With a history spanning over two decades and more than 20 films released on the big screen, Pixar and Disney have mastered the art of captivating audiences by embedding intricate details within their projects. Often, these details serve as hints for upcoming films, only to be recognized by viewers after the films have premiered.
The first movie from Pixar to implement this technique was Monsters, Inc., released in 2001. In the film, there is a scene where Boo shows Sulley a variety of toys, one of which is a toy fish from Finding Nemo.
In Finding Nemo, in the dentist’s office scene, one of the stickers on a tray features the superhero character from The Incredibles, serving as a promotional nod to the film.
In The Incredibles, while Mr. Incredible is fighting, a familiar car shape appears in the background, specifically the Hudson Hornet from Cars.
Unfortunately, Cars 3 does not contain any “Easter egg” references to the subsequent Ratatouille. However, this “tradition” of Pixar was revived in Ratatouille, where the character of Hal the rat from WALL-E appears on the wall in Linguini’s apartment.
In WALL-E, when the little robot is watching a show on TV, a stuffed bear can be seen next to it, hinting at the movie Up.
In Up, as the floating house moves to different buildings, viewers can spot the iconic bear from Toy Story 3 in a toy store.
Moving to the third installment of Toy Story, a toy version of Lightning McQueen appears, hinting at the sequel of Cars.
In Cars 2, a painting of the family version of the “brave princess” Merida hangs on the wall, referring back to the film Brave.
Monsters Inc.’s beloved character Sulley makes an appearance in Brave, hinting at the sequel of the original film.
In Monsters University, a green dinosaur toy is featured to promote The Good Dinosaur. However, this appearance is unique as it is the second occurrence of a detail that was not included in the film Inside Out, which was released prior to The Good Dinosaur.
When Arlo the dinosaur is learning to walk, viewers might catch a glimpse of Hank the octopus lurking under the water. Hank is a character from Finding Dory, the sequel to Finding Nemo.
In Finding Dory, a taxi has a sticker featuring Lightning McQueen, marking the return of Cars with the third installment.
Cars 3 introduced the blockbuster Coco by bringing the entire cast to the big screen, along with a featured version of the car character.
In Coco, while everyone is celebrating, on the right corner of the screen, a poster for The Incredibles 2 appears.
In The Incredibles 2, one of the toys in baby Jack-Jack’s room is Duke Caboom. This character also appears in Toy Story 4.
Moving to Toy Story 4, viewers can spot the iconic character design of the unicorn appearing at the amusement park. This is also the same image found on the vehicle of Barley from the film Onward.
In the house of the character from Onward, the music album of singer Dorothea Williams appears on the shelf. She is also a star in the film Soul.
Shifting to Soul, while the main character Joe is in a barber shop, a poster introducing Portorosso – the town that serves as the main backdrop for Luca – hangs in the shop.
Finally, in Luca, in the character Giulia’s bedroom, viewers can spot a fishbowl with the logo “4 Villaggi,” which also hints at the 4*Town music group featured in Turning Red.
Most recently, in Turning Red, on the character Miriam’s skateboard, there is a sticker of the cat character Sox and a symbol of the character Buzz Lightyear, hinting at the film Lightyear, which was released in 2022. What other strong connections do you think Lightyear could have with any previous films?
Source: Screen Rant
