickly gets the hint and bails.
• Shoot the Messenger: Lampshaded by the messenger (Moe) who told Henry they were out of pikes, saying he knew what Henry did to the bearer of bad news. He was right.
• Start My Own: This is how the Protestant Church was born.
• Therapy Backfire: Margerine takes Henry to marriage counseling in the hopes of stopping the king from marrying someone else. However, the therapist (Hibbert) is all for Henry kicking his wife to the curb. Having four men push axes against his neck threatening to kill him the second he tried to talk about saving the marriage might have something to do with it.
• Waxing Lyrical:
  • Henry is introduced singing the song "I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am."
  • He later strangles Dream!Bart while yelling "Get out of my dreams and into my wife!!"
  • Anne Boleyn's card says that "A son will come out -- tomorrow!"
• Would Hurt a Child: Henry threatens little Princess Mary (Lisa) with canonization when she starts to suggest that a princess could inherit.

Lewis, Clark and Sacagawea

• Artistic License – History: Sacagawea's husband Toussaint Charbonneau didn't get killed by her brother in real life. In fact, he passed away in 1843 at age 76.
  • Also, Charbonneau was French Canadian, not French.
• Black Widow: Sacagawea (Lisa) hates her husband, Charbonneau the French fur trader (Milhouse) so much (it was an Arranged Marriage), she allows her brother to kill him when he and his tribe ambush the expedition.
• Gesundheit: This exchange between Clark and Sacagawea after Lewis and Clark save her from a mountain lion:
  Clark: We'll never forget you, Pocahontas.
  Sacagawea: Sacagawea.
  Clark: Gesundheit.
• Know Your Vines: When Sacagawea is giving Lewis and Clark's expedition party quick advice, she tells one soldier that he's holding poison oak.
• Shout-Out: Moe has a bar in Kansas until a twister takes it away.
• Tempting Fate:
  • A dying Tweedleburger (Otto) tries to find comfort in the fact he'll be remembered alongside Lewis and Clark.
  • Right after Moe comments on how people said a bar couldn't be built in Kansas, a twister rips it off the ground. He tries to build another one, commenting that it takes more than that to crush a frontier's spirit. The bar crashes on him and he says "that'll do".
• Too Dumb to Live: Tweedleburger eats poisonous berries after Sacagawea warns him about them being poison.

Mozart and Salieri

• Adaptational Villainy: Although loosely based on Amadeus, which subjected Salieri to a Historical Villain Upgrade, the short's version of its league is worse — she doesn't just try to sabotage Mozart's career; she actually murders him.
• Always Someone Better: Salieri suffered from this constantly. Her brother Mozart had greater talent even though she was more dedicated to her craft. And after Mozart was dead, she believed she was finally the greatest composer alive...only for Beethoven to appear, causing her to finally snap.
• Artistic License – History:
  • Mozart died at the age of 35 in reality. This version has him die before becoming a teenager. In addition, he was married with two children.
  • Both of Mozart's parents predeceased him. Leopold Mozart died in 1787, four years before his son. And in reality, they had a poor relationship, and Leopold was most certainly not greedy.
  • Mozart's relationship with his (older) sister, Maria Anna, was far better than that depicted in this version; as mentioned below, it was she who inspired him to get into music. Also, her own prodigious skills were acknowledged by her father. However, due to the social mores of the time, she was unable to continue her career as she grew older.
• Blatant Lies: When Mozart becomes ill, Salieri tells him that he has hired "the finest doctor in Austria," which is Dr. Nick, who is anything but.
• Cain and Abel: Salieri and Mozart are siblings in this version of events, and Salieri kills Mozart by hiring an incompetent doctor out of jealousy.
• The Cameo: Tito, Randy and Jermaine Jackson make a brief appearance when Homer describes them as Mozart's other "untalented" siblings.
• Composite Character:
  • Salieri is composed with Mozart's older, loving sister Maria for this story, as well as being reimagined as a villain who hates her brother.
  • Mozart's father is composed with Joseph Jackson during a scene that portrays him as the father of Randy, Tito and Jermaine.
• Confidence Sabotage: When Salieri sabotaged his concert, Mozart believed that nobody liked his music anymore, and as such, went into a depression that eventually led to his death.
• Despair Event Horizon: After Salieri sabotaged his concert, Mozart went into a drunken despair and got caught in a storm, resulting in him becoming ill and dying young.
• Dramatic Irony: "People bored by opera? That's impossible!"
• Driven by Envy: Salieri was jealous of Mozart's popularity and being treated poorly by her parents, so she sabotages the opera in revenge.
• Driven to Madness: After the Emperor decrees that all other music besides Beethoven's is obsolete, Salieri snaps and climbs into an asylum wagon while laughing insanely.
• Gender Flip: Lisa portrays Salieri, who in reality was a man.
• Handy Feet: Salieri calls Mozart out on pranking her when he should be composing music, to which he reveals that he's writing down a symphony with his feet while they are talking.
• Hard Work Hardly Works: One of the reasons Salieri is jealous of Mozart is because he can write amazing music so easily while she practices diligently to perfect her own. Combined with his showboating and childish behavior, she feels he is unworthy of his talents.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: This version does this to Mozart's father and sister. Leopold only cares about the money his son brings, and even exploits said son's death. Maria Anna is composed with Salieri, and becomes so jealous of her brother's success, she sabotages his opera and brings an incompetent doctor to kill him.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: When Salieri decides to drink to Mozart's failure, she mistakenly drinks her own doctored wine.
• Karmic Twist Ending: After killing Mozart, Salieri tries to present herself to the Emperor to steal her hated brother's place as the greatest composer ever. However, the Emperor chooses yet another composer, Beethoven, causing Salieri's Villainous Breakdown, and dooming her to remain in the shadows forever, not to mention the madhouse.
• "Kick Me" Prank: At the awards show, Mozart puts an "I am a Dummkopf" sign on the back of the guy sitting in front of him.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Subverted. Salieri only wanted to ruin Mozart's reputation, but she kills him instead. She does appear to feel very guilty about it and even cries at his deathbed...but then the very next scene shows her trying to show the Emperor her requiem while bragging that she's the last composer alive, making you wonder if her remorse was really genuine.
• Outliving One's Offspring: Mozart's parents outlive him in this adaptation. In reality, both predeceased him.
• Parental Favouritism: Played with. Mozart's father gives all his attention to his son. However, he only cares about the money his son brings. He was more concerned about losing the income his son provided while the boy was on his deathbed, and immediately starts hawking merchandise commemorating his death minutes after Mozart has passed on, much to the disgust of the people.
• Related in the Adaptation: Salieri is depicted as Mozart's sister, making them further correspond to Bart and Lisa.
• The Rock Star: Parodied with Mozart.
  Bart: Mom, everyone who ever lived is boring.
  Marge: Boring? Is there anything boring about a badass rocker who lived fast and died young?
  Bart: I know there's a catch, but tell me more.
• Sibling Murder: In this version, Salieri indirectly murders Mozart out of jealousy.
• Slipping a Mickey: Salieri gives the Emperor a glass of wine with a sleeping potion so that all the Fops will think he's bored by Mozart's concert and follow suit. It works, and when she toasts the success of her scheme, she ends up drinking from the same glass.
• Stage Mom: Mozart’s Dad.
• The Un-Favourite: Their father ignores Salieri, calling her untalented and focuses all his attention on Mozart. Their mother is not as bad and knows her daughter is a skilled composer, but as a lady of the times trusts her son more to keep them in luxury. Their father is shown to be just as dismissive of Randy, Tito and Jermaine.
• Truth in Television: Mozart's sister, whose real name was Maria Anna Mozart, was in fact a musical prodigy just like him. She was the one who got him into music.
• Villainous Breakdown: Having Mozart's reputation destroyed and indirectly murdering him, Salieri looks as though she will finally gain the respect she desires. But seeing the Emperor with Beethoven destroyed all her remaining sanity.
• Villain Protagonist: Salieri is the focus character, and her jealousy towards Mozart leads to her sabotaging an opera and causing Mozart to die.
• Whole-Plot Reference: The plot is largely based on Amadeus. Lisa points out how Marge clearly based her story on the movie, despite its historical inaccuracy—though Lisa's specified criticisms (that in real life Mozart worked hard on his music and Salieri was a respected composer) were only applicable to Marge's story, not Amadeus itself.

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