Freaky Friday

RORY: I’m sorry I snapped at Grandma.
LORELAI: Yeah, huh? That was a pretty Freaky Friday moment we had back there.

Freaky Friday is a 1976 fantasy-comedy Walt Disney film about a mother and teenage daughter who switch bodies after wishing that they could trade places; the mother and daughter are played by Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster respectively. The film is based on the 1972 novel of the same name by Mary Rodgers, who wrote the screenplay for the movie.

In the movie, the daughter Annabel gains a new understanding of her mother’s life which brings them closer together, just as in this episode Rory gets an insight into Lorelai’s life growing up with Emily, and how difficult that must have been at times.

Lorelai would have been eight years old when Freaky Friday came out. Walt Disney did a made-for-television remake of the film in 1995 when Rory was eleven, so the movie could easily have been part of both their childhoods.

Shirley Temple

LORELAI: Here. [hands Rory a drink]
RORY: What is it?
LORELAI: Shirley Temple.
RORY: What are you drinking?
LORELAI: A Shirley Temple Black.
(Lorelai lets Rory smell her drink.)
RORY: Wow.
LORELAI: I got your Good Ship Lollipop right here, mister.

Shirley Temple (1928-2014) was a multi award-winning box office-topping American Hollywood child star who began her career at the age of three. In 1934, she became famous starring in the film Bright Eyes, written specifically as a vehicle for Temple. On the Good Ship Lollipop is Temple’s musical number from the film, which became her signature song.

Later in life after leaving Hollywood, Shirley married a wealthy businessman named Charles Black so that her name became Shirley Temple Black. Strongly interested in conservative politics, she was US ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslavakia, and was the first female Chief of Protocol of the United States.

The Shirley Temple Lorelai hands Rory is a non-alcoholic cocktail, made for children and named after the child actress. Traditionally it’s made from ginger ale with a splash of grenadine, decorated with a cocktail cherry. Modern versions may be made with lemonade, lemon-lime soda or orange juice. Shirley Temple herself disliked the cocktail, finding it too sweet.

Lorelai indicates that her own drink is the grown-up version of a Shirley Temple (or just a very grown-up cocktail). It is possibly a Dirty Shirley, a Shirley Temple with vodka or rum added to it.

The Waltons

LORELAI: And while some have called it [giving birth] the most meaningful experience of your life, to me it was something more akin to doing the splits on a crate of dynamite.
RORY: I wonder if the Waltons ever did this.

The Waltons (1972-1981) was a wholesome family drama TV series about the Walton family in rural Virginia, and their experiences living through the Great Depression and World War II. It was based on the film Spencer’s Mountain, from a novel of the same name by Earl Hamner Jr., who would go on to be an executive producer on the TV series. Extremely popular, the Waltons won several Emmy Awards.

The Waltons had a couple of things in common with Gilmore Girls. Both shows were set in small towns with quirky townsfolk, and the protagonist of The Waltons, John-Boy Walton (based on Earl Hamner Jr.) went to university in a nearby town and became a journalist, just like Rory Gilmore. Both shows were filmed at Warner Brothers studio, and the set for the Waltons’ house was used for The Dragonfly inn in Gilmore Girls.

Cinderella

LORELAI: Let me see. Maybe we should really embrace the whole tulle thing. Go totally modern Cinderella.

Lorelai is referring to the 1950 animated Disney film Cinderella, based on the French fairy tale by Charles Perrault. Cinderella was a massive critical and commercial success for Walt Disney, and was the #3 film of 1950. It is considered one of the greatest animated films of all time.

In the film, Cinderella wears a silver-white ballgown which is made blue in promotional materials; reproductions of the dress made for children and teens tend to be made from tulle.

Neither Lorelai nor Rory ends up wearing a tulle dress to Rory’s first birthday party, so I’m not sure what happened to the dresses Emily bought them. As Lorelai tells Emily they wore them to the party, maybe she tore all the tulle off and they wore the slip dresses that were underneath? Or perhaps Lorelai is simply lying.

At the very least, the lacy green cardigan that Rory wears wasn’t made by her mother – Lorelai wore it to Friday Night Dinner in Kill Me Now, and Rory must have borrowed it.

Happy Birthday

This 1981 song by Scottish new wave band Altered Images plays when Rory is at Chilton, discovering that her grandmother has sent out invitations to all her classmates. It was released as a single from their album of the same name, and went to #2 in the UK.

Although it didn’t chart in the US, it would be familiar to many from being included on the soundtrack to the 1984 teen movie, Sixteen Candles. The movie about a girl’s 16^th birthday seemingly gone wrong mirrors Rory’s feelings when she discovers that Emily has sent out the invitations without asking her. The difference is that in the film, everyone has forgotten the girl’s birthday, while in Rory’s case too many people have been reminded of her birthday.

Lorelai Leigh

We learn in this episode that Rory’s full name is Lorelai Leigh Gilmore. This seems like an homage to the character Lorelei Lee (played by Marilyn Monroe), from the 1953 musical comedy film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, directed by Howard Hawks. It is based on the 1949 musical, which in turn was based on the best-selling 1925 novel of the same name by Anita Loos. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was the #9 movie of 1953, and both the film and Monroe’s performance were praised by critics.

In the film, Lorelei Lee loves wealthy men and the high life, and is also accused in court of theft. This may help prepare us for Rory’s own character arc.

The Fly

LORELAI: You didn’t build one of those machines like in The Fly did you? We’re not going to find you wandering the streets wearing a raspberry head crying, “Eat me!”

The Fly is a 1958 sci-fi horror film directed by Kurt Neuman, based on the short story of the same name by George Langlaan. In the film, a scientist mutates into a human fly after accidentally mixing his atoms with that of a fly which flew into his matter transportation machine. At one point, he can be heard crying, “Save me!”.

The film was a commercial success, and is now regarded as a superior example of a 1950s B-Grade sci-fi film. Sadly, the director died a few weeks after the film’s premiere, never realising he had made the hit of his career.

Elvis and Jim Morrison

Lorelai jokes that Elvis and Jim Morrison will attend Rory’s birthday party and bring chips.

Elvis Presley (1935-1977) was an American singer and actor. One of the great icons of the twentieth century, he is often referred to as The King of Rock and Roll or The King. Elvis’ first single, Heartbreak Hotel, came out in 1956 and went straight to #1. Later that year he made his film debut in Love Me Tender. Successful in rock, pop, blues, and gospel, Elvis is one of the biggest-selling musical artists in history. He won three Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achivement Award, and has been inducted into numerous musical halls of fame.

James “Jim” Morrison (1943-1971) [pictured] was an American singer, songwriter, and poet. He was the lead singer of The Doors, an influential rock band founded in 1965 that also included Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krieger, and John Densmore. The band shot to fame in 1967 when their song Light My Fire went to #1. Since his death, Morrison has remained famous, and is regarded as as the archetypal sexy, rebellious rock star. He, along with the other members of The Doors, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton

LORELAI: You can’t always control who you’re attracted to, you know. I think the whole Angelina Jolie-Billy Bob Thornton thing really proves that.

Hollywood actors Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton married in May 2000 after a brief courtship. Their marriage was often in the gossip pages, due to their frequent public gestures of love for each other, including reportedly wearing vials of each other’s blood around their necks (Thornton later explained they were actually lockets containing a single drop of blood). They suddenly separated in 2002, and divorced in 2003.

Valley of the Dolls

[Babette goes through Cinnamon’s old medications].
LORELAI: It’s like a scene from a kitty version of Valley of the Dolls.

Valley of the Dolls is a 1967 drama film, based on the best-selling 1966 novel of the same name by Jacqueline Susann. The story is about three women, whose high-flying career paths keep coming down into the “valley” of addiction to prescription drugs (known as “dolls”). It receceived scathing reviews, but was a box-office hit and the #6 film of 1967. The film has since gained a cult following as a camp classic.