Santa's Little Helper realistic dilemma faced by many families who own dogs. Other episode ideas come from popular culture. For example, Santa's Little Helper fathering 25 puppies in "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds" is a parody of the Disney film "One Hundred and One Dalmatians", and Mr. Burns' technique of brainwashing him into an attack dog in "Dog of Death" parodies "A Clockwork Orange". Susan McHugh, who teaches theories of animals, literature, and culture at the University of New England, wrote in her 2004 book "Dog" that, "remaining loyal to his unlikely saviours, the boy Bart and his father Homer, this greyhound has
The Simpsons Movie laughs "come in all sizes", but also noted that, "little has been gained bringing the Simpsons to the screen." "Variety"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Brian Lowry called it "clever, irreverent, satirical and outfitted" but that it was "just barely" capable of sustaining a running time longer than a television episode. Lisa Schwarzbaum praised the voice cast but stated that the "'action' sequences sometimes falter". When comparing the film to the early episodes of the show, Stephen Rowley concluded that the film "has more going for it than the show in its later years, but is still a long way short of what made it