Top 10 Movie Easter Eggs: Featuring Indiana Jones, The Departed, Tron
‘Easter Eggs’, as their known have become a bit of a hidden staple in Hollywood movies. It seems directors just can't help hiding a little something in their work that will make us have to go back and pause our DVD’s numerous times. Whether it’s a subtle cameo or a nod to another work, there's lots of hidden fun to be found in our favourite movies. So how many of these 10 easter eggs were you able to spot?
Mickey Mouse (in nearly everything Disney)
Perhaps the king of hidden cameos, Disney original Mickey Mouse just can’t help popping up in other Disney movies. So much so, finding the 'hidden Mickeys' has become a favourite past time of Disney fans. Some of our favourite subtle Mickey appearances include: bubbles making a Mickey during ‘Dumbo’s’ bath time, Mickey and Goofy making an appearance during King Titan’s entrance at the beginning of the ‘Little Mermaid’. Then there's near the end of ‘Aladdin’ the cub Rajah briefly becoming Mickey before turing into a full tiger and also Mickey’s famous outline can been seen incorporated into the architecture of the cathedral in the ‘Hunchback of Notre Dame’.
Indiana Jones 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' and 'Temple of Doom'
We all know how closely connected George Lucas’s ‘Indiana Jones’ is with his other famous work ‘Star Wars’, but did you know how many nods to ‘Star Wars’ appear in the ‘Indiana Jones’ movies? First off the plane that Indie manages to catch a ride on in the beginning of the movie has the serial number ‘OB-CPO’, a nod of course to Obi Wan Kenobi and C3-PO. C3-PO makes another appearance towards the end of the film, this time alongside R2-D2 as a hieroglyphic on a pillar behind Indiana when he has just lifted the lid off the sarcophagus. Then in the ‘Temple of Doom’ there are also further nods to 'Star Wars', principally the nightclub used in the opening sequence in Shang-hi is called ‘Club Obi-Wan', a clever nod to the famous _'Star War_s' wiseman.
The Departed
Before anyone gets killed off in Martin Scorsese’s ‘_The Departe_d’ x literally does mark the spot. An x appears in shot with every character who’s going to die by the end of the movie and some are more subtle than others. Matt Damon’s character is particularly marked, as he shares screen time with a fateful x on at least five occasions. For example In one scene he can be seen walking across an x patterned carpet. Scorsese’s use of the x is actually a homage to another director, Howard Hawks, who similarly used x’s to foreshadow death in his 1932 movie ‘Scarface’.
Kill Bill Volume 1
You might have thought that Quentin Tarantino didn't give away the name of The Bride in K'ill Bill ' until the second movie, but you’d be mistaken. Eagled eyed viewers of 'Kill Bill Volume 1' might have noticed that her name was revealed in the first film. It can be seen on the plane ticket she buys to Okinawa, which bears her name ‘Beatrix Kiddo’. But if you are a DVD pauser who loves looking for these hidden secrets Tarantino has a message for you later on. When the Bride is in the zen garden you might want to read the sole of her shoe, which bares a rather unpleasant message for anyone who happens to be pausing at that moment.
Toy Story 3
There are plenty of easter eggs in 'Toy Story 3' for keen fans. First ever wondered what happened to Andy’s sadistic neighbour Sid? Well he became a garbage man, and can be seen in the film wearing the same skull t-shirt as he does in the original. Wonder what other Pixar characters Andy might be friends with? Well if you look closely enough on the wall above Andy’s desk you can see he received a post card from Carl and Ellie Fredricksen, who are of course characters from ‘Up’, showing that it is a small pixar world afterall.
I Am Legend
Here’s an interesting one from Will Smith’s 2007 movie. If you look close enough at the billboards in the Times Square scene you can see a Superman logo inside a Batman symbol. Wait, what? Well now that we know 'Batman vs Superman' is coming in 2016, how prophetic was this.? Well maybe not, because back in the early 2000s, ’I Am Legend’ producer Akiva Goldsman actually revised a script for a Batman/ Superman cross over film that was floating around but it never came to fruition. So this one might just have been a little bit of an in-joke rather than a hint of what was to come.
Stan Lee in Marvel movies
One of the great games you can play while watching Marvel movies is ‘spot the Stan Lee cameo'. The comic book creator first made an appearance in one of his character’s live action adventures in the 1989 tv movie ‘The Trial of the Incredible Hulk' playing a jury member. He’s since carried on the tradition with his most recent appearance being in ‘Thor: The Dark World’ as a mental patient. Also watch out for him in the upcoming ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’. Word has it he pops up at Peter’s high school graduation.
_Next page: Back to the Future, Tron, and more
Back to the Future
Marty and Doc give a nod to another pair of time travellers in their 1985 adventure - Peabody and Sherman. The barn that Marty crashes into when he arrives in 1955 is owned by a Mr Peabody, as seen on the mailbox. The owner then refers to his son as ‘Sherman’! At the time of ‘Back to the Future’ these two were remembered as characters from the 1960 television programme ‘The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show’, of course now they’re movie stars in their own right.
Tron
In the 1982 film 'Tron' who makes a cameo but Pacman. Pacman can be seen on Stark’s grid after Tron and Ram escape. Not only does the man himself make an appearance, but his music can also be heard in the background of the scene. Makers of 'Tron' were pretty ahead of their time when they included this little nod, as although Pacman had be released, he hadn’t gained his full popularity yet. Pacman isn't the only iconic character for viewers to watch out for when watching 'Tron', since the movie was made by Disney, there is of course a hidden Mickey. An outline of Mickey can be seen on the solar sailer sequence, but its not that easy to spot as it's been made to blend in with the rest of the terrain.
101 Dalmations
So how many movies do the 'Lady and the Tramp 'characters actually appear in? Well it might be more than you think. When taking another look at ‘101 Dalmatians’, the Lady and the Tramp themselves can be seen during the twilight bark scene and Peg also makes an appearance in the pet shop window. But that's not the only movie that features a Disney doggy crossover. In 'Oliver & Company' Jock, Peg and Trusty also make an appearance as does Pongo from '101 Dalmatians', showing that a Disney dog is never forgotten.