Shelf Life/References

Episode	Trivia	Appearances	Gallery	Transcript

Trivia

• 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.
• This episode and "Timvisible" in season 2, are two [of the] episodes about the last day of school and magically Timmy is ten, the same age both times (despite not being invisible and walking home instead of riding in his parent's car so it's not the same year).
• According to The Rat in Spats book, the only law in Spatsville is that you cannot ever frown. Also the moral of 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 matches the idea of "Finders Keepers Law proven in "Where's the Wand?", where whoever holds the wand has complete control over it. Also Tom knew this because Cosmo told Tom that her wand would not work.
• Mark Twain's name was seen on the left side of the book. He was the author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
• The music that plays when Wanda is admiring the Frankenstein Monster Hunk sounds very similar to the Mortal Kombat theme.
• When Tom Sawyer gets stomped on by the Rat in Spats, the text is colored red, despite that he does not bleed and remains alive, though he does get flattened. When Timmy points to the word, "Splat!" during his explanation on how he knew what was going to happen, the text is shown in blue letters.
• Astrophysics for Morons has an unknown author (in contrast to the book by Mark Twain which has the author's name on it, see above). Cosmo does not know the contents of the book and asks what could happen if Tom changed it.
• All the books that Crocker approved and Wanda shows are different adventures but they have one thing in common. They're all classics, which makes sense because Crocker asked them to write a 500 page book report. All of them are unabridged novels, which has longer content and written by authors who already died.

Allusions

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

All the books

• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - The book was seen in the episode, as well as the main character from the book (he was the antagonist in the episode).
• Lewinsky scandal – When Wanda is reading in the "All men are idiots" section in the library she says: "Oh Hillary, how did you put up with it"? This is a reference to Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's husband former President Bill Clinton who, along with intern Monica Lewinsky, was a subject of a political sex scandal in the late 1990s.
• Sherlock Holmes - The book was seen in the episode, as well as the main character from the book.

• Moby Dick - The book was seen in the episode, but in one scene Tom Sawyer changes the book to "Moby Duck". Also, H. Melville was written on one side of the book, which makes a reference to the author, Herman Melville.

• Tarzan of the Apes - The book was 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". Also, Burroughs was written on one side of the book, which makes a reference to the author, Edgar Rice Burroughs.

• Frankenstein - The book was seen in the episode, but was changed to "The Frankenstein Monster Truck" and later "Monk", "Hunk" and "Skunk". Also, M. W. Shelly was written on one side of the book, which makes a reference to the author, Mary Shelley.
  • The "W" stands for Wollstonecraft which was Mary was first' surname before she changes it to "Shelley".

• Jason and the Argonauts - The book was seen in the episode, but in one scene Tom Sawyer changes the book to "Jason and the Pussycats". Also, Apollonius was written on one side of the book, which makes a reference to the author, Apollonius of Rhodes.

• 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 clearly a parody of the Dr. Seuss book, "The Cat in the Hat".

The Three Mouseketeers

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

• The Three Musketeers - The book was seen in the episode.

• Mickey Mouse Club - When Tom changes The Three Musketeers into The Three Mouseketeers we see three men in Mickey Mouse ears saying their name. This is in refrence to The Mickey Mouse Club where the cast members were referred to as Mouseketeers. When Wanda was about to say the this refrence, Timmy quickly covers up her mouth to avoid a potential lawsuit.

• Also, A. Dumas was written on one side of the book, which makes a reference to the author, Alexandre Dumas.

• Tom and Jerry - The word Wanda actually was going to say after she saw the Musketeers (after Tom Sawyer changes them) was "Mousketeer". "Mousketeers" are aliases of Jerry and Nibbles.

• Futurama - Timmy, Cosmo and Wanda chasing Tom Sawyer through the books is similar to Fry, Leela, Queequeg and Captain Ahab following Big Brain through the books in the episode, "The Day the Earth Stood Stupid".

• Ernest Hemingway - When Timmy was holding the book "Dog Obedience", E. Hemingway was written under the cover which makes a reference to the author.

• Macbeth - When Timmy was "book-skiing", one of the books in his feet is "Macbeth".

• Homer's Odyssey - When Timmy was "book-skiing", one of the books in his feet is "Homer's Odyssey" (Although the complete name is not seen, it only appears the name "Homer").

• The Stranger - When Timmy was bowling, one of the books standing up is "The Stranger". Also, A. Camus was written under the cover which makes a reference to the author, Albert Camus.

• The Catcher in the Rye - When Timmy was bowling, one of the books standing up is "Catcher in the Rye". Also, J.D. Salinger was written under the cover which makes a reference to the author, J.D. Salinger.

• Super Smash Bros. - The giant white glove that Wanda uses to grab Timmy and Cosmo with bears a resemblance to Master Hand.

The giant white glove Wanda uses to grab Timmy and Cosmo with

• J.J.R. Tolkien - When Timmy was bowling, one of the books standing up has written "J.J.R. Tolkien", which makes a reference to the author.
• Jurassic Park - In the 5th book was Jason and the Argonauts, the creature roars like a T-Rex from Jurassic Park.
• Dr. Seuss - In the book The Rat in Spats the name Dr. Bruise is seen, a parody of Dr. Seuss (who wrote "The Cat in the Hat").
• Fancy Pants - When Timmy said Let's just poof Mr. Fancy Hat out here referring to Sherlock Holmes. The word Fancy Hat is a reference to the word Fancy Pants a way that people call the high/rich class family.

Running Gags

• People moving on a fast vehicle while spazzing about something. (Crocker spazzes on fairies while Sherlock Holmes spazzes on diamonds)
• People chasing Elmer for wanting to do the book report.

Goofs

• At the beginning of this episode, Chester is first seen and not smiling, but he smiles in the next scene by one frame.
• In two scenes where Denzel Crocker says, “Yes, summer, the time of fun.” and does his surfing actions and he says, “But, if you’re a kid,...”, the surfboard appears on his desk. However, between the said two scenes, the surfboard does not appear on his desk.
• When Cosmo says his first “Get some snow cones?” while floating in midair, there is a tiny yellow dot on the lower left corner of the scene.
• Just as Cosmo takes the “Astrophysics for Morons” book from the bookshelf, Cosmo’s tie is white with black outlines instead of completely black in one frame.
• When "The Rat in Spats" book is first shown, the Rat on both the cover and inside the story is shown with a red tie (similar to his real-life counterpart, the Cat in the Hat). Later when Timmy wishes for "The Rat in Spats" book to be put on top of the "Astrophysics for Morons" book, the Rat on the cover and later in the story is shown with a purple tie.
• When Sherlock Holmes leaves the library, the jet ski appears out of nowhere.
• Tom Sawyer opens the "Truckin'" magazine with his hands and looks at the said magazine. However, when the close-up of the monster truck and the rock band on the said magazine is shown, his hands are not there.
• Just as Wanda start saying, “Not me, I don’t want any part of this.” with her eyelids first half closed, her left eyelid is white instead of pale.
• During Wanda’s line, “Not me, I don’t want any part of this. If you need me, I’ll be in the “All Men are Morons” section.”, the size of the golden star on top of the black stick of her wand varies.
• When Tom first used the wand on a book, it was his original book but when the scene first changed it was "Moby Dick".
• At one point in the episode, the book "The Rat in Spats", when being held by Wanda, changes into Jason and the Argonauts.
• If Tom changed "Moby Dick" to "Moby Duck" before Timmy, Cosmo and Wanda enter the book (so when the camera zooms-in the book), the cover should've said "Moby Duck" instead of "Moby Dick".
• When a line up of the books that have been altered appears, the book that says “Frankenstein's Monster Truck” should've said “Frankenstein's Monster Skunk”.
• It appears that Mr. Crocker checked all the book reports in less than one day, which would be impossible since he should check all the pages.
• 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 (including AJ's, who showed his to Timmy in a scene outside the library, which was itself a book).
  • It's possible that Crocker shortened the book report lengths for the assignment to one page, as a 500 page book report would be extremely long. (Longer than the majority of the classics on Mr. Crocker's list)
• Sherlock Holmes says that Timmy's parents met when they were 10, but in Father Time!, Timmy went back to 1970, meaning Timmy's parents met when they were 8.
• The villagers storming the castle with torches and pitchforks was not in the actual novel, Frankenstein.
• When Tom Sawyer first enter “The Rat in Spats” book, he is on the green ground. However, in the next scene, he is on the white road.
• It is a well-known rule that fairy magic cannot help a godchild cheat. Timmy leaving the books altered to get a good grade should have qualified as cheating and been undone.
  • It's possible that the rule did not take affect since it was Tom doing most of the altering.
• When AJ sees an F on his book report and then starts to slam his head on the table, Sanjay and Timmy are nowhere to be seen at the back of AJ.
• When Denzel Crocker gives Timmy an A+ on his book report for defeating Tom Sawyer in The Rat in Spats, Cosmo and Wanda, in their book forms, do not have their faces and then moves slightly towards Timmy after the next scene. In another next scene, Cosmo and Wanda have their faces back while in their original positions and the position of Book Cosmo moves down slightly.
• Denzel Crocker drops down the paper with an A+ and then teleports from below to above in the next scene before landing on Timmy’s right hand.
• At the end of this episode, after the “Shelf Life” book is closed, the background color is dark green and the pale colors of Cosmo and Wanda’s faces are a bit darker. However, when the camera zooms out, the background color is brown indicating that the said book is on the brown table and the said colors of Cosmo and Wanda’s faces are back to normal.
• Wanda picks up the Rat in Spats book, saying it isn't approved for Timmy's book report. But as she poofs up the row of books Crocker approved, the book changes to Jason and the Argonauts, which is one of the approved books.
  • She also only poofs up four books (Moby Dick, Frankenstein, Tarzan, and The Three Musketeers), but five books are shown in the next scene (Jason and the Argonauts is the extra one added during this scene).
  • The Sherlock Holmes book was not among the poofed up books, but is shown on the table when Wanda calls Cosmo a moron. Similarly, the Tom Sawyer book was not poofed up either, but is shown when Timmy goes back to the table to find another book to get said book's lead character out.

Quotes

Wanda: Oh Hillary, how could you put up with him?!

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Tom Sawyer: As they say in Missouri, I ain't goin back to Missouri!

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Cosmo: What do you wanna do Timmy? Wish for snow cones? Wish for World Peace? Wish for snow cones?

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Wanda: But Timmy, reading is...

Cosmo: For suckers without Fairy Godparents.

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Timmy Turner: Can we get out of here? I'm learning again.

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Timmy: [referring to the book "Astrophysics for Morons"] Also boring! Who cares about the laws of physics?

Cosmo: Uhh... the physics police?

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Timmy: A 500 page book report?

Elmer: That sounds like fun! [everyone gives him a mean look]

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Timmy: Wait a minute. He went into "Moby Dick", then "Frankenstein", then "Tarzan"-

Cosmo: Lord of the Drapes!

Wanda: He's going down the books I poofed up for you!

Timmy: And the last book is..."Astrophysics for Morons"! Guys, we gotta stop him!

Cosmo: What for? So, he gets into a physics book. What's the worse that could happen?

Timmy: Cosmo, don't you get it? [scenes changes to show what would happen if Tom changes anything that is in the book] He could turn gravity into gravy! He could turn the planets in plants! [scene changes back to Timmy and his godparents going through the bookstream]

Wanda: He could turn Uranus into... Oh my gosh! We gotta stop him!

Cosmo: What? I don't get it. What's the threat?

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Jason and The Pussycats:

North, south, east, west

We've got tattoos on our chest! [all of the band members show their bare chests however we then see that one member does not have a tatoo on his chest like the other two]

Except for Larry!

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Timmy: (returning from the End of the Summer Carnival) Cosmo! I bought you a snow cone! But it sort of melted... in my mouth... sort of.

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Timmy: [inside "Frankenstein"] It's the Frankenstein monster... truck?!

Scientist: It's alive! It's alive! And it gets 3 miles to the gallon!

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Tom Sawyer: [to the Mouse from "Rats from Spats"] You ain't the boss of me! And I don't take orders from a rat in clown shoes! [muffled laugh]

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Mouse: [to Tom Sawyer inside "Rats of Spats"] WHAT DID YOU SAY ABOUT MY SHOES, PUNK!??! [Mouse's spats become huge and he lifts up his foot and sends it crashing down on Tom Sawyer]

Tom: That's going to leave a mark! [Tom is then crushed by Mouse's foot and we then see a SPLAT! taking up the screen for a brief moment. Cosmo's wand flys out of Tom's hand and back into Cosmo's]

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Production Notes

• Although this episode premiered in 2004, it was produced in 2002 according to the credits.
  • This episode completed production on November 15, 2002.

References

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