During the scene in which Shirley is burned at the stake for witchcraft, a frog claims that she turned him into a prince but that he "got better." This is a reference to 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail.'
The neurotic dragon is modeled after Woody Allen. The music that plays under his scenes is reminiscent of Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue' which features in many of Allen's films.