Ep. 44 - Goldfinger
In our season finale, Adam and Nate celebrate the 30th anniversary of one of The Simpsons’ most famous season finales, “Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part One” (S6E25). To complement Mr. Burns’s fiendish scheme to block out the sun, we paired it with Goldfinger (1964), the James Bond movie that invented much of the formula that every later movie in the series either imitates or plays against.
Also in this episode:
The brassy music of John Barry and Shirley Bassey that became synonymous with espionage and gadgetry
What set pieces hold up best, and why is the correct answer the industrial laser scene?
The imperceptible craft that pulls together the behind-the-scenes patchwork of this movie
Can James Bond survive his latest encounter with an ambitious bald billionaire?
Springfield Googolplex will return in September 2025 with the thrilling conclusion to “Who Shot Mr. Burns?” (S7E1), alongside a mystery movie pairing. In the meantime, we will be taking a break to produce our next season, but keep an eye out for a few very special episodes this summer.
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 Goldfinger
By our count, Goldfinger has been directly referenced 15 times in the first 13 seasons of The Simpsons. The first reference may appear as early as “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire” (S1E1) from 1989, 25 years after the release of the movie.
Scene References
Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire (S1E1, Unconfirmed) & Cape Feare (S5E2) & You Only Move Twice (S8E2): This movie’s famous industrial laser scene is reenacted multiple times on The Simpsons, possibly beginning with Bart’s tattoo removal in the very first episode! While it’s not an exact recreation, the oversized laser, metal restraints, and ominous tone of this scene seem inspired by Goldfinger.
In “Cape Feare,” Itchy & Scratchy take this scene to its most violent logical conclusion in their episode “Spay Anything.” Meanwhile, in “You Only Move Twice,” James Bont (an original creation like Ricky Rouse and Mondald Muck) outdoes James Bond, escaping the laser by flipping a coin into the laser’s path, which splits into four and breaks open the restraints.
It’s not surprising that this scene is one of the most referenced on the show, considering this may be the most recognizable scene in the entire James Bond franchise, if not all of cinematic history.
Homer Defined (S3E5): Homer averts the crisis at Springfield Nuclear Power Plant as the timer reaches "007," mimicking the deactivation of the dirty bomb in this movie.
Bart’s Friend Falls in Love (S3E23): In the Itchy & Scratchy Show episode “I’m Getting Buried in the Morning,” Itchy throws his hat like Oddjob to cut of the heads of Scratchy and his bride to be.
Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One) (S6E25): The scene where Mr. Burns explains his sun-blocking plan to Smithers carefully recreates several elements of a similar scene where Auric Goldfinger explains his own theme in this movie. This includes the villain twiddling knobs to reveal a model under the floor and Mr. Burns’s stance with his arms behind his back.
Small References
Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie (S4E6): Bart melts a Bond action figure in the microwave while petting Snowball II, much like Blofeld often does. The white dinner jacket and black bowtie worn by the action figure first appeared in Goldfinger. However, Bart petting the cat is a trademark of Blofeld, rather than the villain of this movie Auric Goldfinger.
The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular (S7E10): Oddjob appears in the background of a deleted scene from “$pringfield (or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)” (S5E10) shown in this episode where Homer deals cards to a variety of James Bond characters.
The overall scene seems inspired by a similar card table scene in Sean Connery’s first outing as James Bond in Dr. No (1962), however it also includes Blofeld, whose face is first seen in You Only Live Twice (1967), and Jaws, first seen in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).
Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? (New • S2E15), You Only Move Twice (S8E2) & Homer to the Max (S10E13): Soundalikes of Shirley Bassey’s original song for this film, which describes the villain Auric Goldfinger, appear three times in the first 13 seasons of The Simpsons, starting with the end credits for the McBain movie in “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?” However, the design of the McBain' movie’s end credits featuring a silhouette of a woman dancing on a solid red background seems more influenced by title designer Maurice Binder’s later opening credits for James Bond movies, particularly The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).
Another soundalike immortalizes the Bond-like villain Scorpio over the end credits of “You Only Move Twice,” while Homer also sings a version of the song to himself while enjoying his new name, Max Power, in “Homer to the Max.”
New • Monty Can't Buy Me Love (S10E21): When trying to navigate a crowd, Mr. Burns pushes a big red button in has car that deploys a cowcatcher, much like the ejector seat in James Bond’s Aston Martin from this movie. (Unconfirmed)
New • They Saved Lisa's Brain (S10E22) & It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge (S11E21): Soundalikes of the James Bond theme, and particularly the brassy orchestration from this movie, eventually became a musical shorthand on The Simpsons whenever a character reveals an unlikely gadget, like Stephen Hawking’s flying wheelchair in “The Saved Lisa’s Brain” or Homer’s collapsible metal straw in “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge.”
“Homer vs. Dignity” (S12E5) also features a Bond-ish musical cue when Comic Book Guy reveals his copy of The Amazing Spider-Man #1, but it lacks the loud horns that make the Goldfinger score so distinctive, so we gave that one to Dr. No.
Little Big Mom (S11E10): In The Itchy & Scratchy Show episode “The Tears of a Clone,” one of the photos in Itchy's album shows Scratchy bound to a table with a laser approaching his crotch as a callback to the full scene parody in “Cape Feare” (S5E2) described above.
New • A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love (S13E4): Mr. Burns’s new girlfriend Gloria seems to have a car modeled after Tilly Masterson’s Ford Mustang convertible in this movie. (Unconfirmed)
Extra Credit
Looking for more like this or an interesting double feature? Here are our recommendations.
From Adam: Mission: Impossible III (2006)
From Nate: Iron Man (2008), for another franchise formula-setter, or The Incredibles (2004) & Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011), for Brad Bird’s take on the Bond formula
