12-ish Pixar references in other Pixar movies

Feel_Good_inc. · 12-10-2009, 12:21 AM

My brother is going to see the movie UP today. I myself think I've spent enough this month, I'm trying to save my money after all. So I'm going to spend my day writing, maybe playing World of Warcraft for a couple of hours around lunchtime and mostly watching a marathon of Transformers episodes. I ordered the DVD's and they arrived this week, all four seasons and the original movie. This weekend is the first chance I've had to watch them. I'm going to enjoy.

I love spotting little inside jokes in movies. Sometimes they’re really obvious, and other times you have to be in the know to get what they mean – either way, I get delighted when I think I’ve spotted something a lot of people have overlooked. That’s why I love the list of Pixar film references – in every Pixar film, you’ll find at least one reference to another Pixar movie, but usually there are a whole lot more. I’ve gathered 10 of my favorites, but they’re countless. If I’ve missed your favorite, share it.

1. Pizza Planet. Pizza Planet turns up in just about every movie, if you look closely enough. In The Incredibles, a delivery truck can be spotted in a scene where the family is driving on the highway, and EVE from WALL-E checks the engine of a Pizza Planet vehicle to see if it contains any signs of plant life.

In A Bug's Life, the truck appears in the scene where one insect warns another not to touch the motor home's bug zapper. A Pizza Planet cup also appears in the Bug City.
In Monsters, Inc., when the redneck mother is beating Randall with a shovel, it is on the far left side of the screen.
In Finding Nemo, while Gill is explaining his plan to escape from the office, a yellow Pizza Planet truck drives by.[9]
In The Incredibles, the truck is briefly seen on the road while the family is driving on the highway to fight the Omnidroid. It appears as just a blur and even a frame-by-frame analysis barely reveals its presence.
In Cars, there is a Pizza Planet truck at the stadium for the final race.[11]
In Ratatouille, the truck is briefly seen crossing the bridge over the Seine when Skinner is chasing Remy.
In WALL-E, EVE scans the engine of a Pizza Planet truck for plant life shortly after her arrival on Earth, and shuts the hood afterwards.
In Up the Pizza Planet truck is seen on the street as Carl's house floats by. And when Carl takes Russell and Dug for ice cream, the Pizza Planet truck can be seen parked.

Toy Story

Toy Story 2

Finding Nemo

Cars (far Left)

Ratatouille

2. In Finding Nemo, play close attention to the scene in the dentist’s office. A Buzz Lightyear toy and an Mr. Incredible comic can be seen in the waiting room.

3. Also, in the same scene, the mobile that you see in the dentist’s office is also featured in Boo’s room in Monsters, Inc., as are a Nemo toy and a Jessie toy (from Toy Story 2). And, check out the comic book the little boy is reading – it’s The Incredibles.

4. Ratatouille features a guest appearance from Incredibles nemesis Bomb Voyage – Did you see where Brad had Bomb Voyage (You know? The explosives-crazed criminal that Mr. Incredible discovers robbing a bank in the opening sequence of "The Incredibles" ?) ...

... also makes an appearance as a mime who's working in the streets of Paris in "Ratatouille" ?

5. All of the books on Andy’s shelf in Toy Story have titles that are actually the titles of Pixar shorts.

6. Dinoco, like Pizza Planet, is another fictional company in the Pixarverse that appears in multiple movies.

In Toy Story, Buzz and Woody fall out of Andy's car and have their fight at a Dinoco gas station.
In Cars, the company's signature color is a pale blue shade referred to as "Dinoco blue" that was originally created for Richard Petty's racecar à la Gulf Oil. Dinoco is a sponsor of the Piston cup, and is the main sponsor of The King, a veteran racer on the verge of retirement. The Dinoco brand has also been featured in much Cars-related merchandise.
In WALL-E, the Dinoco name and logo appear on a lighter.

7. References to A113 shouldn’t be too hard to find – they’re scattered all over every Pixar movie.
A113 is an Easter egg that has been inserted into several animated television shows and feature films as a homage to a classroom at CalArts, the alma mater of Pixar/Disney executive John Lasseter and director Brad Bird, among others. Bird was the first to use the A113 Easter egg, on a car license plate in an animated segment entitled Family Dog in a 1987 episode of the television series Amazing Stories. Though not unique to Pixar, A113 has appeared in every Pixar feature film to date:

Toy Story and Toy Story 2 - License plate number on Andy's mom's minivan.
A Bug's Life - Code on cereal box as Flik enters the bug city.
Toy Story 2 - Airport announcement for "LassetAir Flight A113" (also a reference to director John Lasseter).
Monsters, Inc. - Sign seen in the background when Sulley sees Smitty and Needleman loading the trash compactor.
Finding Nemo - Model code on camera used by scuba diver.
The Incredibles - Room number in Syndrome's lair (not seen, only mentioned by Mirage). Also, the prison level where Mr. Incredible is held is "Level A1" in Cell #13: A1 & 13.
Cars - The number of the freight train that almost crashes into Lightning McQueen while he is first on his way to Radiator Springs. It is also Mater's license plate in the related short film, Mater and the Ghost Light.

Ratatouille - Git, the lab rat, has a tag on his left ear that reads "A113".
WALL-E - A113 is the code for the directive given to the Axiom's autopilot to never return to Earth.
Up - A113 is the number of the court room.

8. In Cars, the Piston cup cars all have “Lightyear” instead of “Goodyear” written on the tires. Sneaky.

8a. The Piston Cup itself makes a cameo appearance in Wall-e as one of the items he throws into the cooler, along with a boot and nodding dog toy.

9. WALL-E works in a clever reference to Ratatouille and vice versa- the mechanic mice are called REM-E (Remy is a character in Ratatouille).

Actually Wall-e doesn't actually appear in the "Ratatouille" film. But -- rather -- that cute little robot can be found on the new Pixar short that's included as an extra features on the "Ratatouille" DVD, "Your Friend the Rat."

"And where is WALL-E?," you ask. Well ... Toward the end of the short, Remy & Emile sing a song called "Plan B." And -- at one point in this musical fantasy sequence -- humans & rats are happily seated inside of this futuristic spacecraft, which is zooming along that planet's surface toward a launching pad.

If you take a close look at the driver of that craft, you'll see that it's a very stylized version of the star of Pixar's big release of the Summer of 2008, "WALL-E."

10. John Ratzenberger. Yep, Cliff from Cheers can be heard in every major Pixar movie since Toy Story.
• Toy Story films – Hamm the Piggy Bank
• A Bug’s Life – P.T. Flea
• Monsters, Inc. – the Abominable Snowman
• Finding Nemo – a school of silver fish
• The Incredibles – The Underminer
• Cars – Mack the tractor-trailer
• Ratatouille – Mustafa the waiter
• WALL-E – John
• Up (an upcoming movie) – A construction worker
• Confirmed roles in upcoming movies Newt and The Bear and the Bow

11. Perhaps the most famous set of self references to ever appear in a Pixar picture occurred in "Monsters, Inc." Where -- as Sulley finally returns Boo to the human world -- among the toys that we see scattered around this toddler's bedroom are the ball from "Luxo Jr." (You can see it in the photo below next to the easel) as well as a Jessie doll from "Toy Story 2" (On the white table to the left).

Which Boo now brings to Sulley. And then -- as the icing on the cake -- this cute little girl hands her favorite squeaky toy over to that blue-haired beast. Which (not-so-co-incidentally) is shaped just like that cute little clown fish who'll play the title characters in Pixar's Summer 2003 release, "Finding Nemo."

This particular in-joke launched a brand-new trend at that animation studio. Where the animators would then fold in a somewhat discreet reference to an upcoming Pixar production. Take -- for example -- that "Incredibles" manga that the little boy is reading at the dentist's office in "Finding Nemo."

12. Flying visits: Some of these in-jokes go literally by in the blink of an eye.

Take -- for example -- those itty-bitty bitchy birds that get their comeuppance in "For the Birds."

Did you catch their blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance in "Cars" ?

If not ... Well, I can't say as I'm surprised. These birds-on-a-wiretap go by in a 10th of a second in that John Lasseter film. You can catch a brief glimpse of them as Mac rolls through the countryside in that movie's "Life is a Highway" musical montage sequence.

Or the crazy old man who's playing chess with himself in "Geri's Game" ...

... ends up being the toy repair expert that Al calls in when Woody gets his arm torn off in "Toy Story 2."

And that remote trailer with the deadly bug light in "A Bug's Life" ...

... is also where Randall winds up after he gets banished to the human world in "Monsters, Inc." ?

Or -- for that matter -- did you notice the Pizza Planet truck that was parked beside this trailer?

Pixar has placed so many cameo's and references into their movies that it could easily be a two-hour documentary, or a whole website, in itself. This list is the result of almost an hour of research and all the information comes from multiple sources and even it is not complete.

no SOURCE link tonight.

BunnythesAINT · 12-10-2009, 12:28 AM

I knew of the pizza planet and nemo references, but some of those I wouldn't have caught haha. And I don't remember the last time I watched A Bug's Life.

linder surprise · 12-10-2009, 12:31 AM

disney pixar can do no wrong.
(except cars).

Bitter_Angel · 12-10-2009, 12:55 AM

Cars was great "mater, like tomatoe without the to"

good list, i knew most of them
theres also a bit in toy story if i recall right when there flying into andys car, in the driveway behind you can see wall-e

Feel_Good_inc. · 12-10-2009, 01:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bitter_Angel

theres also a bit in toy story if i recall right when there flying into andys car, in the driveway behind you can see wall-e

Yeah, there's also supposed to be a wall-e reference in Incredibles. I checked out videos on YouTube.
Nah. Those are boxes. Toy Story was a box by a trash can and Incredibles was a box on a shelf in the garage.

Maybe it was a wall-e reference in Incredibles, but Wall-e was written after Toy Story was made. so he couldn't be in it.

flying[star] · 12-10-2009, 01:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by linder surprise

disney pixar can do no wrong.
(except cars).

oh come on. cars is good

risenfromperdition · 12-10-2009, 05:28 AM

interesting =]

Isoverity · 12-10-2009, 05:47 AM

It's funny that I've never seen a Pixar movie because I like films in general. "UP" might be my first one although I recorded Finding Nemo. When I record or buy a movie it means I'll never watch it lol.

Revival · 12-10-2009, 08:11 AM

interesting list :)

ModestMolly · 12-10-2009, 09:19 AM

love it :)

Lucius. · 12-10-2009, 11:19 AM

I noticed an awful lot of them. That's a tad worrying =P

Ninja Orange · 12-10-2009, 11:47 AM

I've noticed most of them.

Thanks for the list :)

Bitter_Angel · 12-10-2009, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Feel_Good

Yeah, there's also supposed to be a wall-e reference in Incredibles. I checked out videos on YouTube.
Nah. Those are boxes. Toy Story was a box by a trash can and Incredibles was a box on a shelf in the garage.

Maybe it was a wall-e reference in Incredibles, but Wall-e was written after Toy Story was made. so he couldn't be in it.

True, but nemo came after monsters inc and he still featured in that.

Feel_Good_inc. · 12-10-2009, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bitter_Angel

True, but nemo came after monsters inc and he still featured in that.

Nemo had been written and was in the process of being animated when Monsters Inc came out.
Wall-e was written some time around that period. A lot of their movies were written after Toy Story was made.