Shelf Life/References


 * Jess Harnell guest starred in this episode as a singer.
 * Tom Sawyer was a guest in the show, causing much chaos throughout the episode.
 * Sherlock Holmes also appears in the episode. He correctly deduces the names of Timmy's parents but the sound of a book being closed prevents us from hearing him.
 * Gordon Hammond won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation for his work on the character designs in this episode.
 * According to The Rat in Spats book, the only law in Spatsville is that you cannot ever frown. Also the moral of the The Rat in Spats book is that you should not make fun of Rat's shoes.
 * When Timmy tries to wish Cosmo's wand back from Tom Sawyer, Wanda says her wand doesn't work on his wand, which is apparently a trick taught to Tom by Cosmo to get a second painting brush. This does not seem to reference The Finders Keepers Law proven in "Where's the Wand?", where whoever holds the wand has complete control over it.
 * When Tom Sawyer gets stomped on by the Rat in Spats, the text is colored red which is a reference to blood.
 * Astrophysics for Morons (written by Cosmo, which is weird because Cosmo wouldn't be smart enough to write a book, more overly a book that would be titled "Astrophysics for Morons" which would normally be written by someone with a great knowledge of astrophysics)


 * The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - The book is seen in the episode, as well as the main character from the book (he was the antagonist in the episode).


 * Sherlock Holmes - The book is seen in the episode, as well as the main character from the book.


 * Moby Dick - The book is seen in the episode, but in one scene Tom Sawyer changes the book to "Moby Duck".


 * Tarzan of the Apes - The book is seen in the episode, but in one scene Tom Sawyer changes the book to "Tarzan: Lord of the Drapes" and later Timmy changes the book to "Tarzan: Lord of the Shapes".


 * Frankenstein - The book is seen in the episode, but was changed to "The Frankenstein Monster Truck" and later "Monk", "Hunk" and "Skunk".


 * Jason and the Argonauts - The book is seen in the episode, but in one scene Tom Sawyer changes the book to "Jason and the Pussycats"


 * Josie and the Pussycats - The name "Jason and the Pussycats" is a parody of "Josie and the Pussycats".


 * The Cat in the Hat - The book "The Rat in Spats" is a parody of "The Cat in the Hat".


 * For Dummies - The book "Astrophysics for Morons" appears to be a spoof on the "For Dummies" books.


 * 1) The Three Mouseketeers (parody of The Three Musketeers) (They couldn't actually say "Mousketeer," because the only thing worse than a literary crisis is a copyright infringement lawsuit! Especially if it's an infringement with Disney!) The Mousketeers are also aliases of Jerry and Nibbles in some episodes of Tom and Jerry.
 * The Three Mouseketeers use a pair of Mickey Mouse' ears on the head.
 * Dr. Bruise, the author of "The Rat in Spats" is a parody of Dr. Seuss.
 * Futurama - Some plot resembles the episode, "The Day the Earth Stood Stupid", when Philip J. Fry is the key to solving the attacks by the brains.


 * People moving on a fast vehicle while spasming about something.


 * At one point in the episode, the book "The Rat in Spats", when being held by Wanda, changes into Jason and the Argonauts.
 * It appears that Mr. Crocker check all the book reports in less than one day which would be impossible since he should check all the pages.
 * a book report cannot have 500 pages as a book report is an opinion of a student towards a book, and if the book have less pages so Mr. Crocker should have said one page as a book report.
 * The book reports were supposed to be 500 pages. However, in the end of the episode, everyone's book report was shown to be only one page long.