Much like the episode prior, Space Dandy Episode 7, “A Race in Space is Dangerous, Baby” has Stanley Kubrick references, notably, a ton of 2001: A Space Odyssey references.

2001 and Space Dandy are both science fiction. Like many Stanley Kubrick films, there is comedy with serious overtones.

Ok. Don’t believe me?

2001 happened before the Space Race. Space Dandy Episode 7 is a race in space. Both have military applications.

The episode has references to fueling flying vehicles and the missile and the air WWII air fueling sequence in Dr. Strangelove.

There are gates in the race. The Star GATE?

The Rat’s homage to Mortimer Mouse is like the use of Alice in Wonderland in Eyes Wide Shut and Goofy in the Shining. (Image from Collative Learning)

Rat kills Dandy for Prince, which ends up being an act of love, much like the theme of Stanley Kubrick themes combining love/sex and war/violence, as well as the subliminal pedophilia films in Kubrick’s work.

Space Dandy shoots a bunch of rockets this episode, like Kong dropping the bomb in Dr. Strangelove or any of the shots in Full Metal Jacket.

The finish line looks like a checkers board. Kubrick loved chess.

For whatever reason, the scene where Bea eats the chips in front of the tv reminds me of the scene where Bowman eats the food after encountering the third monolith. However, I have no clue what is the connection with the food put in the Aloha Oe joke, as a Stanley Kubrick reference. (More likely it was a Back to the Future I & II reference!)

Or is it a reference to how servants are treated in Stanley Kubrick films?

David Bowman disconnects HAL, after he knocks Frank Poole into space possibly suffocating to death. Both are trying to complete their mission.

Space Dandy ejects QT from the ship, a combination of HAL, the robotic member of the crew, and Frank Poole, who he himself eliminates into space. He is trying to accomplish his mission of finishing the race before Prince.

The rotation of the ships in space while docking is like the Blue Danube sequence, which ironically was believed to be chosen by Kubrick as a reference to the British nuclear bomb.

The sole woman in the episode, looks a bit like an S&M figure, much like that of A Clockwork Orange or Dr. Gel’s ship.

There are shots of white blinding light like that of Dr. Strangelove’s ending nuclear apocalypse explosions.

Dandy seeing a gold statue of himself is an homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey and the scene where Dave Bowman sees himself aged before the aged Bowman becomes the main character and young Dave Bowman disappears.