Margical History Tour
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"Margical History Tour" is the eleventh episode of The Simpsons' fifteenth season. The episode aired on February 8, 2004. This is one of several Simpsons episodes that features mini-stories.
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[edit] Henry VIII
King Henry VIII (Homer) is unhappy that his wife Margerine of Aragon has borne him a daughter, Mary (Lisa). Unable to execute Margerine because her father is the king of Spain, Henry attempts marriage counseling. Margerine then files for a divorce, forcing Henry to split his kingdom. Henry marries Anne Boleyn (Lindsey Naegle); nine months later, Anne tearfully apologizes to Henry for having borne him another daughter and is summarily executed. Henry goes through many wives, resulting in more and more daughters. Finally, after many years and executions, Henry is old and sick, lying on his bed, with Margerine by his side. He asks for her forgiveness for having locked her up in a dungeon and asks her to be his queen again. She accepts tenderly and then smothers him to death with his pillow. Elizabeth then became queen of England.
[edit] Lewis and Clark and Sacagawea
Lewis (Lenny) and Clark (Carl) are assigned to explore the West by President Thomas Jefferson (Mayor Quimby). They meet a tribe of Native Americans led by Chief Homer, who offers them the guidance of his daughter, Sacagawea (Lisa). Sacagawea gives them many tips on how to survive the land, including how to scare a mountain lion, but quickly becomes fed up with Lewis and Clark's antics and stupidity. Finally, she leaves them and sets off back home. She encounters a mountain lion, but before it can attack, Lewis and Clark save her using the advice she gave them. The party arrives at the Pacific Ocean and a heavy downpour begins, prompting Lewis and Clark to name the rain-soaked place Eugene, Oregon. The two explorers reward Sacagawea by creating the Sacagawea dollar which - Marge explains - can be exchanged for a real dollar.
[edit] Mozart and Salieri
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Bart) is a big hit in Vienna, playing sonatas on the grand piano as if he were at a rock concert. Antonio Salieri (Lisa) is resentful of Mozart's good fortune, especially when Mozart wins the best composer award. At Mozart's next opera, Salieri serves the Emperor (Montgomery Burns) wine spiked with a sleeping potion. The opera is a success until the sycophantic fops and dandies hear the Emperor snoozing in the balcony. The failure of his opera leads to Mozart's fall from popularity, after which he develops a high fever and becomes deathly ill. At Mozart's deathbed, Salieri tells him she wanted to ruin his life, not kill him. Mozart confesses that he thought highly of Salieri's work, believing that it would be remembered more than his - but his youthful death ensures he and his music will be immortalized forever. He then dies. The next day, Salieri visits the Emperor's court to submit her work, but the court is already focused on Beethoven (Nelson). Befuddled, Salieri hails a carriage to the mental asylum, gets in, and laughs hysterically as the carriage draws away.
Lisa realizes that Marge's telling of the lives of Mozart and Salieri is not the real version, noting that Mozart and Salieri had better relations in their time, and says that the story is based on the movie Amadeus. Homer says that the person who played Mozart also starred in Animal House, and he sings the theme from that film over the credits.
[edit] Cultural references
- The title is a take off of the album and song "Magical Mystery Tour" by The Beatles.
- The books seen in the library are "Everyone Poops: The Movie", "Yu-Gi-Oh! Price Guides", and "Itchy & Scratchy Books on Tape". "Everyone Poops" is a Japanese children's book that says that there is nothing wrong with pooping because it's natural for humans and animals.
- Homer wipes his Mouth with the Magna Carta, an important document in the 1200s. This is not the only time that Homer wipes his mouth with an important document, as he also does so with the sacred parchment at a meeting of the secret Stonecutters society and in "Make Room for Lisa", he licks the Eighth Amendment (the section that forbids cruel and unusual punishment) off the Bill of Rights.
- When Homer and Anne Boleyn are making love, she says "Oh, Henry!" a possible reference to the candy bar.
- Homer says to Bart in his dream to "get out of my dreams and into my wife", a reference to the song, "Get out of my dreams and into my car."
- Homer sings a variation of "I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am".
- the song playing when bart dies is called "requiem" by Mozart.
