Topic: Pop Culture Refs in Animal Crossing: New Leaf

Philip_J_Reed wrote:

NightmareXIV wrote:

In the begining of the game Rover will say he hasn't ridden the train since 2002 which is a reference to the original Animal Crossing released for the gamecube.

Pretty sure that's a reference to Triple H, who returned to the WWE in 2002.

The joke is that Rover is implying he's Triple H in disguise.

theblackdragon wrote:

... I hereby nominate this thread for Hall of Fame status.

NightmareXIV wrote:

Philip_J_Reed wrote:

When you catch a popeyed goldfish, your character will comment that he should have eaten his spinach. This is a reference to the classic cartoon Bananaman. Bananaman got his powers from eating bananas, and the implication is that the popeyed goldfish could have gotten away if it also ate something that would increase its strength. The developers swapped "bananas" out for "spinach" because bananas do not exist in the Animal Crossing universe.

Wrong this is a reference to the cartoon Popeye about a sailor with unusually large arms that gets stronger from eating spinach.

(Man you know very little about culture.)

Neo-GeoFan wrote:

theblackdragon wrote:

... I hereby nominate this thread for Hall of Fame status.

2nd-ed

bezerker99 wrote:

Anytime I see someone dressed up in the Bear outfit,....

I get totally freaked out because all I can envision is this odd scene from The Shining! D:

KingBoo01 wrote:

Neo-GeoFan wrote:

theblackdragon wrote:

... I hereby nominate this thread for Hall of Fame status.

2nd-ed

3RD-ed

Musterd wrote:

The main character is a human. The villagers are animals. You can catch spiders. Obviously, it's because Animal Crossing was originally going to be a video game adaptation of Charlotte's Web. however, Nintendo had little faith that it would sell under a license- especially that of a novel- and so they changed the title. Even E. B. White, the author of the book, had no faith in it, and so he decided to sell the entire franchise to Nintendo. This explains why all recent copies of Charlotte's Web have the Official Nintendo Seal of Approval on it, and why Wilbur was revealed for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS.

theblackdragon wrote:

Morphtorok wrote:

Nibelilt wrote:

If you shake a tree, a beehive might fall out. This is obviously a reference to the fact that bees live in beehives, which are on trees.

Dude, that's obviously a refference to that one movie where Nicolas Cage dies.

You both fail. Beehives and bees falling out of trees in this game is obviously a reference to the 1991 coming-of-age film 'My Girl', where Macaulay Culkin dies of a bee sting and Anna Chlumsky has her first period. A true classic.

Philip_J_Reed wrote:

You can exchange tickets from the inside of fortune cookies for special clothing and furniture items. Some of these are from a game called Super Mario Bros. Ever heard of it? That's right...it's a reference to Ghostbusters II, in which two characters discuss the (fictional) video game, Super Mario Bros.

Musterd wrote:

The main character is a human. The villagers are animals. You can catch spiders. Obviously, it's because Animal Crossing was originally going to be a video game adaptation of Charlotte's Web. however, Nintendo had little faith that it would sell under a license- especially that of a novel- and so they changed the title. Even E. B. White, the author of the book, had no faith in it, and so he decided to sell the entire franchise to Nintendo. This explains why all recent copies of Charlotte's Web have the Official Nintendo Seal of Approval on it, and why Wilbur was revealed for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS.

Philip_J_Reed wrote:

Animal Crossing: New Leaf is positively bursting with clever pop cultural nods and references, so I thought it would be fun if we catalogued all of them! I'll start us off, and of course feel free to add your own! I'll need your help to find them all!

• In the game there are two police stations you can build as public works projects. Whichever one you build, it will be staffed by a sole police officer. This is a reference to the movie The French Connection, which also features a police officer.
• Sometimes when traveling to the island, Kapp'n may sing about pouring a cold beverage on his feet to stay cool. This is a very obvious reference to the Pink Floyd song "Nobody Home," in which the singer describes how his life has been destroyed by heroin.
• One of the possible villagers you can get is a horse named Elmer. The joke isn't immediately clear, but the horse's name is actually a reference to the character Elmer Fudd, from Looney Tunes. This is easily confirmed as whenever a rabbit moves into your town, he will immediately seek it out and kill it.
• When asked to name your town, it is possible to name it "Idaho." If you do this, it is a reference to the B-52s song "Private Idaho."
• Sometimes in the clothing shop you will be able to buy a hat, a shirt, and even pants. This is a reference to Babe 2: Pig in the City, as the human beings in that film also wear clothes.
• The currency in the Animal Crossing series is referred as "bells," a nod to Edgar Allen Poe's "The Bells." Originally Poe intended to publish the poem as "The Moneys," illustrating with each successive line the descent into madness caused by financial worry. Under pressure from banks at the time (who feared his poem would prevent anyone from wanting to use money anymore) he changed the poem so that it was about "bells" instead. His meaning, of course, remained clear, but now everybody stayed away from bells. (You probably already knew this one.)
• Sometimes when meeting a new villager for the first time, the villager will say, "It's great to meet you! I am ______." This is a reference to the Insane Clown Posse film Big Money Rustlas, wherein one of the guys from Insane Clown Posse says, "It's great to meet you! I am one of the guys from Insane Clown Posse."
• When Redd appears in your town to sell his art, it's possible that he will have a Maltese Falcon for sale. DO NOT BUY IT. If you do, three weasels will appear dressed as Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet. The hinges on your 3DS will be stuck so you can't close the unit, and you won't be able to leave the tent or turn the game off until early the next morning, at which point one of them will cut into the Falcon to show that it is fake.
• In town, one of the activities you can perform is pulling weeds. This is a reference to the 1976 composition "Pulling Weeds" by the Pulling Weeds, from their album Pulling Weeds (and Other Hits). If you don't pull your weeds the band will show up and perform on your birthday. They're terrible but you still have to clap.
• If you talk to Tom Nook enough times in the course of a single hour (seventy), he will recite every line of The Waste Land.
• A very interesting reference that you probably didn't notice: if you don't turn the game on, you won't hear any of its music. (Try it!) This is a reference to the Simon and Garfunkel classic, "The Sound of Silence."

What ones am I missing? There's a bear in my town who keeps coming into my house and urinating on my rug, but I can't figure out what that's supposed to be a reference to.