List of allusions/Season eight

Season eight

The following is a list of allusions to other My Little Pony generations, works of fiction, people, places, events, and other cultural touchstones in the eighth season of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. Entries on this page must follow the similarity guidelines.

School Daze - Part 1

• The title is a reference to the 1907 song "School Days".

School Daze - Part 2

• According to songwriter Nicole Dubuc, Friendship Always Wins was "vaguely" inspired by a song from the 2003 mockumentary, A Mighty Wind.

The Maud Couple

• The title is a reference to the Neil Simon play The Odd Couple, as well as its subsequent film and television adaptations.
• During the party planning cave scene, Mudbriar uses a method of loci technique similar to that of Sherlock Holmes in the BBC television series Sherlock.
• During Pinkie's hallucination, Rainbow Dash says "Slow and steady wins the race," the moral behind the fable The Tortoise and the Hare.

Fake It 'Til You Make It

• The title is a real-life English aphorism: "fake it 'til you make it", which suggests that if one pretends to be confident, competent, and optimistic in mindset, they'll eventually achieve those qualities in real life.
• The male goth pony is modeled after the title character from the Tim Burton film Edward Scissorhands.

Grannies Gone Wild

• The title is a reference to the since-ended explicit video series Girls Gone Wild.
• The Wild Blue Yonder rollercoaster shares its name with lyrics from the official song of the United States Air Force.
• The photo of Spitfire and Misty Fly playing chess on the rollercoaster is a reference to the Roller Coaster Chess fad which originated from the webcomic xkcd.
• Applejack refers to Granny Smith and her friends as the "Gold Horseshoe Girls", a reference to the TV series The Golden Girls.
• Two ponies in line to ride the Wild Blue Yonder resemble Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith from the Adult Swim animated series Rick and Morty.
  • Another pony in line—Buried Lede with a goatee and different eye color, cutie mark, and attire—resembles Walter White from the AMC original series Breaking Bad.
• "Gourmand Ramsay" yelling at Cranky Doodle Donkey in the background is a reference to Gordon Ramsay's catchphrase, "You donkey!" on shows such as Hell's Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares and Master Chef.
• One of the posters in the hotel depicts a pony that resembles Elton John.

Surf and/or Turf

• The title is a reference to "surf and turf", a popular main course dish that combines seafood and red meat.
• Sweetie Belle dances and twirls in the Harmonizing Heights in a similar fashion to Maria Von Trapp in The Sound of Music.
• The seaponies possess shell drums similar to ones seen during the "Under the Sea" song in The Little Mermaid.^{​[​dubious – discuss‍​]​}

Horse Play

• The title is a play on horseplay, referring to rough or boisterous playing.
• Pinkie says she will need "Big Bertha" for the show. Big Bertha was the name of a howitzer used during World War II.
• Spike's choreography is similar to the very first lines of the musical A Chorus Line.

The Parent Map

• The title is a reference to the 1960s-1990s film series The Parent Trap.
• Houyhnhnm's Guide to Magical Arcana name-drops the Houyhnhnms from Gulliver's Travels.
• Sire's Hollow and Firelight have respectively similar names to Gilmore Girls' Stars Hollow and its Firelight Festival.

Non-Compete Clause

• The title is in reference to a legality in contract law.

The Break Up Break Down

• When making the pie bake faster, Discord imitates magician Doug Henning, who was best known for his parody of hokey magic acts.
• Cranky Doodle Donkey and Matilda sharing a plate of spaghetti is a reference to Disney's Lady and the Tramp.
• Spike's last line, "Nopony's perfect", is a reference to the final line of the Billy Wilder film Some Like It Hot.

Molt Down

• The title is a play on the word "meltdown".
• Spike demanding the roc to "Let my ponies go!" is a nod to Charlton Heston in Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 version of The Ten Commandments.

Marks for Effort

• When Spike takes over the class, Twilight returns to hear the students say "O dragon, my dragon...", a reference to the film Dead Poets Society, which, in turn, referenced the Walt Whitman poem O Captain! My Captain!.
• When Cozy Glow meets with Starlight Glimmer, Starlight softly says "I'm listening...", a reference to Frasier Crane, the title character of the NBC sitcom Frasier.

The Mean 6

• Many of Fake Rarity's mannerisms mirror those of Gollum from the Lord of the Rings series and film franchise.
• Fluttershy's line "Can't we all just get along?!" is a reference to 1994's Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult and/or 2001's Planet of the Apes.
• Fake Applejack mentioning that she survived in the forest for a hundred and twenty-seven hours is a reference to the 2010 film 127 Hours.

A Matter of Principals

• The title is a wordplay on the phrase "matter of principles".
• While posing as a School of Friendship student, Discord dresses and acts like Steve Buscemi in season six, episode eight of 30 Rock, "The Tuxedo Begins".
• Discord's banana phone is a reference to the popular children's song "Bananaphone" from the 1994 album of the same name released by Raffi and Michelle Creber's father Michael Creber.
• A portrait of a dragon holding Knuckerbocker's shell resembles Johannes Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring.

The Hearth's Warming Club

• The title and concept is a reference to the John Hughes film The Breakfast Club.

The End in Friend

• Rarity says "No respect, I tell you!", a catchphrase Rodney Dangerfield commonly used in his stand-up comedy.
• Rarity comments that her boots were not "made for trotting", a reference to the Nancy Sinatra song "These Boots Were Made for Walking".

Yakity-Sax

• The title is a reference to the Boots Randolph song of a similar name, later recognized as the theme for The Benny Hill Show, which was parodied earlier in The Ticket Master and A Bird in the Hoof.

Road to Friendship

• Trixie is seen briefly doing the moonwalk, a signature dance move by Michael Jackson.
• The song We're Friendship Bound is a parody of the song "(We're Off on the) Road to Morocco" from the Hope and Crosby film of a similar name.

The Washouts

• Spitfire's speech to Scootaloo is modeled after Chris Farley's character Matt Foley from Saturday Night Live.
• Scootaloo's attempted jump over 22 covered wagons is similar to the stunts that daredevil Evel Knievel was best known for.

A Rockhoof and a Hard Place

• The episode title is a play on the expression "between a rock and a hard place".

What Lies Beneath

• This episode was directly inspired by the Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode The Gathering.
• In the credits, the ponies who beckon Smolder to join their tea party are referred to as "Stepford Ponies 1 and 2". This is a reference to the thriller novel, The Stepford Wives, which portrays an idyllic New England town where all the women are murdered and replaced by robotic perfect housewife duplicates. The story was adapted multiple times, notably in in 1975 by Bryan Forbes, and recently, in 2004 by Frank Oz.

Sounds of Silence

• The title is a reference to the 1964 Simon & Garfunkel song "The Sound of Silence" and/or their 1966 studio album Sounds of Silence.
• Twilight's line "flanks don't lie" is a reference to the 2006 Shakira song "Hips Don't Lie".
• The ticket taker pony makes references to the horror films End of the Line, Final Destination, and Scary Tales: Last Stop.
• A Kirin Tale makes references to:
  • Sudoku, a logic-based combinatorial number-placement puzzle, with the lyric "Seriously, there's only so long that Sudoku can keep you entertained!"
  • The Lin-Manuel Miranda musical Hamilton, where Autumn is performing on a stage in 18th century attire
  • The 1941 film Citizen Kane, with the scene where Autumn gives a speech in front of a backdrop of Rain Shine
  • The novel/musical The Phantom of the Opera, with the lyric ""story about the Kirin who hid below an opera stage"
• Autumn Blaze asking "Is some Kirin trapped in a well?" is a reference to the 1954 TV series Lassie. In one episode, Lassie gets trapped in a well and is in need of rescue. Contrary to popular belief, there was never an episode where the character of Timmy got trapped in the well.
• "Baby fish mouth" is a reference to the 1989 film When Harry Met Sally...

Father Knows Beast

• The title, based on Father Knows Best, was earlier used for Filmation's Ghostbusters episode 60.

School Raze - Part 1

• The scene in which the Mane Six interrogate Tirek in Tartarus is similar to Clarice Starling interrogating Hannibal Lecter in the 1988 novel/1991 film The Silence of the Lambs.