Homer becomes a fat pride advocate. Meanwhile, Lisa writes a new anthem for Springfield after learning that the old one was plagiarized.
Tropes:
- And a Diet Coke: When Homer first meets the wide pride advocates, they have a table with several fattening foods and cans of Diet Coke.
- Bait-and-Switch:
- Bart and Lisa go to write another song. Cut to them looking tired in Bart's room, next to a trash can full of crumpled paper. Lisa comments that it would've been easier if Bart hadn't crumpled up all the paper before they could write on it.
- After Marge shows reluctance to Albert not getting up out of his scooter, Homer decides to remind her of one of America’s greatest wartime leaders... Professor X of the X-Men.
Marge: It’s not that Professor X wouldn’t get out of his chair, it’s that he couldn’t! - The Cameo: Marge's father Clancy makes a rare appearance during the flashback montage.
- Comforting Comforter: In a montage of Bart and Lisa composing the anthem, Bart drapes a sleeping Lisa in a blanket and puts her hand in a glass of water.
- Comic-Book Time: Bart, still ten years old, is 23 years Late to the Realization that letting an adult mental patient spend the whole night in his room was a questionable parenting judgement from Homer and Marge. Homer simply responds, "Simpler time."
- Continuity Nod:
- Bart recalls the time he and a mental patient came up with "Lisa, It's Your Birthday".
- Springfield's new anthem mentions key events from past episodes.
- During the montage of Homer's yo-yo dieting, Homer briefly has the same appearance he had in "King-Size Homer".
- Did Not Think This Through: Former Mayor Hans Moleman thought nobody would know he bought Springfield's old anthem from a guy who was selling copies of it to several cities because he never expect anyone in town would travel anywhere. It took three decades until it happened but he should have thought about that.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Pharrell Williams of "Happy" fame offers to write the next Springfield anthem, only to find out he arrived too late and Lisa already offered to write the anthem first, so the Springfieldians tie him to a horse and exile him from town.
- Flashback/Flash Forward: The former trope right after the couch gag, revealing Hans Moleman as former mayor of Springfield, and the latter trope right before the end credits, with Homer's yo-yo dieting.
- Halfway Plot Switch: During the new anthem's debut, Homer's weight causes trouble and starts the "fat pride" plot. The anthem plot is forgotten afterwards and the only reminder comes at the end when Hans Moleman says "Whoa" and the horse reacts by stopping and gently puts him down. He's sad for not thinking about doing it earlier.
- Logging onto the Fourth Wall: The anthem performance ends with Maggie holding a banner reading "www.springfieldwhynot.com". If you go to this website, it redirects you to a now dead page on the FOX website, as of August 2021.
- Long List: Homer goes to Moe's Tavern with notepad in hand and reels off a list of insulting nicknames the patrons are no longer permitted to call him which runs for several pages.
- Noodle Incident: When Hans Moleman is tied to a horse, blindfolded and banished, Homer comments he's glad it's not him on the horse this time.
- "Not Making This Up" Disclaimer: Moe says he went to Tuscaloosa, which has a restaurant called "Moe's Original BBQ." He then opens his jacket to reveal a bib that says "This Is A Real Place."
- Plagiarism in Fiction: Springfield's old anthem.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Springfield's new anthem brings up the fact that Chief Wiggum takes bribes.
- Series Continuity Error: The anthem story introduces a couple.
- According to the song "Springfield Anthem" from The Movie (which, while deleted from the film proper, still plays over the credits), Springfield has never had an anthem, and the closest the town ever came was when they paid somebody to write one and he left town with the money.
- The scenes showing the residents of Springfield singing their anthem in the town hall over the years show Homer and Marge sitting side by side as kids (which seems unlikely considering the Love at First Sight reaction they had both times they met) and Rabbi Krustovsky, at various points, sitting happily with his arm around the young Krusty who's in full clown makeup and clothing, although the two were estranged for decades because of Krusty's pursuit of professional clowning.
- Springfield's new anthem says that it's had only one hurricane. There's actually been two that we've seen on the show: Hurricane Barbara from "Hurricane Neddy" and the one in "The Changing of the Guardian". Both of these are major plot points in their respective episodes.
- Shout-Out:
- The original Springfield anthem is a reference to the "Hello..." campaign conceived by composer and Jingle producer Frank Gari, originating in the 1980s for various TV stations.
- While Lisa and Bart write the new anthem, Maggie uses her toy phone to re-enact Marvin Berry calling his cousin Chuck in Back to the Future
- Spinning Paper: Homer has Marge spin the paper so he doesn’t have to read the humiliating headline.
- There Are No Coincidences: When Moe shows the Tuscaloosa variation of Springfield's old anthem, Sideshow Mel suggests it might be a coincidence but Moe tells him there are no coincidences and proves his point by showing scenes of several other towns using that anthem.
- Younger Than They Look: Until his funeral, Homer had no idea that Albert was 23. This startling revelation makes Homer plea for the members of Big is Beautiful to join a gym before they die prematurely.
