10 Easter Eggs From The Simpsons You Probably Didn't Know About
Much like you, we love The Simpsons. Sitting back, just enjoying an episode as it plays out is definitely something we'd consider a pastime. Even though many of us rarely take time to dig deeper into the episodes, there's often plenty of gems hidden right in plain sight. The Simpsons has been known to include thoughtfully placed Easter eggs for those with a keen eye (and likely a DVR). With a series running as long as The Simpsons has, it's hard to include everything, or even scratch the surface. Below we've included a list of our 10 favorites from over the years.
1. Maggie's Scanner Price
Before the days of digital, it was tough to discern what this actually read in the split second it appeared on screen. Long thought to be a hidden word, or random number, Maggie's scanner price isnt random, and actually reads as $847.63, which was the estimated cost per month of raising a baby in America during the 1990s.
2. Complex Math
The show is full of high brow goodies too. And it's no wonder, The Simpsons creators aren't your typical group of writers. About two dozen of them studied at Harvard; many of them mathematics, and they love to drop equations in where ever they can. In season ten, episode two, "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace", when Thomas Edison inspires Homer to be an inventor, Homer (almost) successfully disproves Fermat's Last Theorem; which up until it was solved in 1994 by Andrew Wiles, was in the Guinness Book of World Records as the "most difficult mathematical problem".
Some (of the many) notable academics working on The Simpsons are Al Jean and Jeff Westbrook. Jean attended Harvard to study math at the young age of 16. He worked on the first series, and is now the executive producer. Jeff Westbrook resigned from a senior research post at Yale to write scripts for Homer, Marge, and a few other Springfieldianites. Yes, Springfieldianites is the correct demonym.
3. A113
A113 has been used throughout many different animated flicks, most commonly in Pixar films. A113 is a reference to a room at the California Institute of the Arts. Alumni slip it into their works as a tribute to the famed institute. A113 has been used in The Simpsons as the inmate numbers for SideshowBob, Krusty the Clown and Bart Simpson.
4. Danny's Storefront
The Simpsons paid a recurring tribute to Danny Elfman, the Simpsons' theme song composer. He has his own storefront in Springfield, fittingly shown during the beginning of the opening credits.
5. Matt Groening, Initial Here
Homer's classic zigzag hair and ear form an MG initial, the same as that of Simpsons creator Matt Groening. If signing Homer's head wasn't enough, he also tends to write himself into the series quite frequently, and can be seen depicted through various stages of his life.
6. Homer vs Krusty
Homer and Krusty have almost identical character models. Without the wig and makeup, they're basically the same silhouette.
7. Paul McCartney's Lentil Soup Recipe
In the season five episode, "Lisa the Vegetarian", Paul McCartney says "In fact, if you play ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’ backwards, you’ll find a recipe for a ripping lentil soup.” The Simpsons writers and McCartney couldn't leave it there though; if you actually play ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’ from the credits of this episode backwards you can actually hear McCartney whispering a lentils soup recipe in the background. Nice touch.
If you're down with lentils and want to try the soup out for yourself, we've already added this one to our recipe book. Check out Paul and Linda's soup recipe here.
8. Bart's Chalkboard Lines
"I am not a 32 year old woman". This was a poke at Nancy Cartwright, who voices Bart, and was 32 at the time. She also voices Nelson, Ralph Wiggum, Todd Flanders and Kearney. Nancy is now 59. Bart Simpson's famous "eat my shorts" line was an ad-lib by Cartwright during one of the original table readings, referring to an incident from her high school days.
9. Seymour Skinner, Les Miserables
If high brow humor is your thing, it's in there, but you might have to wait a few years for the writers to finish the joke. In season five, Skinner reveals that his POW number in the Vietnam War was 24601. This happens to be the same number as Les Miserables' character Jean Valjean.
The Simpsons writers played on this four years later. During the season nine episode "The Principal and the Pauper," we learn that Principal Seymour Skinner was a former criminal, known then as Armin Tamzerian. During the war Tamzerian was befriended by his Sgt., Seymour Skinner. Upon returning home, Amrin steals his sergeant's identity, leaving his criminal life behind and becoming a respected member of society. Sound familiar? Victor Hugo might think so too.
10. Full McBain movie
Yes, you can piece together all the Rainier Wolfcastle clips from the series into a full McBain movie, with a surprisingly well structured narrative. You can take a look at the flick yourself here.
That concludes our top 10 Simpsons Easter eggs. With over 600 episodes, there's no chance of including everything. If there's something we missed, be sure to let us know!