Pixar Easter Eggs

An easter egg is a reference to another work, a hidden message, or an inside joke that appears in a movie or show. They can also occur in video games, and Google has been known to incorporate them as well (try searching 'zerg rush' on Google). While these can occur in live action, they are much more numerous and well-known for their occurrences in animation.

One of the most famous studios for easter eggs is Pixar. In every single one of their movies, they leave hints, allusions, objects, and references to their other movies or to a gag that appears throughout all or most of their movies. There are so many of them in Pixar's movies that a fan formulated a theory where all the Pixar movies take place on the same timeline, and that they are all intertwined together through the same overlapping plot. They use these easter eggs as evidence to support this theory.

The scene that is perhaps the easiest to see these easter eggs in is in the movie Monsters, Inc., near the end when Sulley is saying goodbye to Boo. In Boo's room, we can see multiple easter eggs in the toys that she owns. Take a look at the video around 1:15-1:20. She owns three toys that may look familiar; a certain clown fish, a cowgirl doll, and a ball (more on that later). It's Nemo from Finding Nemo and Jessie from the Toy Story franchise! Monsters, Inc. came out in 2001, while Finding Nemo was released in 2003. Nemo was seen two years before Finding Nemo! This reveals a couple things about Pixar; one, their movies take a long time to make, and two, they like to put references to future movies in their movies.    

Another instance of a Pixar movie foreshadowing a future movie is in Finding Nemo. In the scene when Darla is getting her dentist appointment, a young boy can be seen outside in the waiting area, reading a comic book. That comic book, while it is hard to see, is of Mr, Incredible, the protagonist of The Incredibles. As mentioned earlier, Finding Nemo came out in 2003. The Incredibles came out a year later in 2004. There are other easter eggs in Finding Nemo, especially in the dentist's office. We can see Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story franchise in the toy box when Nemo is first put in the tank. 


Inside Out, Pixar's newest released film, is no exception. Their short films aren't either. When Riley and her family are driving to San Fransisco, you can see the birds from the short film "For the Birds" perched on the phone line (these can also be seen during the "Life is a Highway" scene in Pixar's Cars). On the way there, the family stops at a dinosaur sculpture, which could possibly be a reference to Pixar's upcoming film, The Good Dinosaur. When the family first arrives at their new home they find a rat. Look closely at the rat- it looks an awfully lot like Remy, the protagonist of Ratatouille. When Riley goes to school, we can see a girl that is wearing a skull shirt that looks a lot like Sid's from the Toy Story franchise. Inside Riley's head, check her memory orbs- they contain a lot of references. One of them includes a playground that looks very similar to the one at Sunnyside Daycare in Toy Story 3. Also, one of my personal favorite easter eggs, one of the orbs contains clips from the "Married Life" scene in Up. Another one of my favorites, check the games in Imagination Land- one of them has a picture of a clown fish that says 'Find Me'- a reference to Finding Nemo.  

Secret numbers, pizza trucks, and yellow balls?

 Every avid Pixar fan knows of three things that appear in almost every single Pixar movie: A113, the Pizza Planet truck, and the Luxo ball.

The Pizza Planet truck is an actual part of the Toy Story franchise, but it appears in every single other Pixar movie except for The Incredibles.

• In A Bug's Life and Monsters, Inc. it appears alongside another easter egg. In both movies, there are mobile trailer homes, and this trailer is the same in both movies. Parked beside both of these trailers is the Pizza Planet truck. 
• In Finding Nemo it drives by as Gill is explaining his escape plan. It's quick and easy to miss.
• In the Cars franchise, it appears in anthropomorphic form, like the rest of the cars. In the first movie, it appears at the Los Angeles International Speedway, where the final race takes place. In the sequel, it is spotted at the Radiator Springs Grand Prix. 
• It is particularly hard to notice in Ratatouille, where it briefly makes an appearance on the bridge in the scooter chase scene.
• It appears three times in Up, two of the three when Carl is traveling to Paradise Falls and the last when he and Russell are eating ice cream at the end of the movie. 
• Eve scans under its hood in WALL-E when she is searching for life at beginning of the movie.
• The creators of Inside Out have stated it makes an appearance three times, though it is very hard to see. I have yet to find it.
• In Monsters University it is parked by the Jaws Theta Chi fraternity house during the party.



The trailer and truck in  A Bug's Life

• My personal favorite, in Brave it appears as a wood carving in the witch's cottage. (Sulley also appears as a carving there as well!)  

   

The trailer and truck in Monsters, Inc.

The iconic toy Luxo ball first appeared in the short film "Luxo Jr.", and since then has made appearances in many of Pixar's movies and short films It is considered to be one of the symbols of Pixar, and has even been Incorporated into their logo. I mentioned early that it appears in Monsters, Inc. as one of Boo's toys, but it also appears in Andy's (the owner of the toys) room in the Toy Story movies. It also makes appearances in Up, Finding Nemo, and other full-length movies, as well as the short films "Jack Jack Attacks" and "Red's Dream".     

The Luxo ball

Room A113 at Calarts

My all-time favorite easter egg is actually a number, A113, which appears in nearly every Pixar movie, and even some Disney movies and live action movies. This message is an inside joke of sorts among Pixar employees, and represents a room at the California Institute of the Arts, or Calarts, which is a college that was founded by Disney that nearly all, if not all, of Pixar's animators attended.

•  In the Toy Story franchise, it is Andy's mom's license plate number.
• It is written on the side of a box in the city in A Bug's Life.
• I have yet to find it in Monsters, Inc.
• In The Incredibles it is the holding cell of Mr. Incredible. While not directly stated together, he is shown to be on level A1, cell 13. You can see this when Helen infiltrates the base to find Mr. Incredible.
• It's the model number of the diver's camera in Finding Nemo. You can see this when Nemo is kidnapped by the divers.
• The train that Lightning McQueen outruns in Cars has A113 written on the side. This is seen when McQueen gets lost at night, just before he first arrives at Radiator Springs.
• In Ratatouille, one of the rats has a yellow tag on his ear that reads A113.
• It is very easily seen in WALL-E; it is the alert code that Earth is too contaminated to return to, and is portrayed on Auto. This is also the first instance to date that the code has plot significance.
• It is the number of the courtroom that Carl has his court summons to after he injures the construction worker in the beginning of Up. 
• A113 is the number of the lecture hall in Monsters University where Mike and Sulley have their first class.
• In Cars 2, it is on Mater's license plate.
• It is written in Roman numerals above the witch's door inside the cottage in Brave.
• In Inside Out, when Riley is running away and just about to board the bus towards the end of the movie, A113 can be seen in graffiti on the side of a building.

There are many more easter eggs in the Pixar movies that I didn't talk about; see if you can spot them all! (A hint; there are a lot in the Toy Story franchise). While these don't serve any significance in the movies' plots (except for A113 in WALL-E), they are fun to search for. Animators are creative people, and they like to show that in their movies, and one of the ways they do this is through easter eggs. 


video used:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPaTaEN2wxY

pictures used:
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