 = Bart vs. Australia = 
 
 " Bart vs. Australia " is the sixteenth episode of the sixth season of The Simpsons . It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 19 , 1995 . In the episode , Bart is indicted for fraud in Australia , and the family travels to the country so Bart can apologize . The Australian Parliament decides to give him the additional punishment of a boot to his buttocks , but the Simpson family refuses . Bart later changes his mind and agrees to the punishment , but just as he is about to receive it , he moons the Australians and the family flee back to America . 
 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 the Fox network the week it aired . It received mixed reception in Australia , with some Australian viewers saying the episode was a mockery of their country . 
 
 = = Plot = = 
 
 While in the bathroom , Bart notices that the water in the sink always drains <unk> . Lisa explains ( not entirely correctly ) that the water never drains the other way except in the southern hemisphere , due to the Coriolis effect , but Bart does not believe her . To confirm this , Bart makes phone calls to various countries in the southern hemisphere . Lisa points out how expensive international calls are , so Bart decides to make a collect call instead . He calls Australia , where a little boy answers the phone . <unk> to represent the " International Drainage Commission " , Bart is informed that the toilet and sink are both draining clockwise . Frustrated , Bart asks him to go and check the toilets of the neighbors . The call takes six hours to complete , since the boy lives in the outback , and Bart <unk> to hang up the phone . Later , the boy 's father is billed A $ 900 ( referred to as " <unk> " ) . The father calls Bart and demands that he pay , but Bart only taunts him . Unfortunately for Bart , the father 's neighbour is a federal Member of Parliament , who reports Bart 's offense to the Prime Minister — who is relaxing naked in a nearby pond . 
 After a long series of ignored letters , Australia <unk> Bart for fraud . The United States Department of State wants to send him to prison in order to <unk> the Australian government , but Marge furiously objects to this idea . The State Department then settles on having Bart publicly apologize in Australia . The family is sent to Australia and they stay in the American Embassy , which is fitted with all the comforts of their home country , including a specially modified toilet that <unk> an exaggerated Coriolis effect . Then they start exploring the local culture . 
 After Bart makes his apology , the Parliament reveals that they want to give him the additional punishment of a " <unk> " , which is a kick in the buttocks using a giant boot . Bart and Homer escape and the family flees to the American Embassy . After a prolonged standoff , the two governments propose a compromise to the Simpson family : one kick from the Prime Minister , through the gate of the embassy , with a regular shoe , believed to be a <unk> . Marge is opposed to the idea , but Bart agrees . However , Bart <unk> the kick , moons the Australians with the words " don 't <unk> on me " written on his buttocks , then <unk> " The Star @-@ <unk> Banner " . In a scene reminiscent of the Fall of Saigon the Simpson family flees the outraged country in a helicopter . Looking down on Australia , they see that <unk> have begun to <unk> and destroy the Australian ecosystem , due to a <unk> Bart left earlier at the airport . <unk> the devastation , the family remark upon the destruction that can be caused by introducing a foreign species into a new environment , and laugh at the Australians ' misfortune , unaware that a <unk> is hanging onto the helicopter . The camera <unk> in on the <unk> , ending with a close @-@ up of its eye , implying that America will face a similar fate as Australia . 
 
 = = Production = = 
 
 The episode was written by Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein , and directed by Wes Archer . The writing staff wanted to do an episode where the Simpsons family traveled to Australia , because they thought everyone in Australia had a good sense of humor and that they " would get the jokes " . 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 . They designed Australia and the Australian people very inaccurately and many things were completely made up for fun . The animators , however , got two Australian tourist guides to help them out with the design of the Australian landscape and buildings , as well as the American Embassy . The writers did research on the Coriolis effect for this episode . 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 amount of water in a toilet or sink is much too small to be affected by it . 
 In 1999 , Fox Studios Australia in Sydney used a different version of " Bart vs. Australia " as part of their 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 . The episode was re @-@ edited and re @-@ animated for the ride and new scenes were included . The attraction featured motion capture technology , allowing audience members faces and expressions to be transformed into moving cartoon characters . 
 
 = = Cultural references = = 
 
 The plot of the episode is based on the story of Michael Fay , an American teenager who was <unk> in Singapore in 1994 for <unk> cars . This episode <unk> a popular myth that the Coriolis effect affects the motion of drains in the Northern and Southern <unk> . 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 . 
 When Bart is talking to the boy 's father on the phone he says " I think I hear a <unk> eating your baby " , referencing the case of Azaria Chamberlain , a ten @-@ week @-@ old baby who was killed by <unk> . The <unk> taking over Australia and destroying all the crops is a reference to the cane <unk> , originally introduced to Australia in order to protect sugar <unk> from the cane beetle , but became a pest in the country . 
 When the Simpson family go to an Australian pub , Bart plays with a <unk> at the table and a man asks him : " You call that a knife ? " , and as the man draws a spoon from his pocket he says : " This is a knife . " The scene is a reference to a famous scene from Crocodile Dundee in which Mick Dundee is threatened by some thugs with a <unk> , and Mick takes out a <unk> knife and says ; " That 's not a knife ; that 's a knife ! " The Simpson family is shown a slide show by the US Department of State depicting a boarded up cinema with a sign out the front saying " Yahoo Serious Festival " , in reference to the Australian actor and director Yahoo Serious . <unk> , one of the characters from the 1981 film Mad Max 2 : The Road Warrior , is seen in the Australian mob that chases Bart and Homer to the American Embassy . 
 
 = = Reception = = 
 
 In its original American broadcast , " Bart vs. Australia " finished 56th in the ratings for the week of February 13 – 19 , 1995 , with a Nielsen rating of 9 @.@ 1 . It was the fourth highest rated show on Fox that week . The episode has since become study material for sociology courses at the University of California , where it is used to " examine issues of the production and reception of cultural objects , in this case , a satirical cartoon show " , and to figure out what it is " trying to tell audiences about aspects primarily of American society , and , to a lesser extent , about other societies . " 
 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 . " Vanity Fair named it the second best episode of The Simpsons in 2007 . " 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 " . 
 
 = = = Reaction in Australia = = = 
 
 The episode received mixed reception in Australia , with some Australian fans saying the episode was a mockery of their country . Shortly after it had aired , the Simpsons staff received over 100 letters from Australians who were insulted by the episode . They also received letters from people complaining about the Australian accents used in the episode that " sounded more like South African accents " . The Simpsons writer and producer Mike <unk> claimed that this episode is Australia 's least favorite , and that " whenever we have the Simpsons visit another country , that country gets furious , including Australia " . He claimed that they were " condemned in the Australian Parliament after the episode had aired " . 
 The Newcastle Herald '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 <unk> " . 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 , <unk> at their portrayal . After the attack on the French , this is a vicious , <unk> , offensive and wonderfully amusing slaughter of Australian culture by the makers of The Simpsons " . 
 The Simpsons executive producer 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 " . Despite being criticized for mocking the country , the episode received positive reviews from Australians , too . Jim <unk> of the Australian newspaper The Age named it the funniest episode ever while the <unk> was forked ( the ' <unk> @-@ <unk> ' fork ) into the ' <unk> ' <unk> in honour of the episode . 
 
 