The scene where Skinner bangs his shoe on the desk is based on a 1960 U.N. meeting where Nikita Kruschev allegedly banged his shoe on the desk in protest of a statement by Lorenzo Sumlong regarding the Soviet Union's effect on Eastern Europe.
To make the fishermen's speech as accurate as possible, David X. Cohen called a friend who spoke Mandarin. When the Chinese actors came, the actors did not feel Mandarin was geographically appropriate, and it was changed to Cantonese, which is spoken more in China's coastal regions and would be more appropriate for sailors and fishermen.
The whole episode is loosely based on the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, with some incidents from the novel being depicted: the use of spectacles to create fire, the use of the conch, the "monster", and their chant of "Kill the dorks, bash their butts, kick their shins" is reminiscent of "Kill the beast, spill its blood, cut its throat."
It is appropriate that Lisa should represent France in the UN Club as Yeardley Smith was born in Paris.
When the kids are on a manhunt of Lisa, Bart and Milhouse, they use charcoal ash on their faces like war paint, and Ralph Wiggum paints his in a cat style akin to Peter Criss of KISS.