# Little Orphan Millie

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6th episode of the 19th season of The Simpsons

"Little Orphan Millie" The Simpsons episode Episode no. Season 19 Episode 6 Directed by Lance Kramer Written by Mick Kelly Production code JABF22 Original air date November 11, 2007 (2007-11-11) Episode features Chalkboard gag "There is no such thing as an iPoddy" Couch gag The family appears on the cover of Modern Couch Gag magazine. Commentary Al Jean Matt Selman J. Stewart Burns Mick Kelly Tom Gammill Max Pross Lance Kramer Episode chronology ← Previous "Treehouse of Horror XVIII" Next → "Husbands and Knives" The Simpsons season 19 List of episodes

"**Little Orphan Millie**" is the sixth episode of the [nineteenth season](/source/The_Simpsons_season_19) of the American animated television series *[The Simpsons](/source/The_Simpsons)*. It first aired on the [Fox network](/source/Fox_Broadcasting_Company) in the United States on November 11, 2007.[1] This episode represents a milestone in Simpsons' history as it sees Kirk and Luann remarry after initially divorcing eleven seasons earlier in the episode "[A Milhouse Divided](/source/A_Milhouse_Divided)". It was written by Mick Kelly, production assistant to [Al Jean](/source/Al_Jean), and directed by Lance Kramer.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

During its first broadcast, the episode garnered 10.57 million viewers.[2]

## Plot

Kirk and Luann tell [The Simpsons](/source/Simpson_family) they are going to be remarried, much to the delight of [Milhouse](/source/Milhouse_Van_Houten). While preparing for the wedding, [Marge](/source/Marge_Simpson) suggests to [Homer](/source/Homer_Simpson) that he match his tie to her eyes, to which he casually replies that he never notices petty details like eye color. Shocked, Marge covers her eyes so Homer cannot see them unless he remembers their color. While the Van Houtens are on their cruise honeymoon, Kirk carries Luann down the hallway to their private room. The boat begins swinging from side to side, and the two fall off the boat. Two of the cruise representatives tell Milhouse his parents are lost at sea and presumed deceased, throwing Milhouse even deeper into depression. As he sulks around the Simpsons' house, he is informed the search has stopped. After sucking upon [Maggie](/source/Maggie_Simpson)'s bottle, he discovers he truly is the "world's oldest baby", and promises himself that he will soon become a true man. Meanwhile, Homer continues making fruitless attempts at looking for traces of hints that can help him discover the color of Marge's eyes.

Milhouse starts to behave depressingly, and dresses in a black jacket and jeans. Milhouse's new behavior and attitude (gloomy, mellow, and poetic) grabs the attention of the girls at school, including [Lisa](/source/Lisa_Simpson). Milhouse starts usurping [Bart](/source/Bart_Simpson)'s popularity, which aggravates Bart. After concluding that Milhouse with family would be happy again, Bart remembers that Milhouse gets Danish butter cookies every Christmas from [Solvang, California](/source/Solvang%2C_California). He decides to connect Milhouse with his [Danish](/source/Denmark) uncle, Norbert van Houten. Waiting at the airport, Uncle Norbert, dressed like [Indiana Jones](/source/Indiana_Jones_(character)) (including hat and [bullwhip](/source/Bullwhip)) arrives by his own [biplane](/source/Biplane) and asks to be referred to as "Zack," the proud [Danish](/source/Denmark) Van Houten with a hatred towards the [Dutch](/source/The_Netherlands) Van Houtens. After Zack arrives to get Milhouse from the school, Milhouse's popularity escalates even higher.

Feeling desperate about finding Marge's eye color, Homer remembers a song he used to sing to Marge, and remembers every word except when he sings about her eyes, searching in vain for the missing word that rhymes with such lyrics as "appraisal". Marge remembers the song and, touched, removes her sun glasses, revealing the eyes that Homer's song called "a beautiful, deep shade of [hazel](/source/Eye_color)." An angry Bart soon discovers Milhouse plans to fly away in a [hot air balloon](/source/Hot_air_balloon) with Zack. After being convinced by Lisa, Bart realizes that he platonically loves and will miss Milhouse. Milhouse, Zack, and Bart take off in the hot air balloon and come upon an island, where a very much alive Kirk and Luann plan escaping with a nature-made [hang-glider](/source/Hang-glider). After flying, Kirk and Luann's hang-glider cuts the hot air balloon and soon, Milhouse re-unites with his parents. Zack states that he has already called for help and then gets into a fight with Kirk over their heritage (Danish and Dutch respectively).

## Cultural references

The episode's name references *[Little Orphan Annie](/source/Little_Orphan_Annie).* Milhouse's uncle Zack resembles [Indiana Jones](/source/Indiana_Jones_(character)) and when he flies Milhouse home, music similar to "The Raiders March" from the Indiana Jones film *[Raiders of the Lost Ark](/source/Raiders_of_the_Lost_Ark)* is heard. Milhouse's somber ensemble is similar to [James Dean](/source/James_Dean) in *[Rebel Without a Cause](/source/Rebel_Without_a_Cause)*.[3] "[Adagio for Strings](/source/Adagio_for_Strings)" is played during the dark and gloomy scene showing the cruise line representatives driving toward the Simpsons' house. The scene itself is a parody of a scene from *[Saving Private Ryan](/source/Saving_Private_Ryan)*, where Mrs. Ryan is informed of the death of her sons. The name "Festival Cruise Lines" is a parody of *[Carnival Cruise Lines](/source/Carnival_Cruise_Lines)*. The "[Solvang](/source/Solvang) Air" liner plane is a wooden and scantling-work structure with wind-mill wings as propellers, and Uncle Zak and Milhouse's father end by reviving an old hatred between Dutch and Danish. The wooden plane's landing is accompanied with music from "[Swedish Rhapsody No. 1](/source/Swedish_Rhapsody_No._1)" by Swedish composer [Hugo Alfvén](/source/Hugo_Alfv%C3%A9n). Bart and Marge both use the term *[Krumping](/source/Krumping)* in reference to an energetic dancing style that was popularized in the United States.

## Reception

The episode originally garnered 10.6 million viewers on its first run, that being the third highest of the season.[2]

Robert Canning of *[IGN](/source/IGN)* stated that overall, "'Little Orphan Millie' was a middle-of-the-road episode that will never really stand out."[4]

Richard Keller of *[TV Squad](/source/TV_Squad)* said "For the most part the episode was entertaining and fairly free of over-the-top sight gags"[3]

The scene in the episode where Marge tries to cheer up Bart by attempting to [krump](/source/Krump)—albeit unsuccessfully—later became an Internet meme.[5]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Futon2_1-0)** ["(SI-1822) "Little Orphan Millie""](http://www.thefutoncritic.com/listings.aspx?id=20071019fox16). *[The Futon Critic](/source/The_Futon_Critic)*. Retrieved October 23, 2007.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Episode_News:_Little_Orphan_Millie_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Episode_News:_Little_Orphan_Millie_2-1) ["Episode News: Little Orphan Millie"](https://web.archive.org/web/20071114020231/http://www.simpsonschannel.com/). *Simpsons Channel*. Archived from [the original](http://www.simpsonschannel.com/) on November 14, 2007. Retrieved November 24, 2024.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-TVSquad_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-TVSquad_3-1) Keller, Richard (November 12, 2007). ["The Simpsons: Little Orphan Millie"](https://web.archive.org/web/20071113092534/http://www.tvsquad.com/2007/11/12/the-simpsons-little-orphan-millie/). *[TV Squad](/source/TV_Squad)*. Archived from [the original](http://www.tvsquad.com/2007/11/12/the-simpsons-little-orphan-millie/) on November 13, 2007. Retrieved January 29, 2008.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Canning, Robert (November 12, 2007). ["IGN: Little Orphan Millie"](https://web.archive.org/web/20071114102209/http://tv.ign.com/articles/834/834427p1.html). Archived from [the original](http://tv.ign.com/articles/834/834427p1.html) on November 14, 2007. Retrieved November 24, 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Marge Krumping"](http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/marge-krumping). *Know Your Meme*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20241123214848/https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/marge-krumping) from the original on November 23, 2024. Retrieved November 24, 2024.

## External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to ***["Little Orphan Millie"](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Simpsons/Season_19#Little_Orphan_Millie)***.

- ["Little Orphan Millie"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080410000144/http://www.thesimpsons.com/episode_guide/1906.htm) at TheSimpsons.com

- ["Little Orphan Millie"](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1137310/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier))

- [The Simpsons portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:The_Simpsons)

v t e The Simpsons episodes Seasons 1–20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Season 21–present 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 Season 19 "He Loves to Fly and He D'ohs" "The Homer of Seville" "Midnight Towboy" "I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" "Treehouse of Horror XVIII" "Little Orphan Millie" "Husbands and Knives" "Funeral for a Fiend" "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind" "E Pluribus Wiggum" "That '90s Show" "Love, Springfieldian Style" "The Debarted" "Dial 'N' for Nerder" "Smoke on the Daughter" "Papa Don't Leech" "Apocalypse Cow" "Any Given Sundance" "Mona Leaves-a" "All About Lisa" See also Treehouse of Horror list The Simpsons episode guides "The Simpsons Guy" Category

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