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{{Good article}}
{{
{{Infobox Simpsons episode
| image = Bart vs. Australia.webp
| caption = Promotional card for the episode, featuring the Simpson family and a [[kangaroo]] in the background
| season = 6
| episode = 16
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}}
"'''Bart vs. Australia'''" is the sixteenth episode of the [[The Simpsons
The episode was written by [[Bill Oakley]] and [[Josh Weinstein]] and directed by [[Wes Archer]]. It features cultural references to films such as ''[[Mad Max 2]]'' and ''[[Crocodile Dundee]]''. "Bart vs. Australia" acquired a [[Nielsen rating]] of 9.1 and was the fourth-highest-rated show on
==Plot==
[[Bart Simpson|Bart]] notices that the water in the bathroom sink always drains counter-clockwise. [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]] explains ([[Coriolis_force#Draining_in_bathtubs_and_toilets|incorrectly]]) that water only drains clockwise in the [[Southern Hemisphere]] due to the [[Coriolis effect]]. Bart makes phone calls to various
Three weeks later, Tobias's father, Bruno, is billed [[Australian dollar |$]]900 for the phone call. Bruno calls Bart and demands payment, but Bart
The Simpsons arrive in Australia and stay in the [[Embassy of the United States, Canberra|U.S. Embassy in Canberra]]. When Bart sees a sign prohibiting foreign visitors from bringing in [[Invasive species in Australia|invasive species]], he leaves his pet bullfrog at the airport. A kangaroo puts the frog in its [[marsupial pouch]], introducing it into the wild. Bart makes his public apology, but an unsatisfied Parliament demands Bart receive a "booting" — a kick on the buttocks with an oversize boot — as [[corporal punishment]]. Desperate, Bart and [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] escape and the family flees to the embassy, chased by a large, angry mob. After a stand-off, the two governments propose a compromise: one kick from the Prime Minister, through the gate of the embassy, with a regular [[Brogue shoe|wing-tip shoe]]. Marge protests, but Bart agrees to the punishment. However, Bart dodges the kick, [[Mooning|moons]] the Australians with the words [[Noli me tangere#In United States history and military|"Don't tread on me"]] written on his buttocks, and hums "[[The Star-Spangled Banner]]". The outraged mob storms the embassy, and the Simpsons and the embassy staff are evacuated by helicopter.
==Production==
The episode was written by [[Bill Oakley]] and [[Josh Weinstein]], and directed by [[Wes Archer]].<ref name=Mirkin/> The writing staff wanted to do an episode where the Simpson family traveled to Australia, because they thought everyone in Australia had a good sense of humor and that they "would get the jokes".<ref name=Weinstein>{{cite video |people=Weinstein, Josh |date=2005 |title=The Simpsons season 6 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart vs. Australia" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> The staff had previously poked fun at several American institutions on the show, and they thought it would be interesting to poke fun at a whole nation.<ref name=Oakley/> They designed Australia and the Australian people very inaccurately and many things were completely made up for fun.<ref name=Mirkin>{{cite video |people=Mirkin, David |date=2005 |title=The Simpsons season 6 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart vs. Australia" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> The animators, however, got two Australian [[tourist guide]]s to help them out with the design of the Australian landscape and buildings, as well as the US Embassy.<ref name=Oakley/> The writers did research on the [[Coriolis effect]] for this episode.<ref name=Mirkin/> Lisa's explanation of the effect is incorrect; it affects global weather patterns and is caused by the spinning of the globe on its axis. The distances involved when a toilet or sink drains are much too small to be affected by it.{{sfn|Turner|2004|p=331}}
In 1999, [[Fox Studios Australia]] in [[Sydney]] used a different version of "Bart vs. Australia" as part of their ''The Simpsons'' attraction, called The Simpsons Down Under. They had contacted the ''Simpsons'' writing staff and asked if they would write the screenplay for a ride in their attraction, based on this episode.<ref name=Oakley/> The episode was re-edited and re-animated for the ride and new scenes were included.<ref name=Oakley/> The attraction featured motion capture technology, allowing audience members' faces and expressions to be transformed into moving cartoon characters.<ref name="downunder">{{cite web |url=http://www.allbusiness.com/services/amusement-recreation-services/4592655-1.html |title=$261 Million Fox Studios Australia To Open Nov. 7 |last=Emmons |first=Natasha |date=November 1, 1999 |publisher=All Business |access-date=2008-10-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215010851/http://www.allbusiness.com/services/amusement-recreation-services/4592655-1.html |archive-date=2009-02-15}}</ref><ref name="innes">{{cite news |title=Lights, camera, ACTION |last=Innes |first=Stuart |date=November 6, 1999 |newspaper=The Advertiser |pages=M25}}</ref>
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==Cultural references==
[[File:Bufo marinus from Australia.JPG|thumb|left|The bullfrogs taking over Australia in the episode and destroying all the crops is a reference to the [[Cane toads in Australia|cane toad]] that became a pest in Australia.]]
The plot of the episode is based on the story of [[Michael P. Fay|Michael Fay]], an American teenager who was [[Caning|caned]] in [[Singapore]] in 1994 for vandalizing cars.<ref name=Mirkin/><ref name="straits">{{cite news |title=D'oh Spinner — A movie, eh? Mmmm, 18 years after The Simpsons wooed TV viewers — oh those chalkboard gags, couch gags and wicked one-liners — they are finally terrorising the big screen |last=Tseng |first=Douglas |date=July 25, 2007 |newspaper=The Straits Times}}</ref> This episode perpetuated a [[Coriolis effect#Draining in bathtubs and toilets|popular myth]] that the Coriolis effect affects the motion of drains in the [[Northern Hemisphere|Northern]] and [[Southern Hemisphere]]s.<ref name=Oakley/> In reality, the Coriolis effect affects global weather patterns. The amount of water in a toilet or sink is much too small to be affected by it.<ref>{{cite news |title=Toilet Flush Goes with Flow the World Over |last=Michel |first=Roger |author2=Beth Teitell |date=April 28, 1996 |newspaper=The Boston Herald |pages=78 |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/bostonherald/access/17293073.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Apr+28%2C+1996&author=Roger+Michel+%26+Beth+Teitell&pub=Boston+Herald&edition=&startpage=078&desc=Good+Question!+Toilet+flush+goes+with+flow+the+world+over |access-date=July 5, 2017 |archive-date=November 6, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106102141/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/bostonherald/access/17293073.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Apr+28,+1996&author=Roger+Michel+&+Beth+Teitell&pub=Boston+Herald&edition=&startpage=078&desc=Good+Question!+Toilet+flush+goes+with+flow+the+world+over |url-status=dead }}</ref>
During the scene in which Bart calls various locations in the Southern Hemisphere, he calls a [[car phone]] belonging to a man who appears to be an elderly version of
When Bart is talking to the boy's father on the phone, he says, "Hey! I think I hear a [[dingo]] eating your baby!", referencing the case of [[
|author=Alberti, John
|year=2004
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==Reception==
In its original broadcast, "Bart vs. Australia" finished 56th in the ratings for the week of February 13–19, 1995, with a Nielsen rating of 9.1.<ref name=ratings/> It was the fourth-highest rated show on Fox that week.<ref name=ratings>{{cite news |title=NBC Stays Hot, Leads Sweeps Race |date=February 25, 1995 |page=10D |publisher=[[The Associated Press]] }}</ref>
Since airing, the episode has received positive reviews from fans and television critics.
In a DVD review of the sixth season, Ryan Keefer said, "all the Australian jabs you expect to have here are present. Bart's international incident is hilarious, from top to bottom. The phone calls he makes to other countries (particularly [[Buenos Aires]]) are fantastic. This is one of the more under appreciated episodes in the series' run."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/simpsonsseason6.php |title=DVD Verdict Review — The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season |last=Keefer |first=Ryan |date=August 29, 2005 |publisher=DVD Verdict |access-date=2008-09-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225151101/http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/simpsonsseason6.php |archive-date=December 25, 2008}}</ref>
''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' named it the second-best episode of ''The Simpsons'' in 2007.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=John |last=Orvted |title=Springfield's Best |magazine=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |date=2007-07-05 |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2007/08/top10simpsons200708 |access-date=2022-01-16}}</ref>
"Bart vs. Australia" was also nominated for an [[Emmy Award]] in 1995 in the category "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or a Special".<ref name="Emmy">{{cite web|url=http://www.emmys.org/awards/awardsearch.php |title=Academy of Television Arts &
===Reaction in Australia===
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''[[The Newcastle Herald]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s James Joyce said he was shocked when he first saw the episode: "Who are the Americans trying to kid here? I agree Australia has its faults, as does any other country. But laughing in our face about it, then mocking our heritage was definitely not called for. It embarrassed and degraded our country as well as making us look like total idiots".<ref name="newscastle">{{cite news |title=Cutting edge — feature |last=James |first=Joyce |date=November 5, 2005 |newspaper=The Newcastle Herald |pages=8}}</ref> Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, the authors of the book ''I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide'', advised that the episode is "best if watched with Australians who will be, perhaps understandably, aggrieved at their portrayal. After the [[The Crepes of Wrath|attack on the French]], this is a vicious, unkind, offensive and wonderfully amusing slaughter of Australian culture by the makers of ''The Simpsons''."<ref name="bbc"/>
[[David Mirkin]], who produced the episode, responded to the criticism in an interview with ''The Newcastle Herald'' by saying: "We like to have the Simpsons, the entire family, travel and this was the beginning of that. Australia was a fantastic choice because it has lots of quirky visual things. And it's a country that is really very close to America, very in sync with America. We are so similar but yet there are all these fantastic differences, familiar yet twisted. It was intentional to make it very inaccurate. That was our evil side coming out: We'll take our knowledge of Australia and we'll twist it around to stimulate an audience and annoy them at the same time."<ref name="newscastle"/> Despite being
In the episode, Tobias's father refers to [[Australian dollar]]s as "dollarydoos", leading to a petition on [[change.org]] to change the name of the Australian currency to dollarydoos. The petition claims that the name change will stimulate the struggling Australian economy. When the petition had closed, it had received 69,574 signatures.<ref name="Iyengar">{{cite web|url=http://time.com/4076122/dollarydoos-petition-australia-simpsons-economy/|title=A Petition Wants to Call Australia's Currency 'Dollarydoos'|last=Iyengar|first=Rishi|date=October 16, 2015|work=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|publisher=Time|access-date=11 February 2018}}</ref>▼
▲In the episode, Tobias's father refers to [[Australian dollar]]s as "
==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bart Vs. Australia}}
[[Category:The Simpsons
[[Category:1995 American television episodes]]
[[Category:Animation controversies in television]]
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