If you also love finding the little secrets that directors and production companies leave behind for us to find in their films, I’ve got a treat for you. Here is my favorite selection of the best movie Easter Eggs, which you might have missed.
Toy Story (1995)
Easter Egg: The Shining Reference
The first easter egg on our list is perhaps one of the most famous ones: the The Shining reference in the 1995 Toy Story film.
In The Shining, there is a scene where Danny is riding his tricycle down the hotel hallway, and this sense of constant dread echoes throughout the scene.
The hallways have carpet with a specific hexagonal design that can instantly be recognized in Toy Story.
When Buzz Lightyear and Woody are in Sid’s house, his halls have the same carpet as the Stanley Hotel halls in The Shining.
The Toy Story scene conveys a similar feeling, as the toys are trying to escape from the crazy clutches of the neighbor, Sid.
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Easter Egg: Star Wars Reference
Since George Lucas created both the Indiana Jones and Star Wars films, and Harrison Ford played in both, it is no surprise that there are Easter eggs from both franchises in the other.
While the Indiana Jones franchise includes dozens of references, we are looking at one specific from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.
In this film, during the scene where Indiana Jones is looking through a tomb, if you look very closely at the hieroglyphics on the pillar near him, you can notice everyone’s favorite droid from Star Wars, R2D2.
This isn’t the only time the little droid pops up, though. He can also be seen next to Princess Leia and C-3PO another time.
The Birds (1963)
Easter Egg: Alfred Hitchcock makes an appearance
Next up is The Birds, which was released in 1963 and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. This film features an Easter egg that can be found in almost every single Hitchcock film, which is Alfred Hitchcock himself showing up for a cameo during the film. While this specific easter egg has become more common, Alfred Hitchcock was among the first to do it for 39 of the 52 films he directed.
In The Birds, he can be seen walking out of a pet shop with two dogs, both of whom he owned in real life. It’s a cool moment if you enjoy watching Hitchcock films, and it can turn into a sort of Where’s Waldo game where you look for him in each of the films in which he makes a cameo.
Captain America: Winter Soldier (2014)
Easter Egg: Pulp Fiction Reference
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has had dozens of different references in its films, from various other movies and franchises to Stan Lee appearing in almost every Marvel film when he was still alive.
In Captain America: Winter Soldier, released in 2014, an easter egg harkens back to Quentin Tarantino’s hit film Pulp Fiction.
At the end of the movie scene showing Nick Fury’s tombstone, you can see the beginning of a monologue spoken by the character Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction, which reads, “The path of the righteous man… Ezekial 25:17.” Samuel L. Jackson plays both of these characters, and this is a cool reference to one of Jackson’s greatest performances.
Check out The Sacred MCU Timeline: Every Movie In Chronological Order
Scream (1996)
Easter Egg: Linda Blair
Regarding the slasher genre in the 1990s, no director had a bigger effect on the space than Wes Craven with Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream, with Scream being one of the most popular slasher movie franchises ever.
In the first movie, a small cameo was made by Linda Blair, who played Regan MacNeill in the 1973 Exorcist, one of the most influential horror films ever. See horror movies based on true stories.
In Scream, she can be seen as one of the reporters interviewing Dewey and some of the other lead characters about the murders by Ghostface. It is not a very long cameo, but it is a cool hidden easter egg for fans of the original Exorcist film.
E.T. (1982)
Easter Egg: Star Wars Reference
Directed by Steven Spielberg, E.T. is a beloved children’s film with one of the most beautiful stories of all time and a great cast of characters.
One well-known easter egg from E.T. is a Star Wars reference seen during the Halloween trick-or-treating scene. When all the different people around the town are having their costumes shown off, one of the children appears to be Yoda in the form of a Halloween costume and recognizes E.T. in his outfit.
It’s a cute little easter egg that exists solely to let viewers theorize whether or not both stories occur in the same universe, and also a nice greeting to Spielberg’s old friend George Lucas.
See also the best sci-fi films for kids.
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)
Easter Egg: E.T. Reference
Being a good sport, George Lucas answered Spielberg’s Star Wars reference 17 years later in The Phantom Menace during the pivotal moment where Naboo moves for a vote of no confidence against the Senate, essentially bringing Palpatine to power.
During the Senate meeting, you can see a group of E.T. delegates in one of the other pods.
Ice Age (2002)
Easter Egg: Star Trek Reference
Pixar movies are filled with Easter Eggs that reference other Pixar or Disney films and vice versa (did you ever notice that the skin of Scar from The Lion King (2002) serves as a rug on the floor in Hercules (1997)? But sometimes, they also reference movies outside Disney’s many franchises.
Ice Age (2002) is a good example, where the group wanders through an ice cave. At some point, they encounter a UFO frozen in the ice, and the human child makes the Vulcan salute hand gesture, often accompanied by the phrase “live long and prosper.” As a sci-fi fan, it’s one of my favorite easter eggs.
Conclusion
Easter eggs in movies are a great way to reward die-hard fans for paying close attention to the movie and can be an inside joke for viewers deep in the fandom.
From references to previous films to cameos by famous people, Easter eggs are in almost every movie if you look closely enough.
Up Next: Speaking of UFOs, here are the best documentaries to watch (before Earth gets invaded.)