Ep. 40 - Ben-Hur

Written By Bart Simpson

When Jay Sherman showed up as a guest judge for the Springfield Film Festival, it created the perfect platform for one of the most movie parody-packed episodes of The Simpsons ever. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of “A Star Is Burns” (S6E18), Adam and Nate explore an equally epic movie—Ben-Hur (1959)—as well as The Critic, an even more movie-saturated series developed by several Simpsons alumni.

Also in this episode:

  • Is this movie actually as Christian as it seems, or is there very little meat in this gym mat?

  • Which actor is more Troy McClure-ish, Charlton Heston or Stephen Boyd?

  • Does the chariot race that launched a thousand homages hold up today?

  • Are the lepers in Ben-Hur as scary as Maude Flanders thinks?

Next time, Nate and Adam look back on our favorite movies of the year and recap the surprises, snubs, and the Simpsons-related host of the 97th Academy Awards.

For more Simpsons movie parody content, check out SpringfieldGoogolplex.com, or follow us @simpsonsfilmpod on Instagram, Bluesky, TikTok, YouTube, and Letterboxd. Discover more great podcasts on the That Shelf Podcast Network.

Every Simpsons Reference to Ben-Hur

By our count, Ben-Hur has been directly referenced 7 times in the first 13 seasons of The Simpsons. The first reference appears in “Saturdays of Thunder” (S3E9) from 1991, 32 years after the release of the movie.

Scene References

Saturdays of Thunder (S3E9), The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson (S9E1) & The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons (S9E7): Perhaps unsurprisingly, the first and most parodied scene from Ben-Hur is one of the most celebrated sequences in film history—the chariot race. In this marvel of practical filmmaking, Ben-Hur’s rival Messala brings a chariot with a spiked wheel into the arena, which he uses to destroy his competitors’ chariots. This gadget and the iconic shots between two chariots show up almost anytime there’s a race on The Simpsons.

One of Messala’s other dirty tricks also makes an appearance in “The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson,“ when a Central Park carriage driver whips Homer in the eye.

Kamp Krusty (S4E1): When Lisa writes home about the poor conditions at Kamp Krusty, the sweatshop sequence recreates the famous rowing scene from this movie. Much like Bart and Lisa, Ben-Hur has been forced into menial labor, and when the drum beat speeds up, so must the pace of their work.

A Star Is Burns (S6E18): Mr. Burns’s entry into the Springfield Film Festival contains multiple references to Ben-Hur. Firstly, the opening credits of his film, set over The Creation of Adam, recreate the credits of this movie.

(On the commentary, one of the writers suggests that these credits are a reference to The Agony and the Ecstasy. It’s not, but it’s an easy mistake to make: Charlton Heston also stars in The Agony and the Ecstasy, and the plot revolves around the painting of the Sistine Chapel, which includes The Creation of Adam.)

Later in Mr. Burns’s film, Mr. Burns gives water to Judah Ben-Hur (played hammily by Charlton Heston) collapsed in the desert. Up until this point, Mr. Burns has played the lovable protagonists of movies like Viva Zapata! and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, but in this moment he takes it to the next level, casting himself as Jesus Christ himself.

In the film, after Jesus gives water to Judah Ben-Hur, we never see his face—only his holy light reflected back on Charlton Heston’s face. In Mr. Burns’s version, not only do we see his face, but a beam of light shines down on him, confirming his holiness. Excellent.

Small References

New • Simpsons Bible Stories (S10E18): Participating in a proud tradition of aping Ben-Hur’s memorable poster, the title sequence for the four segment in this episode, “D v G2: Stone Cold,” presents the title in monumental, three-dimensional text carved out of stone. (Unconfirmed)

Little Big Mom (S11E10): When Bart and Homer think they’ve contracted leprosy, Maude and Ned Flanders have a squabble about the “scary lepers” in this movie.

 
Bart Simpson
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