Turtles on The Simpsons
The Simpsons have a lot of turtle references. (It seems unusually high for a non-recurring 'character'. Almost every reference is to a different turtle. (The clip show, All Singing, All Dancing has a duplicate reference.) I've counted on average two per season. That makes roughly 10% of the episodes that have a turtle reference that I've seen.) The purpose of this page is to document those occurances and maybe try to find a pattern.
Suspects
Can a pattern be detected to when the turtles appear? I haven't found one yet, but I have my suspicions.
Nelson Shin
My prime suspect. Nelson Shin is the founder and president of Akom Production Co., Ltd., which does a large portion of the animation for The Simpsons. He is known to have a pet turtle and has put turtles in other projects. (See Empress Chung.) They animated the first two seasons exclusively, then the turtle references started showing up after they were no longer exclusive animators. The turtles could be a "signature". (All conjecture of course, since it's hard to determine what house does what (part of a) show.)
Episode list
Ep # | Episode Title | Reference |
03x22 |
The Otto Show |
|
04x08 |
New Kid on the Block |
Decor in the Frying Dutchman includes a turtle in a net.
|
05x13 |
Homer and Apu |
|
05x17 |
Bart Gets an Elephant | The Turtle Wax turtle grabs Homer's hair |
06x07 |
Bart's Girlfriend |
After Bart's new girlfriend pulls a fire alarm, Willy attempts to save the wee tur'les.
|
06x08 |
Lisa On Ice |
When Bart's team wins a hockey game, Homer pulls out a turtle
Meanwhile, Lisa finds she's failing gym class and imagines being impeached from the presidency in the future because she failed gym
|
06x2009x11 |
Two Dozen and One Greyhounds
|
This song is reprised in the season 9 clip show, All Singing, All Dancing |
08x09 |
El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Homer |
Homer goes on a vision quest after eating the Merciless Peppers of Quetzalsacatanango.
|
08x10 |
The Springfield Files |
Mulder and Scully, while investigating Homer's claim of an alien sighting, run across Abe who's lost his teeth to a turtle.
|
08x18 |
Homer vs. The Eighteenth Amendment |
After a prohibition law is rediscovered on the Springfield books (on St Patrick's Day), Rex Banner comes to town to clean up Eliot Ness style. Hunting for the Beer Baron, he raids Moe's Pet Shop (speakeasy):
|
09x17 |
Lisa the Simpson | Lisa reviews Yertle the Turtle, possibly the best book ever written on the subject of turtle stacking. |
10x0513x17 |
When You Dish Upon a Star
|
Snapping turtles chase after Homer.
I wrote that down when the episode first aired, but I've had a hard time finding it whenever it aired in syndication. Now I know why. It was cut in the syndicated version[1].
They also edited out the same scene from the syndicated version of the clip show Gump Roast. |
10x23 |
Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo |
Returning from a trip to Tokyo, the plane the Simpsons are on is shaken.
|
11x03 |
Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner |
Turtle decor from the Frying Dutchman
|
11x07 |
Eight Misbehavin' |
While trying to free Apu's octuplets from the zoo, they see a turtle swinging through the trees.
|
11x15 |
Missionary Impossible |
Homer wears a turtle-shell helmet in a nod to The Flintstones |
11x19 |
Kill the Alligator and Run | After hitting an alligator, Homer dives in the swamp to flee the police and comes up with a few animals biting him, including a little turtle. |
12x09 |
HOMЯ |
Homer has a crayon removed from his brain, improving his intelligence. In a visit to the library we run across Cletus about to make some turtle soup.
|
14x03 |
Bart vs. Lisa vs. The Third Grade |
Bart is demoted to the third grade and Lisa is promoted to the third grade. In the background we see that the third grade classroom has a pet turtle.
|
14x04 |
Large Marge | While Lisa and Homer spend their father-daughter time building a house for Domiciles for the Destitute, Homer paints "El Homo" on the house trying to be cool like "El Barto". Then after realizing how it sounds he desperately paints over it.
Marge thinks she sees Homer flirting and goes to a plastic surgeon to get liposuction, but ends up getting breast implants. Hilarity ensues. |
14x06 |
The Great Louse Detective |
Marge goes to a spa and gets a Turtle Massage after which, the turtles are tossed into a bin marked "used turtles." |
14x07 |
Special Edna |
(OK, so this reference is cheating since it's referring to the band, not to turtles themselves, but I'm counting it :P) |
14x20 |
Brake My Wife, Please | A turtle attacks Bart |
14x21 |
The Bart of War |
While cleaning up litter, Kirk Van Houten (leading the Cavalry Kids) accidentally impales a tortoise. |
15x12 |
Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore | Milhouse and his mother move to Capital City, leaving Bart to adopt Lisa as his new best friend.
|
15x16 |
The Wandering Juvie |
Bart gets sent to juvenile hall. Yard equipment includes a rocking turtle. |
15x18 |
Catch 'Em If You Can |
(I originally found this quote on the net. It took me two years to finally find what episode it came from. Let me tell you, noone on the 'net has the quote right. Most say he says "turtle". Some say "check the webpage for recipes". &etc.) |
16x14 |
The Seven-Beer Snitch |
In order to find out why Snowball likes another family better than the Simpsons, Bart comes up with an excuse to see in their house.
|
16x15 |
Future-Drama |
Bart and Lisa find themselves in Prof. Frink's basement and he uses the science of astrology on his new computer to show them their future, eight years from next Tuesday. At their graduation party, Nelson flees fatherhood on the back of a sea turtle. |
16x16 |
Don't Fear The Roofer |
Homer goes in for electroshock therapy because everyone believes he's crazy. Bart asks him to hold his dead turtle while he's getting shocked to try to revive it. |
16x17 |
The Heartbroke Kid | (Unconfirmed. Need to get a screenshot.)
Bart was watching itchy and scratchy. and there was an explosion in itchy and scratchy. for a brief second you could see a DEAD TURTLE hurled across the screen. |
17x18 |
The Wettest Stories Ever Told |
In Mutiny on the Barty (a parody of Mutiny on the Bounty), Skinner gets marooned with Willy, who then maroons him on a turtle.
|
17x19 |
Girls Just Want to Have Sums |
At the beginning of the episode, the Simpsons are attending Stab-a-Lot: the Itchy and Scratchy Musical (a parody on The Lion King / Spamalot), and an actor in a turtle costume leads the animals down the aisle. |
18x04 |
Treehouse of Horror XVII |
In the You Gotta Know When To Golem segment, Homer mentions Bart's turtle.
|
18x05 |
G.I. (Annoyed Grunt) |
The Simpsons appear to have a turtle bath toy. (Alas, it's not too clear in this screenshot.) |
18x10 |
The Wife Aquatic |
Marge goes back to a happy place from her childhood, only to find it's not what she remembered. A carousel she loved has a turtle on it. (It's interesting that when they "refurbished" the ride, the turtle had a different shell pattern on it.) |
18x12 |
Little Big Girl |
Lisa fakes her family heritage in the 'Hitachi' tribe for a school project.
|
18x15 |
Rome-old and Juli-eh |
(Loved the parody of the Battle of Helm's Deep in this episode.) |
18x20 |
Stop, Or My Dog Will Shoot! |
First we believed Cletus was bitten by a turtle, we now have proof that he was actually bitten by a wereturtle!
|
19x01 |
He Loves to Fly and He D'oh's |
Homer develops a taste for flying. After failing to get a job that would involve travel, Homer hides out at Krusty Burger when we see the school children arrive.
|
19x04 |
I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings |
A turtle shows up in the baseball game in the Itchy and Scratchy Show. |
19x06 |
Little Orphan Millie |
A sign at the Van Houten wedding reads "PLEASE DO NOT KICK SEA TURTLES". |
19x07 |
Husbands and Knives |
A new comic store opens across the street from Android's Dungeon. The new Comic guy has a Girlfriend!! (Who wears a turtle t-shirt.) (There are probably other turtles in this episode, as there are a ton of images flashing by in the comic stores and I know there were other kaiju around, so there's probably a Gamera I have not yet been able to spot somewhere.) (I loved Comic Book Guy's parody of the iconic Spider-Man No More cover when he goes out of business.) |
|
Misc |
|
Current count: 47 known episodes
The Simpsons Movie | The Turtles are played in the movie. (Happy Together) Also, I believe one of the figures in the Inuit shaman's hut is a turtle, but I'd have to see the movie again. |
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