Recap / The Simpsons S 6 E 4 Itchy And Scratchy Land

Original air date: 10/2/1994

Production code: 2F01

The Simpsons are going to Itchy and Scratchy Land — a new theme park based on the violent antics of Bart and Lisa's favorite cartoon series.

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This episode contains examples of:

• Actually Pretty Funny: At the end, Marge tries to teach the kids An Aesop about how the kind of violence that makes them laugh on TV is less funny when they're on the receiving end of it. They still think it was objectively funny, and Lisa makes a point to that effect by delivering a Shoe Slap to Bart. Marge is not amused by how amused she is.
  Marge: Oh my. Lisa, Go to Your Room!
• Agony of the Feet: Bart is arrested for stepping on the Itchy mascot's toe.
• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: One flash from a camera is all it takes to screw up the AI for the Itchy and Scratchy robots.
• Amusement Park of Doom: Itchy & Scratchy Land has dangerously unsafe attractions and, after a power breakdown, everything gets even worse.
• And This Is for...: In the Latin American translation of the episode, the Itchy-suited employee that Bart stink-bombs earlier in the episode and kicks the Simpsons out of the evacuation helicopter shouts "go to Hell, and this is for Itchy!" as he does so (in the original audio, he says "When you get to Hell, tell 'em Itchy sent ya!").
• Animation Bump: The clips from in-universe Itchy & Scratchy features Scratchtasia and Pinitchio emulate the Walt Disney films of 1940.
• Asinine Alternate Activity: Bart and Lisa plead with Homer and Marge to take them to Itchy and Scratchy Land, the most violent theme park on earth, but Marge is initially set on the family vacationing at the Highway 9 Bird Sanctuary, where they've just installed a new bird feeder that she's interested to see.
• Baby See, Baby Do: As Bart and Lisa punch each other to demonstrate the concept of "harmless violence", Maggie can be seen bunching her hands into fists and waving them around.
• Bait-and-Switch: Marge tells Homer to find a hotel for the night; Homer tells her, "I'm not tired, I'm not tired at all." A car that appears to be the Simpsons' then crashes into a telephone pole, but Smash Cut to the Simpsons watching from a nearby hotel room.
  Bart: Whew, glad that wasn't us.
• Balloon Belly: One of the lands in Itchy and Scratchy Land is "Searing Gas Pain Land" whose graphic depicts Itchy force-feeding Scratchy chili.
• Beat: There's a strange one after Homer gives his approval to go to Itchy & Scratchy Land: Bart and Lisa gasp and stare at each other with excited expressions before finally shouting "YAY!" a few seconds later.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: All Marge wants is a vacation that will bring the family together, give them plenty of outdoor exercise, and make lots of memories to look back on. And boy does it accomplish those things.
• Black Comedy: At a theme park devoted to Itchy & Scratchy, this is what's on the menu. And everywhere else.
• Blatant Lies: In Pinitchio, Itchy promises Scratchy that he will never hurt him. His Pinocchio Nose lengthens and stabs Scratchy in the eye.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: The whole family gets in a very loud "D'oh!" when they get caught up in bumper to bumper traffic.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: A typical Itchy & Scratchy short at the beginning of the episode stops in its tracks to let its titular characters plug Itchy & Scratchy Land to the viewers.
• Brick Joke:
  • The Bird Sanctuary. While under attack by robots, Marge brings it up again, saying that they should have gone there like she originally planned.
    • Additionally, when she first mentions the sanctuary, she says they have a new bird feeder that looks like a diner. During the scene there the sanctuary is shown to be under attack by the birds, said diner-shaped bird feeder can be seen in the background.
  • Homer mistakenly claims the group is one adult and four children when buying their tickets. After he gets arrested by the park security, they refer to him as Marge's "older, balder, fatter son" (having also arrested Bart).
  • The souvenir shop running out of Bort license plates.
  • The jumpers on the roof of "T.G.I. McScratchy's".
  • When the family first arrives at the park, there is a board listing the attractions that are closed for the day, which includes “Nurse’s Station.” Later during one of the parades, the Nurse’s Station can be seen in the background with a “Closed” sign in the window.
• Can't Get Away with Nuthin': Bart whips out his "Li'l Bastard Kit" and fires a stink bomb at the hapless mascot. He laughs it up... and then seconds later, a security guard grabs him by the arm, handcuffs him, and them THROWS HIM INTO A HOLDING CELL (meeting Homer, who got arrested for fighting with a costumed staff member). It gets worse when, after things start going crazy in the park, Bart tries to get on a rescue helicopter... in which is the previously-offended mascot, who tells him to enjoy Hell before he kicks him away.
• Chekhov's Gun: During the parade, it is seen that the robots do not respond well to flash photography. This comes into play again towards the end of the episode.
• Chekhov's Gunman: The Itchy-suited employee that Bart stink-bombs earlier in the episode notices them when the family is racing to get on the last evacuation helicopter left and kicks them out, leaving them to die.
• Close-Call Haircut: Homer repeatedly ducks the cleaver of a mad robot while insisting that nothing is wrong, but loses the two hairs on top of his head when it gets too close ("Ah! My hair!").
• Conditioned to Accept Horror: Invoked by Lisa, as she and Bart calmly watch Pinitchio, wondering if all the violence has desensitized them. Cue a Scratchybot bursting through the screen, and its head bursting off shooting fake blood everywhere, to no reaction from Bart or Lisa (or indeed anyone in the film's audience).
• Couch Gag: The family is beamed onto the couch ala Star Trek.
• Cue Card Pause: Bart and Lisa's method of persuading their parents to go to Itchy & Scratchy Land.
  Lisa: (pulling Bart's seemingly lifeless body into their parents' room in the middle of the night) Mom, Dad! Bart's dead!
  (Homer and Marge gasp in terror)
  Bart: (getting up with a huge showman smile on his face) That's right! Dead serious about going to Itchy & Scratchy Land!
• Defying the Censors: The DVD commentary notes that censorship rules were putting the future existence of Itchy and Scratchy at risk, and that the network even told them to stop featuring the show. This episode, probably the most Itchy and Scratchy-centric in the history of the series, was the response of the writers.
• Denser and Wackier: If the extreme levels of No OSHA Compliance at the park didn’t mark this episode as one of the nuttier ones up to this point, the family fighting a literal Robot Uprising in the third act definitely does.
• Description Cut: When the robots start attacking people, Marge murmurs they should have gone to the bird sanctuary. Cut to the birds there attacking the visitors.
• Disproportionate Restitution: For singlehandedly neutralizing the park's mob of malfunctioning cyborgs, the Simpson family are given two free passes for a return trip to the park.
  Homer: But there are five of us.
  Roger Meyers Jr: *forcefully* Here are two free passes.
  Homer: That's better.
• The Dog Bites Back: The park employee with the Itchy suit that Bart stink-bombed earlier in the episode is the one that kicks the family off the evacuation helicopter, leaving them to die.
• Driven to Suicide: The waiters at "T.G.I. McScratchy's", a dance club that celebrates "New Year" almost every hour. Becomes a Brick Joke during the scene in the security station, where one worker notices "another jumper on the roof of T.G.I. McScratchy's".
• Eye Scream: A clip from Pinitchio shows Scratchy getting stabbed through the eye with Itchy/Pinitchio's Pinocchio Nose. ("OWCH-A!")
• Exact Words: After fending off the killer robots, Marge complains that it was the worst vacation ever, only for Lisa to point out that the vacation did end up bringing them all together as a family. Marge is convinced to accept the facts, only to add that they should never speak of the vacation ever again.
• Facepalm: When Marge is discussing how Homer previously acted like a boorish ass on a family trip to the Amish country, you can see Lisa in the background with her hands over her face in embarrassment.
• Fallen-on-Hard-Times Job: John Travolta resorted to working as a bartender in the '70s Disco in Itchy & Scratchy Land.
• Fell Asleep Driving: Homer is drowsy while driving the family to find a motel during the vacation. As Marge begs him to just pull over and he insist that he's okay to drive, the purple car slams into a telephone pole and catches on fire. We then see the family themselves viewing the aftermath of the crash from their hotel room and being thankful that it wasn't them.
• Foreshadowing: Cletus takes a picture of one of the robots, which immediately malfunctions.
  Park exec: No flash photography, please.
• Foul Ball Pit: The child care center for babies is a giant ball room where the babies drown in the balls. Maggie and other babies manage to swim to the surface, but the director orders the assistant to add more balls to keep them trapped.
  Assistant: The babies look unhappy.
  Director: Add more balls.
• From Bad to Worse:
  • The Itchy & Scratchy cartoon that parodies The Sorcerer's Apprentice shows Scratchy smashing up Itchy with an axe, only for smaller mice to multiply. After he smashes them to microscopic size, he inhales them by accident and they start cutting up his organs from the inside.
  • So Homer and Bart get arrested and embarrass Marge? She can chew them out, but that's about it. Then the robots go on the rampage.
• Give My Regards in the Next World: The park employee who refuses to let the family onto the rescue helicopter tells them "When you guys get to Hell, tell em' Itchy sent ya!"
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: The Itchy and Scratchy robots with their glowing red eyes.
• Goofy Suit: This episode is one of the few stories where the goofy suit guy gets revenge — Homer is locked up because "I kicked a giant mouse in the butt!", and Bart torments other Itchy-suits by stomping on one's foot and shooting a stink bomb into another's mouth. He also kicks a Scratchy mascot in the shin. Later, when the Itchy and Scratchy robots start rampaging through the park, the guy in the mouse costume makes sure that the Simpsons are kicked off the last escape helicopter.
  "When you get to Hell, tell 'em Itchy sent ya!"
• Grey Goo: In Scratchtasia, Scratchy chops Itchy into dust, which reforms into a horde of microscopic Itchies who hack Scratchy to bits from the inside out.
• Growing Muscles Sequence: In the opening Itchy & Scratchy sketch, Scratchy lifts weights for a few seconds which makes his muscles grow huge instantly.
• Guilt by Association Gag: While never expanded upon, it's presumed the only reason why Marge and Lisa were denied access aboard the escape copter is because of Homer and Bart's earlier antics to the employees.
• Hostile Animatronics: And how! They try to Kill All Humans at the climax... and unfortunately for the Simpsons, they are the only humans left.
• Hypocritical Heartwarming: No one ruins the Simpsons' vacation but Homer, "and maybe the boy."
• If My Calculations Are Correct: Spoofed when Professor Frink is informing his coworkers that the Itchy and Scratchy robots will "eventually turn against their masters and run amok, in an orgy of blood and the kicking and the biting with the metal teeth and the hurting and shoving." But he adds that "According to my calculations, the robots won't go berserk for at least 24 hours." Immediately, all the robots start attacking the humans. Frink says in a slightly embarrassed tone, "Oh. I forgot to Carry the One."
• Incredibly Lame Fun: Marge's idea of an interesting vacation spot is the Highway 9 Bird Sanctuary, because she wants to check out their new bird feeder.
  Marge: I understand they installed a new bird feeder this year.
  (Bart and Lisa stare in horror)
  Marge: It's shaped like a diner! And it's on this really tall pole!
  (Bart and Lisa continue to stare in horror)
• Insane Troll Logic:
  Homer: But Marge, I was a political prisoner!
  Marge: How were you a political prisoner?
  Homer: I kicked a giant mouse in the butt! Do I have to draw you a diagram?!
• Instantly Proven Wrong:
  • Professor Frink is informing his coworkers that the Itchy and Scratchy robots will "eventually turn against their masters and run amok. But he adds that "According to my calculations, the robots won't go berserk for at least 24 hours." Immediately, all the robots start attacking the humans. Frink says in a slightly embarrassed tone, "Oh. I forgot to Carry the One."
  • Marge complains in the middle of the animatronic attack that it would have been safer to go to the bird sanctuary. We get an instant Gilligan Cut to the Sanctuary, where all of the birds are running amok in a manner similar to The Birds.
• Iron Maiden: Shows up in a blink-and-miss scene when Marge looks at the map of the amusement park and there is an illustration of the Iron Maiden at the "Torture Land" attraction.
• It's All About Me: Marge shows several shades of this given that she complains throughout the entire episode about how she's embarrassed by Homer and Bart and thinks only of herself. That said, these two do give her cause for embarrassment.
• It's the Best Whatever, Ever!: How the Simpsons perceive their vacation. In Marge's case, this is really on a technicality, as it accomplished all the goals she laid out for the trip which previous vacations hadn't hit.
• Jerkass: Bart (and apparently) Homer act this way towards the suit guys in the park. When one of the Itchy suit actors noticed them trying to get on the last helicopter leaving the park, he justifiably kicks them out.
• Jurassic Farce: The episode extensively parodies Jurassic Park, particularly in Professor Frink's "chaos theory" explanation and the helicopter that brings the Simpsons to the park, as well as Westworld, which was also written by Michael Crichton.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: Bart cheerfully harasses every park mascot he encounters, which works out fine until the minute he acknowledges it.
  Bart: Can you believe I keep getting away with this? (Gloved hand descends on his shoulder.) ...Uh, officer?
• Laser-Guided Karma: Lisa has the sense to walk away when Bart causes trouble. Bart and Homer harass employees and get tossed into the park's detention. The Itchy cast member also kicks Bart and Homer when recognizing them. It seems fitting that the family only gets two lifetime passes to the park rather than five.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
  Marge: I hope you realize now that violence on TV may be funny, but it's not so funny when that violence is happening to you.
  Bart: But it would be funny to someone who was watching us.
• Let Us Never Speak of This Again:
  • Said by Homer when his shortcut to Itchy & Scratchy Land put them far off the beaten path.
  • Towards the end of the episode, Bart and Lisa think their trip to Itchy & Scratchy Land was the best vacation ever. Marge disagrees:
    Marge: Are you two bonkers? We almost got killed! Not to mention all the embarrassment I suffered.
    Lisa: But mom, it's exactly what you wanted in a vacation: it brought us closer as a family, we got a lot of good exercise outdoors, and we have so many memories!
    Marge: ...You know, you're right. This truly was the best vacation ever. Now let us never speak of it again.
  • A deleted scene also used the phrase (with reference to Marge's menu-ordering faux pas), which would have made it a full-blown Running Gag.
• Liar's Paradox: In a deleted scene, Lisa tries to trigger a Logic Bomb on the robots by calling this paradox out to them. The robots don't have the capacity to compute this, and thus ignore it. Homer is the one who gets the Logic Bomb.
• Lifesaving Misfortune: For Marge, the visit to Itchy and Scratchy Land was one of the most embarrassing experiences of her life (and she doesn't really changes her mind when the rest of her family says otherwise, even ordering them to "Let Us Never Speak of This Again") but they were the heroes of the day when the animatronics attacked. Had they gone to the Bird Sanctuary like Marge wanted, they would have been just another handful of casualties.
• Like Father, Like Son: Bart is arrested for harassing the Itchy performer. Turns out Homer was arrested for doing the same thing.
• Literal Asskicking: Homer is arrested for kicking the Itchy mascot in the butt.
• Literal-Minded: When Marge goes to pick up Homer and Bart in jail:
  Marge: I'm so embarrassed, I wish there was a hole I could just crawl into and die.
  Guard: Okay, throw her in the hole.
  Marge: Oh, please. It was just a figure of speech.
• Look Behind You: A man tells Marge that, at Itchy & Scratchy Land, they're also concerned about violence and always show the consequences of such actions. Marge asks when they show the consequences, giving an example where Itchy pulled out Scratchy's lungs yet was breathing fine in the next scene.
• Mistaken for Gay: Homer's first assumption about the murderous robots is that they're hitting on him.
• Money for Nothing: While entering Itchy and Scratchy Land, Homer is convinced by an employee to buy "Itchy and Scratchy Money" that can be used in the park "just like regular money, but it's fun". Once in the park, he sees that no business accepts Itchy and Scratchy Money.
• Mr. Alt Disney: Roger Meyers, the anti-semitic cartoon genius, is an obvious stab at Walt Disney, who was accused of having rather (alleged) xenophobic opinions about certain ethnicities, although not worse as many other people at that time.
  • Meanwhile, his son, Roger Meyers Jr. is a Corrupt Corporate Executive and obvious jab at then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner.
• Murderous Malfunctioning Machine: The Itchy and Scratchy robots have a protocol that ensures that they only attack each other; their HUD commands them to "KILL" their opposite number. Inevitably, they malfunction, and the "KILL" command is demanded on human targets.
• Narrating the Obvious:
  • Lampshaded. When the family are being attacked by the robots, Lisa points out to Homer that the camera flash scrambled the robots' circuits. Homer retorts: "What are you, the narrator?"
    Lisa: (a robot approaches Lisa) Just keep taking pictures!
  • Also Marge when the robots start attacking.
    Marge: Oh, my. It looks like we're doomed.
• Noodle Incident:
  • Homer taking a shortcut to I&S Land, which ends with their car in shambles, a missile stuck in Marge's hair, and a chicken flying out the car window.
    Homer: Alright, we're here. Now let us never speak of the shortcut again.
  • After seeing a robot's circuits, Marge comments that this is why Homer's robot never worked. This is never elaborated on.
• No OSHA Compliance:
  • Most of the attractions at the park would more that likely cause a lawsuit at best, or a death at worse. The log ride, for example, has crossbows and cannons fire at each other before the rider reaches them, along with shards of glass that, had it not been for Bart and Lisa being shorter than their parents, might've stabbed someone to death. It ends with a buzz saw that slices the log in half, and had the Simpsons not seen it in time then it would've killed them.
  • One of the things listed in the park as closed is the "Nurse's Station", later seen in frame with a closed sign.
• Not What It Looks Like: While at the "Tavern on the Scream" restaurant, Marge assumes Bart and Homer's food requests are them acting out in public:
  Bart: (to the waiter) I'll have a Brain Burger with extra pus, please.
  Marge: Bart!
  Homer: (to the waiter) Eyeball Stew.
  Marge: Homer! We just got here and already I'm mortified beyond belief by your embarrassing behavior!
  Bart: I was just ordering a cheeseburger, Mom. (shows Marge the menu) They have violent names for everything here.
  • Gone Horribly Wrong: And immediately following this explanation:
    Marge: Oh, I see. (reads the menu) All right, hmm... (to the waiter) I'll have the Baby Guts.
    Waiter: (scoffs; offended) Lady, you disgust me. (walks away) Ugh.
    Lisa: (quietly) Mom, that's veal.
    Marge: Oh...
• Now, Buy the Merchandise: After the blatant Product Placement episode of ''Itchy & Scratchy":
  Krusty: Kids, you heard the cartoon rat. If you haven't already run to your parents begging to go, do it now. You won't be missing anything funny: I'll just be sitting here reading this grownup's newspaper. (laughs; reads a racing form, then looks back towards the camera) Now!
• Old Shame: Roger Meyers' controversial 1938 cartoon "Nazi Supermen are Our Superiors" is a jab at Walt Disney's alleged racist and anti-semitic opinions. Other gags reveal more about Roger Meyers' racist opinions: the park's German security guards resemble The Gestapo a lot and that one of the characters in the Itchy & Scratchy franchise is even revealed to be named Ku Klux Klam.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted. There were two people named Bort on screen, and there were enough Borts at the park for their license plates to sell out.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Homer addresses this.
  Homer: BACK YOU ROBOTS! Nobody ruins my family vacation... but me!! (points at Bart) And maybe the boy!
• Only Sane Man: Lisa is the only one who isn't complaining about Bart and Homer's immaturity while warning Bart that he's asking for trouble.
• Out-of-Character Moment: During the car trip, Homer actually refuses to stop at a roadside diner that Bart and Lisa wanted to go to.
• Parody: Itchy & Scratchy Land is an extensive parody of the Disney Theme Parks, particularly Walt Disney World (Orlando, Florida). Also, Euro Itchy & Scratchy Land was such a failure the employee working at the ticket booth feared for his wage. Disneyland Paris, formerly known as Euro Disneyland, was not a success when it first opened.
  • When the robots run amok, the episode also spoofs Michael Crichton's film, Westworld.
  • Even Marge's bird sanctuary isn't as calm as she thought it might be — The Birds are wreaking havoc there in a Cutaway Gag!
• Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: Bart says in a Schwarzenegger-esque voice, "Hey mouse... Say cheese." followed quickly by "With a dry, cool wit like that, I could be an action hero." It's played with even further when moments later, Homer emerges from a pile of defeated robots, saying "Die, bad robots, die!... With a dry, cool wit like that, I could be an action hero."
• Putting on the Reich: The security guards at the park dress in uniforms resembling the SS. One of the guards who talks to Marge even has a German accent.
• Rapid Aging: Scratchy, when millions of Nano-Itchies destroy him from the inside.
• Robot War: The Simpsons have to fight murderous robots at the climax.
• Robo Vision: "Identify... Scratchy — KILL!"
• The Runt at the End: The cute little baby ax has trouble keeping up with the marching pace.
• The Scrappy: An In-Universe example is implied for the characters created for the "Itchy And Scratchy And Friends Hour", like Uncle Ant, Disgruntled Goat and Ku Klux Klam. The show didn't last very long, and Lisa nearly forgot about it. She didn't think the new characters were funny, but Bart said that Disgruntled Goat had a few moments.
• Screw the Rules, It's the Apocalypse!: Bart uses the fact that it's a life-or-death situation at the climax to smash the windows of a couple of souvenir shops: one to get the cameras the family needs to fight the robots off, and a totally unnecessary one that sells snow globes that he presumably steals.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Lisa has the sense to walk away when Bart launches a smoke bomb at a cast member.
• Shark Fin of Doom: When the family took a vacation at Sandy Beach, Homer terrorized other tourists by pretending to be an approaching shark. Bart was doing the same thing, and he accidentally terrorized Homer, who saw him with his fake fin and screamed "Aaaah! Shark boy!"
• Shear Menace: In the opening sketch, Itchy stabs Scratchy in the head with a pair of scissors.
• Shoe Slap: Marge points out that violence isn't so funny what it happens to you. Bart says that it is funny watching it happen to someone else, which Lisa demonstrates by tossing her shoe at Bart. Marge does find it funny, before sending Lisa to her room.
• Shoo Out the New Guy: Long before Poochie came along, there was a previous attempt to add new characters to the I&S universe with "the short-lived Itchy & Scratchy & Friends Hour", as Bart explains it. Among the now-forgotten characters whose merchandise still hasn't been sold off: Disgruntled Goat (whom Bart actually liked), Uncle Ant, and Ku Klux Klam.
  • Later retconned in "The Day The Violence Died", when it's revealed that Disgruntled Goat was created by Roger Meyers Sr. long before the "Hour" was aired.
• Short Cuts Make Long Delays: Homer's idea to take a shortcut route to Itchy & Scratchy Land only leads to disaster. See Noodle Incident.
• Shout-Out:
  • Bart and Homer chasing off beach tourists with a fake shark dorsal is a reference to Jaws.
  • The helicopter bringing The Simpsons to Itchy & Scratchy Land is very similar to Jurassic Park, complete with a matching logo. Professor Frink claiming he used chaos theory to prove the robots will go haywire is a parody of Ian Malcolm.
  • The robots attacking reference both Westworld and The Terminator.
  • Two Itchy & Scratchy cartoons spoof Disney's Pinocchio and Fantasia (specifically, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" segment).
  • The bird sanctuary references Hitchcock's The Birds.
  • A forgotten Itchy and Scratchy character, Disgruntled Goat, is inspired by the also forgotten Warner Bros. cartoon character Gabby Goat. Gabby's main character trait is that he is often disgruntled.
• Smashing Hallway Traps of Doom: The death traps during the log ride.
• Souvenir Land: Itchy and Scratchy Land is a straight Disneyland/Walt Disney World parody, and surprisingly thorough in spoofing real stuff at the parks in The '90s, like Disney Dollars, the Pleasure Island adult nightclub complex at the Florida resort, and even the Walt Disney Story attraction. The robot parades also feature the Itchy and Scratchy theme in the style of the Main Street Electrical Parade. The episode also briefly showed "Euro Itchy & Scratchy Land" in a Cutaway Gag; it's completely abandoned, save for a French ticket master calling out for customers because his last paycheck bounced and his "children need wine" — a reference to the (then-topical) disastrous early years of what is now called Disneyland Paris.
• Standard Female Grab Area: Averted. When Marge is grabbed by the arm by two guards twice her size, she breaks free within fifteen seconds.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Bart and Lisa are already gone for another log ride while Marge thinks they are still right next to her.
• Strange Minds Think Alike:
  • When Bart is put in park custody for kicking mascots, he finds Homer there for doing the same thing.
    Bart: Yeah, there's just no way to resist it, is there?
  • Bart and Homer both use the phrase, "With a dry, cool wit like that, I could be an action hero." Bart had actually uttered a Pre-Asskicking One-Liner whereas Homer had just said "Die, bad robots, die," so Bart feels free to talk over his self-congratulation.
• Sure, Let's Go with That: John Travolta allows the people who mistake him for someone who merely looks like him to think they're right.
• Take That!:
  • To Euro Disney. Euro Itchy and Scratchy Land was a Ghost Town so the employee at the ticket booth was afraid of losing his job.
  • When Marge orders the "Baby Guts", the waiter promptly declares she disgusts him and walks off. Lisa quietly explains that she'd just ordered veal.
• Tearing Through the Movie Screen: While watching "Pinitchio", after Bart and Lisa wonder if they're becoming desensitized to all the violence, a robot Scratchy bursts through the movie screen in front of them and falls down. Its head then pops off its body and lands on the ledge above it, leaking fake blood everywhere. Bart and Lisa's reaction?
  Bart: Wanna get a snow cone?
• Tempting Fate: Marge is purchasing T-shirts that say "Best Vacation Ever" when park security announces that Bart and Homer have been arrested.
  • In one of their previous vacations to Amish country, Homer gleefully makes a nuisance of himself to the Amish community, proclaiming "I can be a jerk and no one can stop me!"... at which point a mule kicks him in the ass. Hard.
  • Bart's arrested immediately upon expressing incredulity at how much he's gotten away with.
• Theme Naming: Itchy & Scratchy Land does this for both its rides and the restaurant entrees ("Brain Burger with extra pus", "Eyeball Stew").
• This Is Gonna Suck:
  • Santa's Little Helper and Snowball II look at each other in this manner when being left alone with Grampa (who asks which one of them is the mailman).
  • Lisa tries to warn Bart to not attack an employee. He doesn't listen, and she has this reaction before disappearing when the guards come.
• Turn the Other Cheek: Homer takes horrible advantage of this when the family once vacationed at the Amish Country. He laughed as he ice-creamed everyone and everything in his path since he wouldn’t suffer any retribution from them, until he got kicked by a donkey.
• Unsatisfiable Customer: Hans Moleman asks for the biggest seed bell they have during a pandemonium at the bird sanctuary, then rejects it because it's too big (even though that's what he asked for in the first place).
• Wasn't That Fun?: After a rather deadly roller-coaster that ends in the family jumping out of the way of a buzz saw onto mattresses, Bart and Lisa title-drop the trope. They do it again at the end of the episode, calling the trip "the best vacations of our lives", but Marge insists that it wasn't fun for her and orders the kids to Let Us Never Speak of This Again.
• Weaksauce Weakness: The Itchy and Scratchy robots were easily subdued by flashing cameras.
• What Could Possibly Go Wrong?: The family is taking a helicopter into the park when the pilot comes over the PA: "Welcome to Itchy & Scratchy Land, where nothing can possibligh go wrong... Possibly go wrong. That's... the first thing that's ever gone wrong."
• What the Hell, Hero?: Marge chews out Homer and Bart for breaking their agreement, harassing employees, and embarrassing her.
• Where the Hell Is Springfield?: During their road trip to Itchy & Scratchy Land, the Simpsons see a sign reading "Highway to Some Other State".
  • The Simpsons also at one point stand in a 'Five Corners' monument. There is no point in the real United States in which five states intersect.
• Who Even Needs a Brain?: While promoting the opening of Itchy & Scratchy Land, Itchy stabs Scratchy in the head with a pair of scissors. When Scratchy pulls it out, he also pulls out his brain, turning him into a Type I.
• Whole-Plot Reference: The entire part of the plot about the robots copies Michael Crichton's film Westworld (even emulating the looks of the film park's maintenance section for the scenes that take place there, like Marge going to fetch the Simpson males from security and Frink talking about his (horribly miscalculated) prediction).
• Yank the Dog's Chain: One Scratchy cartoon has him actually wrestle the axe out of Itchy's hands and smash him up in turn. It ends up creating tinier mice with multiple axes, who proceed to go on the rampage. They chop him up from the inside.
• Your Costume Needs Work: Homer and Marge visit Itchy's '70s Disco ("Est. 1980") on Parents Island:
  Homer: It is The '70s! Down to the smallest detail!
  Marge: Look! The bartender even looks like John Travolta!
  Travolta: Yeah... "Looks like".

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