Bart vs. Australia

"Bart vs. Australia" is the 16th episode of the 6th season of The Simpsons. It was first shown on the Fox network on February 19, 1995.

The Simpsons episodes
Episode nos.	Season 6 Episodes 16
Directed by	Wes Archer
Written by	Bill Oakley Josh Weinstein
Production code	2F13
Phil Hartman as Evan Conover
Episode features
Chalkboard gag	"I will not hang donuts on my person"
Couch gag	The living room floor is a body of water and the Simpsons swim their way to the couch.
Commentary	David Mirkin Bill Oakley Josh Weinstein Wes Archer

Plot

When Bart is told about the Coriolis Effect by Lisa, Bart is fascinated and call's many places such as Antarctica, Burkina Faso, Argentina, Hawaii before Australia faking that he is calling from the "International Drainage Commission" where he warns an Australian child name Barnaby that it's an emergency and drains are sucking people in and wants him to check his before asking to check their neighbors direction of water flow

Milhouse interrupts Barts saying the bakery is burning down Bart comes along forgetting to end before at night Bart finds the phone still on and ends its. 3 Weeks later Homer checks the phone bill and discovers the calls made but believes he did it while drunk. 

In Australia, Barnaby's father named Bruno finds a 900 Dollaridoo phone bill and is told by Barnaby, he was called by the "International Drainage Commission", Bruno calls Bart, which Bart ridicules angering Bruno, in anger Gus, the local member for Parliament run and tell the Prime Minister

Bart receives many letters from Australia charging him with fraud, Lisa discovers this and ultimately Bart tells Marge and Homer before an official from the State Department named Evan Conover visits and tells that US-Australia relations has worsened due to Bart, and Bart could face 5 years of jail, Marge objects heavily objects and settles that Bart travels and apologises.

The family arrives and Bart is forced to abandon his pet bullfrog, which is picked up by a kangaroo, they arrive at the US embassy and Bart asks saying the embassy is in australia but a guard says the embassy is considered US land, Home jokingly jumps across the embassies saying "America" and "Australia" before punched by a guard.

They settle down before going around, they visit a bar and museum where Marge discovers australia was originally a penal colony before finally reach Parliament House, Bart and Homer enter while Marge, Maggie and Marge explores, Bart in front of all MP's apologises, thinking he's going scot free but he's interrupted by the PM who says he will be "booted" which is where he someone is kicked in the buttocks with an overly large boot.

Homer disagrees but stopped by Conover says Homer is disrespecting australian culture but Homer intervenes stealing the boot, grabs the PM and threatening to boot the PM, he makes a speech before the 2 run they attempt to ride kangaroo's but don't after stepping into goo from the kangaroo patchs, Marge, Maggie and Lisa are visiting a store before they see Homer and Bart run pass joining in as they are chased by a crowd, the reach the US Embassy when its nearly shut.

Conover negotiates with the Australian government, before Marge intervenes and makes a speech, however she fails and Australia makes an offer, Bart is kicked through the gate by the PM with a regular shoe, strangely Bart agrees, outside the family watches while news reporters, the PM and a crowd waits, the PM shines his boot and makes a declaration but Bart before kicked jumps forwards and shines his but to the crowd written "Don't tread on me" while humming the US anthem, the crowd in anger breaks the gate and break in.

The family escapes on a helicopter while the crowd approaches and Lisa remakes she's astonished by how clear the writing is, they board the helicopter while the crowd throws bear cans, the family laughs but a Koala is secretly on board hanging by the landing gear.

Cultural References

In the episode and during the call between Bruno and Bart, Bart says "Hey, I think I hear a dingo eating your baby", this is a reference to Azaria Chamberlain, was a 9 week old baby, who went missing during a family at Uluru (or Ayers Rock) and was unfortunately taken and killed by Dingo's in 1980, her mother Lindy Chamberlain was charged with murder, found quilty and would serve, alongside her husband, before new evidence was found proving her innocence and in 2012 a new investigation found the Chamberlain side of the story was true

A bull frog, is reference to the Cane Toad, which is an invasive species that has ravaged Australian farmland originally meant for pest control before being uncontrolled and becoming the pest today

The word "dollaridoo's" used by Bruno would inspire a Change.org petition to change the official name to "dollarydoo" which was the mainly used spelling and claimed it would help the struggling economy, by the time it closed in recieved, 69,574 signatures.

Bart Vs. Australia Media

• 

  The bullfrogs taking over Australia in the episode and destroying all the crops is a reference to the cane toad that became a pest in Australia.

Other websites

• Bart vs. Australia episode capsule. The Simpsons Archive.
• "Bart vs. Australia" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Bart vs. Australia" at TV.com