April 12th, 2020
Our favourite films are filled with fun moments and gags, with the hidden references often being the most fun aspect when revisiting a classic. So what are some of our favourite Easter- Easter eggs?
My father once told me ‘If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball’.
Patches O' Houlihan really did know his dodgeball, but did he know about some of the most hidden Easter eggs in the world of film?
In the spirit of timeliness, Fresh Take would like to give you some Easter eggs that you might have dodged over the years.
(This will be the only reference to the film Dodgeball, sorry for any disappoint.)
Fight Club – Starbucks cup in every scene
What’s the first rule of Fight Club? I bet you didn’t think the answer was a skinny latte with a hazelnut crème.
Well… director David Fincher claims that in every scene of Fight Club you can see a Starbucks coffee cup. Apparently, Fincher did this as a social commentary on the fact that everywhere you look there is a Starbucks Coffee shop.
Fans of Fight Club even have a Tumblr page called Fight Club Starbucks.
It was a strange time in history when a branded coffee cup was intentional, an idea the crew of Game of Thrones were likely kicking themselves over for not using when pardoning their famous season eight mistake.
The Departed – X marks the spot
Martin Scorsese is one of the best film directors the world has ever seen – after all, he does play Sykes the pufferfish in Shark Tale, a pretty cool but also career-damaging move, which he come out of untarnished.
Scorsese was the director of the 2006 American crime film The Departed, which was met with critical acclaim, winning five Oscars, with Scorsese picking up best director for his efforts.
So what Easter egg did we find in our hunt through The Departed? Well…we found an X and the crosses were slowly coming as well .
The New York Queens-born director opted to use an ‘X’ to forebode that one of his characters was going to die. He was paying homage to Howard Hawk’s original Scarface which incorporated a bunch of Xs to imply that death was imminent.
Monsters, Inc. – The whole franchise
What do you say when your child starts Easter egg hunting at an ungodly hour? "PUT THAT THING BACK WHERE IT CAME FROM OR SO HELP ME".
Monsters, Inc. is a generation-defining film, for me, it’s one of Pixar’s best ever creations. They really don’t make them like this anymore, it’s got great character depth, punchy one-liners, and a whole ton of Easter eggs.
The best one? It’s hard to say, but after a long search, we found Nemo before Finding Nemo was even a thing.
Known for their many nods to previous and future films, Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. is no exception as Boo gives Sully a plush toy of a clownfish, which is obviously Nemo. A clever Easter egg, placed in the same scene as a Jessie the cowgirl toy and the Luxo Ball, also seen in several animated films from the ground-breaking studio.
Toy Story 3 – Sid the binman
Continuing with our Pixar theme let’s talk about Toy Story 3, but more importantly, let’s talk about why Sid Philips from Toy Story is actually a key worker.
Remember in Toy Story 3 when the toys hide from the binman? Well, that is in fact Sid collecting the trash, even sporting the same Skull t-shirt that he wore in the first film.
Pixar really do love an Easter egg.
Catch me if you can – we caught him
Steven Spielberg is a pioneer in the film industry and the world will marvel in his creation for eternity. He’s the director of the super stylish Catch Me if You can in 2003 and throws in the king of all Easter eggs.
On-screen Leonardo DiCaprio was depicting Frank Abagnale, the man who before his 19th birthday, successfully pulled off cons that were worth millions of dollars. He did this all while posing as an airline pilot and a Doctor.
When Frank is arrested in the movie one of the officers is the real-life Frank Abagnale.
An egg-cellent gem to include in the film for sure (I’ll leave now).
Raiders of the Lost Ark – CP30 and R2-D2
This film has countless Easter eggs but the most prominent one is the Star Wars reference and trust me it’s not obvious at all.
In the film, Harrison Ford aka Indiana Jones can be seen holding up a gold artefact, and if you look closely enough, you’ll see the engravings of both CP30 and R2-D2.
The love affair with Star Wars doesn’t stop there, references to Obi-Wan and Princess Leia can be seen throughout the film. Steven Spielberg loves an Easter egg, making me I’m surprised he didn’t change the rampaging boulder into an inflatable Death Star.
(Mr Spielberg is yet to reach his peak, trust me.)
Tron – Pac-man
No this isn’t the latest video game spin-off. The 1982 classic film is a favourite amongst the film universe, having gained notoriety for its futuristic concept; sparking the inspiration for future computer-generated imagery within film.
Tron is on the list because it has a cameo for everyone’s favourite video game icon Pac-Man. During a scene Dillinger can be seen eyeballing a schematic diagram and chomping along the screen is none other than Pac-Man himself.
Long before his appearance in video movies such as Pixels and the Wreck-it Ralph franchise, Pacman was there right at the start of real video game movies (movies that take place inside a video game).
Ready Player One – The Whole Movie
The Ultimate Easter egg hunt, you could spend hours deciphering the number of hidden messages in this film. You’ve got infinite Easter eggs and cameos to look out for, over 120 in fact.
The film takes place in 2045 where most of the human race uses the virtual reality software OASIS as an escape from the real world. I used to listen to Oasis to escape the real world, and all it did for me was give me a bad fashion sense and bad relationship with my brother.
A film in which the creator of an expansive video game world places a bunch of Easter eggs for our characters to find and discover. But all actually made for the movie by a slew of writers and filmmakers, with their own Easter eggs and references placed inside?
Confused? Yep, so are we. Let’s just tell you are favourite Easter egg from the film.
Bar the prized golden egg, we're going for- The Zemeckis cube. Disguised as a Rubix Cube, it has the ability to turn back time for everyone but the user, while doubling as a nod to the famous director- Robert Zemeckis, along with its neat musical rift from Back to the Future when used.
Extra Egg –
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Do you work here?
Wes Anderson, a modern-day wonder, his films are visual masterpieces. During the production of the Grand Budapest, Hotel Anderson added an Easter egg that you wouldn’t even know about if it wasn’t for us.
All of the workers behind the front desk of the 1930-set hotel in the fictional nation of Zubrowska were real employees of hotels the crew had stayed in during their time shooting.
What a cracking Easter egg.
We hope you feel informed, but most importantly remember that you’re not alone. You have the wonderful world of cinema, with millions of fans discovering these fun golden references and winks to the audience along with you.
Now is the time to use your time to find some Easter eggs of your own. Always wanted to watch that famous Adam Sandler Movie? Go for it, you won’t be judged…
COVID-19 is a pandemic that will last for a while, but the world of film, well that’s going to last forever.
Happy Easter from all of us at Fresh Take.
Stephen Jones
@SEHN_97
