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The title is a parody of the John Steinbeck novel Of Mice and Men. The main characters of the novel, George and Lennie, make a cameo, where Lennie is holding the Brain, who states to the camera, "I hate cameos; are you pondering what I'm pondering?"
Rita criticizes Runt's song by asking the audience, "What'd you expect? Sondheim?" Bernadette Peters, the voice of Rita, originated the roles of Dot/Marie in Sunday in the Park with George and the Witch in Into the Woods, which were composed by Stephen Sondheim. She has also subsequently starred in other Sondheim works such as Gypsy, Follies, and A Little Night Music.
Quotes
Cow: Moo.
Rita: Moo yourself, ya lower lifeform! [she gets flicked off the cow by the cow's tail and bumps into a wall] That's two minutes in the penalty box...for clipping. Rita:(after hearing Runt sing) Hey, it's a cartoon. What did you expect? Sondheim?
What a Dump!
Animation by Freelance Animators, Ltd.
Plot
Mindy's Mother gets her daughter a brand new doll to play with and throws her old doll out. When Mindy sees her doll in the trash, she chases the garbage truck to a landfill and recycling center leaving Buttons, once again, to chase and protect her.
The title is a reference to a line that Bette Davis said in the film Beyond the Forest, which achieved more recognition as a line in Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? when Martha is trying to figure out what movie Bette Davis says the line.
While chasing Mindy through the recycling center, Buttons comes across a vast sea of identical crates, a reference to the final shot of Raiders of the Lost Ark, directed by series producer Steven Spielberg.
The Warners go to the mall to find the perfect birthday gift for Dr. Scratchansniff. They get constantly interrupted and pestered by two pesky survey ladies from the Midwest, one blonde and the other a redhead, who ask them such dumb questions as "Do you eat beans?", "Do you want to see a new movie starring George Wendt?" and "Do you eat beans with George Wendt?".
The Warners' tape recorder explaining their "mission" to find a birthday present for Dr. Scratchansniff is a reference to the Mission: Impossible TV series, when a secret agent would get his/her mission on such a tape recorder that self-destructs after it's played. After the Warners' tape says, "This tape will self-destruct in six seconds;" Wakko eats the tape recorder in one gulp, resulting in it exploding inside his stomach.
Keep your ears open for jokes about Oedipus Rex and "Freudian slips".
