While some scoff at the idea of rewatching a film or TV-show, true cinema enjoyers know that all your favorite directors, set and costume designers and actors tend to have a love of adding fun little details in their films. Some become the stuff of legends pretty quickly, others remained hidden for years until someone found them.
We’ve gathered some of the best examples of cool, creative and downright bizarre easter eggs hidden in movies. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote the ones you liked the most and if any of you favorites weren’t mentioned, feel free to share them in the comments section below.
#1 Inside Out. "Kids" Movies Have The Best Details In My Opinion
Image credits: ArthurDent_XLII
#2 After Steven Spielberg Screened Schindler's List (1993) For John Williams To Compose The Score, Williams Was So Moved He Had To Walk Outside For Several Minutes. Upon Returning Williams Said That The Movie Needed A Better Composer Than Him To Which Spielberg Replied "I Know, But They're All Dead."
Image credits: Pseudoruse
#3 In The End Credits Of Mr. Popper’s Penguins (2011), It Is Confirmed That While No Penguins Were Harmed During The Making Of The Movie, Jim Carrey Was Not So Fortunate
Image credits: VictorBlimpmuscle
One underrated part of learning more and more movie easter eggs is that you can mildly amuse (or annoy) someone watching something for the first time. In some cases, this behavior has become so common that it actually spawns its own memes.
For example, fans of the second Lord of the Rings film, the Two Towers, will generally bombard new viewers with the fact that actor Viggo Mortensen broke a toe in real life when he kicked a helmet on screen. His cry of pain is completely real and the director, Peter Jackson decided to simply leave it in the film.
#4 In Event Horizon, Sam Neill Requested That The Union Jack On An Australian Flag Patch Should Be Replaced With An Aboriginal Flag; The Way He Thought It’d Look In 2047
Image credits: Eskimonk
#5 Michael Palin Came Up With The Idea To Use Coconuts In Monty Python And The Holy Grail (1975) Because The Film Couldn't Afford To Use Actual Horses
Image credits: reddit.com
#6 In Erin Brockovich (2000), Erin, Played By Julia Roberts, Is Ordering Food At A Restaurant. She’s Being Waited On By Julia, Played By Erin Brockovich
Image credits: llism
What sets apart a casual fan and a true fanatic is the knowledge that this was in some ways the least of the injuries suffered on set. Actor Sean Astin stepped on a piece of glass and punctured his foot when wading in a river scene, requiring him to be evacuated via helicopter from their remote shooting location in New Zealand.
#7 Men In Black (1997) - The Language These Aliens Speak Together Is ‘Huttese’, The Language Jabba The Hutt Speaks In The Star Wars Films
Image credits: En_Jay_Ess
#8 In Encanto (2021), The Multicoloured Water Was Inspired By A Real Place In Colombia... The Caño Cristales River
The river is commonly called the "River of Five Colors" or the "Liquid Rainbow," and is noted for its striking colors.
Image credits: Numerous-Lemon
#9 When Liam Neeson Was Asked To Play The Antagonist In A Million Ways To Die In The West (2014) (Directed By Seth Mcfarlane) He Accepted Due To A Scene In Family Guy Where Peter Says “Imagine Liam Neeson In A Western! Ha! With That Funny Accent Of His!”
Image credits: DuctapeCat
Given the practical effects and frequent stunts, it might not be surprising to learn that most actors in the Lord of the Rings films suffered at least some kind of injury. Orlando Bloom broke a rib falling off a horse, while others chipped teeth and received all sorts of bumps and bruises while filming the battle scenes.
#10 In Die Hard (1988), Alan Rickman’s Petrified Expression While Falling Was Completely Genuine. The Stunt Team Instructed Him That They Would Drop Him On The Count Of 3 But Instead Dropped Him At 1
Image credits: magidmarvel
#11 In Thor (2011) One Of The Asgardians Is Played By Walt Simonson. He Wrote The Thor Comic Book From 1983-1987
Image credits: Numerous-Lemon
#12 The Four Hobbit Actors From Lord Of The Rings (2003) All Confirmed On Podcasts That An Orc Leader's Look Was Based On Harvey Weinstein
After he wanted Miramax to cut the trilogy down to one film (and all that other stuff) before a deal was made and New Line Cinema rescued the epic saga.
Image credits: strawberrybrooks
In general, filmmaking is such a massive and collaborative process that it’s no wonder that all of these creatives combined start to add their own little details. After all, from costumes, to props and sets, most background details are hand-made somewhere. Once you include the writers, director, actors and the hundreds of others involved, there is a lot of space to hide something interesting.
#13 In Chip 'N Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022) You Can See That Dobby The House Elf Became A Model For Gucci After The Harry Potter Series Wrapped
Image credits: rasta4eye
#14 In The Truman Show (1998), The Identical Twins Are Played By Ron And Don Taylor, Two Police Officers Who Were Working On The Set As Security Guards
Director Peter Weir saw how friendly they were with the film's cast and crew, so he hired them as actors.
Image credits: Numerous-Lemon
#15 In Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets (2002), Lucius Malfoy Slaps Draco's Hand Onto His Cane. Jason Isaacs Didn't Know There Were Small Fangs On The Top, So Tom Felton's Pain Was Genuine
Image credits: reddit.com
#16 In Mulan (1998), Mulan Touches Her Hair A Lot Because The Animators Noticed That Mulan’s Voice Actor, Ming-Na Wen, Touched Her Hair A Lot While Recording. So, They Added It To The Character
Image credits: Numerous-Lemon
#17 In Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (2005), It's Shown That Willy Wonka's Distant Father Had Framed Highlights Of His Sons Life
This was inspired by a trip Tim Burton took to visit his dying mother in 2002. Despite their relationship being not great, she owned framed movie posters of all his films.
Image credits: FionaWalliceFan
#18 In Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 (2018), The Old Couple Taking Photos Are The Parents Of James Gunn. They Are Credited As "Weird Old Man" And "Weird Old Man's Mistress"
Image credits: Numerous-Lemon
#19 In The Princess And The Frog (2009) The Villain's Shadow Turns This Wallpaper To Skulls And Crossbones In This Scene
Image credits: M_R_MISM
#20 In Anastasia (1997), The Drawing That Anastasia Gives To Her Grandmother Is Based On A 1914 Painting Created By The Real Princess Anastasia
Image credits: Numerous-Lemon
#21 The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001). The Script For Sean Bean's Council Of Elrond Speech Was Rewritten The Night Before Filming
Bean taped his lines to his knee so he could read them when needed. Some of the characters frustrated expressions in the scene are actually the actor glancing at his lines.
Image credits: Drowsy-Dragon-Knight
#22 Titanic - 1997 The Couple Shown In Bed Together Having Accepted Their Fate Is Isador And Ida Straus. They Were The Co Owners Of Macy’s. Ida Refused To Leave His Side When He Refused A Life Boat Spot B/C There Were Still Women And Children On Board. They Were Last Seen Walking Arm And Arm Together
Image credits: Longduckdon22
#23 In Pulp Fiction (1994) Tarantino's Smiling Globe T-Shirt Is For A Detroit Magazine Called Orbit
They were the first magazine to ever interview him about being a filmmaker and he wore the shirt as a 'thank you' to them.
Image credits: nedelbach
#24 In Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), The Poolside Bartender Is Played By An Actor Credited Under The Nickname Dr. Toad, But His Real Name Was Robert Todd Williams, And He Was Robin Williams’ Older Brother. A Vintner By Trade In Real-Life, This Was His Only Film Appearance
Image credits: VictorBlimpmuscle
#25 In Thor: The Dark World (2013), Natalie Portman Couldn't Make It To Reshoot The Final Kiss Scene. When Asked To Choose From A Lineup Of Women To Take Her Place. Chris Hemsworth Instead Brought In His Wife , Who Wore Natalie's Clothes And Wig To Shoot The Final Kiss
Image credits: gamermainer
#26 This Design Of The Back Of This Ambulance In Joker (2019) Looks Familiar
Image credits: Olympus_XIII
#27 In Kingpin (1996) Bill Murray Plays The Infamous Pro-Bowler Ernie Mccracken. In Addition To Improvising Nearly All Of His Lines, Murray Actually Bowled Three Strikes In A Row On Camera To A Live Audience In One Take. Their Thunderous Applause Was Real
Image credits: Celestial_Inferno
#28 Watching Deadpool 2 (2018) And Noticed A Certain Supreme Court Justice’s Headshot In The Squad Interview Scene. None Other Than Ruth Bader Ginsburg In Consideration For A Spot On X-Force
Image credits: ScoonCatJenkins
#29 In The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part (2019), You Can See Velma From Scooby-Doo In The Crowd
When asked why the other members of the gang weren’t included, the director said "In a post-apocalyptic world, Velma would have been the only one to have survived. The other kids wouldn’t have made it."
Image credits: NubbyNob
#30 In Jaws (1975), The TV Reporter Is Played By Peter Benchly, The Author Of The Book
Image credits: NeverCallMeFifi
#31 In Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), Han Drops His Parka On The Floor When He Arrives At Starkiller Base
When He Leaves, Chewbacca Hands It Back To Him, And He Reacts With Confusion. This Part Was Improvised By Chewbacca's Actor Joonas Suotamo, Who Went Off Script, Confusing Harrison Ford
Image credits: Numerous-Lemon
#32 For Interstellar, Christopher Nolan Planted 500 Acres Of Corn Just For The Film Because He Did Not Want To CGI The Farm In. After Filming, He Turned It Around And Sold The Corn And Made Back Profit For The Budget
Image credits: ZultarTeDestroyer
#33 In The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Bruce Did Not Wear A Mask During The Masked Ball Scene. This Is Because He Considers Batman As His True Identity And "Bruce Wayne" As His Disguise In Public
When Selina asked him "Who are you pretending to be? " he replied "Bruce Wayne, eccentric billionaire".
Image credits: TouyaShiun
#34 In "Moana" (2016), Maui's Visual Appearance Is Partly Modeled On Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's Grandfather, Samoan-American Professional Wrestler Peter Maivia
Image credits: themightyheptagon
#35 In Rocky (1976), When He Runs Through The Italian Marketplace, The People's Amused Expressions As They Look On Is Genuine, As They Had No Idea Why A Man Was Running Back And Forth Being Followed By A Van. The Man Who Throws Him The Orange Was Completely Improvised
Image credits: Chief_DaVinci
#36 In A Beautiful Mind (2001), Marcee Runs Through A Group Of Birds...
She isn't real. She is a hallucination, part of John's schizophrenia. Therefore the birds don't react to her presence and scatter
Image credits: Numerous-Lemon
#37 In Troy (2004), Brad Pitt And Eric Bana Did Not Use Stunt Doubles For Their Epic Duel
They made a gentleman's agreement to pay for every accidental hit. $50 for each light hit, $100 for each hard blow. Pitt ended up paying Bana $750. Bana didn't owe Pitt anything.
Image credits: shre3293
#38 In Finding Nemo (2003), Gill Is A Moorish Idol. This Species Is Known To Not Handle Captivity Well, So Him Being The One Who Constantly Comes Up With Escape Plans Makes Sense
Image credits: reddit.com
#39 In Deadpool 2 (2018), Wade Wears A Shirt That Says: "Olivia & Meredith. Best Friends Purrrr-Ever". The Two Cats Actually Belong To Taylor Swift
The production crew had to get permission from her to use their image.
Image credits: Numerous-Lemon
#40 In Zootopia (2016), Chief Bogo Wears Eyeglasses To Read Documents. This Is A Reference To The Fact That Buffalo Have Poor Eyesight. Confirmed By The Directors In A Q&a
Image credits: Numerous-Lemon
#41 Chicha From The Emperor’s New Groove (2000) Is The First Pregnant Female Character To Appear In A Disney Animated Feature Film, According To The Dvd Commentary. She’s Also One Of The First Mother Characters In A Disney Film Not To Be Killed Off Or Villainized
Image credits: _Raines_
#42 In Maleficent (2014), The Young Aurora Was Played By Angelina Jolie’s Daughter Vivienne
The 5-year-old got the part because she was the only child who wasn’t terrified of Jolie in her Maleficent makeup. Several other younger children auditioned and wouldn’t go near her.
Image credits: Tokyono
#43 In Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix (2007). Dumbledore's Army: All The Girls Are Wearing Skirts Except Ginny (3rd From Left) Who Is Wearing Pants; Probably A Hand-Me-Down From Her Brothers. (Good Going Costume Department)
Image credits: MariaRehan
#44 In Boheiam Rhapsody (2018),the Trucker That Eyes Freddie Is Played By Singer Adam Lambert. Since 2011, He Has Been Touring With Queen As Their Frontman
Image credits: Numerous-Lemon
#45 In Interstellar (2014) The Black Hole Was So Scientifically Accurate
It took approx 100 hours to render each frame in the physics and VFX engine. Meaning every second you see took approx 100 days to render the final copy.
Image credits: Jaz1140
#46 In Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), These Rebel Soldiers Are Played By Mark Hamill's Children. From Left To Right; Nathan Hamill, Chelsea Hamill, And Griffin Hamill
Image credits: Numerous-Lemon
#47 In 12 Monkeys (1995) Director Terry Gilliam Was Afraid That Brad Pitt Wouldn't Be Able To Pull Off The Nervous, Rapid Speech. He Sent Him To A Speech Coach But In The End He Just Took Away Pitt's Cigarettes, And Pitt Played The Part Exactly As Gilliam Wanted
Image credits: O_Shack
#48 In Spider-Man 2, Peter Parker Says He Needs A "Strong Focus" Before Jumping Off A Building. He Lands On A Ford Focus Which Goes Undamaged
Image credits: Oriolebird9
#49 In Harry Potter (2007), Ralph Fiennes Asked For A Hook To Be Added To Voldemort's Wand So That He Could Move More Fluidly And "Snake-Like" Without The Wand Falling From His Hand
Image credits: PristineAnimator683
#50 Last One For Tonight Guys, In The Beginning Of Joker (2019) There’s A Familiar Face In The Mirror
Image credits: Valconix1
