Ep. 25 - The Natural

Season 4
Written By Bart Simpson

Ah, The Natural (1984), a classic American tale about… an underdog baseball team, a serial killer, a love triangle, a match fixing scandal, a freak accident in the outfield, and a magic baseball bat? We’ll get into it, along with “Homer at the Bat” (S317), a star-studded Simpsons episode that stretched the reality of the show.

Also in this episode:

  • Randy Newman (yes, of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” fame) delivers a banger of a score that The Simpsons parody again and again

  • Is all the plot nonsense worth it for that astonishing Hollywood ending?

  • Bump Bailey and other old-time Swartzweldian baseball nicknames

  • How can a star like Robert Redford get beyond roles like “baseball Jesus”?

Next time… GODZILLA. 

…The 1954 version. Also, “Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo” (S10E23).

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Every Simpsons Reference to The Natural

By our count, The Natural has been directly referenced eight times in the first 13 seasons of The Simpsons. The first reference appears in the very first episode, “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire” (S1E1) from 1989, five years after the release of the original movie.

In our research for this episode, we found two new references that hadn’t been recorded yet on IMDb, Wikipedia, Simpsons Wiki, or Wikisimpsons.

Scene References

Dancin’ Homer (S2E5) & Homer at the Bat (S3E17): Most Simpsons parodies of The Natural revolve around the big game, including Roy Hobbs’ big hit at the bottom of the ninth and the movie’s distinctive score. This particular moment has been parodied twice, with both Homer and manicurist turned mediocre slugger Bill McCloskey in the Hobbs role.

Saturdays of Thunder (S3R9): In the lead up to the big race, a short montage shows workers getting the track ready, mimicking a similar montage in the movie, complete with the score.

Just before the race, Homer stands up in the crowd with the sun at his back to raise Bart’s his spirits, just like Hobbs’ love interest Iris Gaines in this movie.

Homer at the Bat (S3E17): When Homer tells Bart the origin of his lucky bat, “Wonderbat,” it bears a striking resemblance to the story of Roy Hobbs’ own “Wonderboy,” including its origin as wood from a tree struck by lightning…

…and the hours of woodworking that went into crafting it into a bat.

Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder (S11E6): Just like Hobbs’ big hit smashes the lights at the ball field, when Homer bowls a perfect game, his final throw causes a shockwave that knocks over every pin in the place, destroys a TV, pops a sparkler in Ralph’s face.

NEW • Hungry, Hungry Homer (S12E15): The score from this movie kicks in when Homer finally breaks his fast by eating a hotdog. He runs around the bases, eating food thrown at him by the audience as fireworks rain down like the sparks from the movie.

Small References

NEW • Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire (S1E1): According to Mike Reiss in the commentary for "Bart Gets Hit By a Car" (S2E10), the design of Mr. Burns's office is partly based on the Judge’s office in this movie. While the overall design has changed over the years, the stuffed bear that also appears in this movie has endured.

Bonus: Later Simpsons References to Police Academy

I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (S19E4): Bart and Lisa watch an Annie Award-winning episode of Itchy & Scratchy titled “The Un-Natural,” where Itchy convinces Scratchy to take steroids to win a baseball game, resulting in a chain of events that ends with a giant statue of Abe Lincoln hitting a homer with Scratchy’s head.

 
Bart Simpson
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