Rectangular Entertainment Trivia Quiz

Answer: Marge Simpson

The titular family of the long-running animation, 'The Simpsons', live at 742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield and their home can be readily identified by the pink walls. There is an archway between the family's living room (featuring the famous couch beneath a painting of a boat) and the kitchen; it is this archway that has been captured in the picture.

Stood between the living room and kitchen is matriarch, Marge Simpson, sporting her iconic tall blue haircut. The yellow block represents the skin colour of the majority of characters in the show whilst the thin red block represents Marge's necklace; the green rectangle is an abstraction of her dress.

The artistic movement of Neoplasticism is strongly associated with Dutch painter, Piet Mondriaan (later Piet Mondrian). It is an abstract form of art which uses lines, rectangles and squares in conjunction with a limited colour palette to achieve expression in as fundamental a way as possible. The pictures in this quiz have been light-heartedly referred to as Postneoplasticism as the colour palette is unrestricted whereas the legitimate art movement of the early 20th century only used red, blue and yellow (primary colours) as well as black, white and shades of grey. The lines are predominantly horizontal and vertical; the use of a diagonal line by another artist from the De Stijl and Neoplasticism movement, Theo van Doesburg, caused Piet Mondrian to leave the movement altogether!

Answer: "You shall not pass!"

The 'Grey Figure with Staff' is Gandalf, the powerful Middle Earth wizard who is central to proceedings in 'The Lord of the Rings' by J. R. R. Tolkien. Gandalf, played by Sir Ian McKellen, is associated with many memorable lines in the trilogy of films and perhaps the most dramatic is "You shall not pass!", a robust denial of passage aimed at the demonic Balrog of Morgoth. This is a deviation from the original text where Tolkien writes, "You cannot pass". Whilst the filmic version of the line is more dramatic, the formulation in the book has deeper meaning with "cannot" hinting at something more fundamental hindering Balrog's progression than "shall not".

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live" is a quotation associated with Albus Dumbledore ('Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' or 'Sorcerer's Stone'), "Years of academy training wasted" is uttered in despair by Buzz Lightyear in 'Toy Story' and "What are you doing in my swamp?!" is a line from 'Shrek'.

Answer: Eastenders

Soap operas have been a mainstay of British television for decades and arguably the three big beasts of the genre - in terms of impact and longevity - are 'Coronation Street' (first aired in 1960), 'Emmerdale' (first broadcast in 1972) and 'Eastenders' (first shown in 1985). The latter of these three is set in Walford, a fictional suburb of London, and this location is hammered home in the opening credits which feature an aerial view of London and the River Thames that flows through it.

Accompanying the opening (and closing) sequence of 'Eastenders' is its catchy theme tune, known for the "doof doof" (a dramatic drum fill that is more prominent at the programme's close to indicate a cliffhanger).

Answer: Lightsaber

This picture - 'Sith Stares into Abyss' - is a representation of the moments before Darth Maul (the Sith in question) falls into a reactor shaft during a lightsaber battle in 'Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace' (1999). Darth Maul fought with a red lightsaber which is in keeping with the tendency for those on the "dark side" to make use of that colour. In the aforementioned lightsaber battle, Darth Maul duels with Qui-Gon Jinn (a Jedi with a green lightsaber) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Qui-Gon's apprentice who possesses a blue lightsaber).

There are many other colours used for this weapon - one of the most famous in all of science fiction - including the rather regal purple hue chosen by Jedi Master, Mace Windu (played by Samuel L. Jackson).

Answer: Kenny McCormick

Ah, Kenny McCormick, the character that just keeps coming back! "Oh my God, they killed Kenny!" is the famous line that is heard in the irreverent American animation, 'South Park', whenever Kenny is killed. Needless to say, this line is heard rather frequently because he somehow manages to rise like Lazarus and return just in time for yet another creative, bizarre death.

'Immortal Through the Hood' is an abstract depiction of Kenny but it is not actually that far removed from his actual appearance, as he is seen in the show shrouded in an orange parka with the hood obscuring all but his eyes. He also wears orange trousers but does minimally mix up the colour palette with brown gloves. As the hood covers Kenny's mouth, his speech is severely muffled! This provides many a comic moment in the show.

Answer: From Ruby to Emerald

The 1939 film featuring Toto (played by Terry the Cairn Terrier) is the classic, 'The Wizard of Oz'. The majority of the picture features shades of yellow which constitute the "Yellow Brick Road", the long path that Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) must follow to reach "Emerald City" which is abstractly represented by the tall, thin block of green on the right hand side of the image. On the left of the image is a series of red squares that represent "Ruby Slippers", the fancy footwear worn by the main character during her journey. Piecing this together gives us the title of 'From Ruby to Emerald'.

The slim block on the right of the picture is a nod to Piet Mondrian's 'Composition with Blue, Yellow, Red, Black and Gray' (1922), a painting in which a rather narrow yellow rectangle features on the far right hand side.

Answer: Queen of Hearts

A lot of content on the Netflix platform is of questionable quality but 'Alice in Borderland' - a Japanese series based on manga by Haro Aso - really stands out. On the surface this show is just another entry in the popular "survival" genre (think 'Squid Game') but underneath this is an engaging exploration of death and the afterlife, or more specifically what happens in between the two (in the show, this domain is called Borderland).

Whether or not an individual who finds themselves in Borderland returns to the world of the living or departs elsewhere is decided by their participation in a number of games. Each game is associated with a playing card such as the Queen of Hearts and each playing card has a Borderland resident who administers that particular game (in the picture this citizen is represented by straight, black hair and white necklace). The game associated with the Queen of Hearts is croquet, simple on the face of it but psychologically traumatic in its implementation. The game of croquet also connects the show to 'Alice in Wonderland', where a crazy version of the sport is played using flamingoes as mallets.

Alongside the physical representation of the Queen of Hearts in the image, the abstract card to her right features two squares of red which hints at the card either being hearts or diamonds.

Answer: The Santa Clause

The excellent movie, 'The Santa Clause' (1994), follows the transformation of Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) from obnoxious marketing executive to the gregarious and generous Santa Claus. One night, Santa Claus (Calvin's predecessor in the role) falls off Scott's roof and his reign comes to an end; all that was left was of him was his suit! With the encouragement of his son, Charlie (Eric Lloyd), Scott reluctantly put the suit on and in so doing (along with sitting in the sleigh) he became the new Santa Claus in accordance with the terms set out in the "Santa Clause"!

Answer: Grogu

First released in late 2019, 'The Mandalorian' is one of many live action spin-offs from the 'Star Wars' franchise; other offerings include 'Andor', 'Ahsoka', 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' and 'The Book of Boba Fett'. The first season of 'The Mandalorian' introduces us to the title character, a bounty hunter who is clad in a suit made from valuable beskar (Mandalorian iron). The protagonist stumbles upon a peculiar green creature - Grogu - who belongs to the same species as Yoda. This loveable creature is shown to have remarkable powers and it comes as no surprise that many ill-intentioned antagonists wish to bring Grogu into their possession.

I just couldn't resist calling this image 'Piet Mandalorian' in homage to Piet Mondrian, the great Dutch artist who abhorred a diagonal line.

Answer: Chocolat

'Shades of Brown with Nibble' is one of the more basic offerings from the postneoplastic portfolio, using simple rectangular blocks of differing shades to represent a chocolate bar with a nibble taken out of the bottom left-hand corner. The picture relates to the turn of the millennium film, 'Chocolat', which showcases the talents of a number of actors and actresses including Juliette Binoche as Vianne Rocher, a young mother who moves to a new town in France where she opens a quaint chocolate shop. Other members of the cast include Johnny Depp, Alfred Molina and Judi Dench.

'Jackie Brown' is a 1997 Quentin Tarantino film, 'Casanova Brown' is a 1940s movie starring Gary Cooper and Teresa Wright and 'Mud' (2012) is a coming-of-age flick featuring Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon.