- Pixar movies contain a lot of hidden references and nods, or Easter eggs, to other past and future films at the studio.
- INSIDER rounded up some of the best details you may have missed in every one of Pixar’s movies.
- Visit INSIDER’s homepage for more.
If you’re a Pixar fan, you know that each movie has hidden references hinting at the studio or past and future Pixar films.
INSIDER rounded up some of the best Easter eggs from each of Pixar’s 21 movies you may have missed.
Some are obvious. Every Pixar movie includes the Pizza Planet truck, hints at future movies, and the code A113. But others are hidden details you may not have been aware of or that easily escaped your attention during a first watch.
“TOY STORY”: The license plate on Andy’s mom’s van reads A113, one of the most significant Pixar Easter eggs you can spot in each film.
A113 is a nod to the CalArts first-year graphic design and character animation classroom where many artists and animators at Pixar studied. You can read more about it here.
Does the carpet in Sid's house look familiar?
One of the film's editors, Lee Unkrich, is a big fan of a particular horror film that inspired the carpet.
It's a nod to the carpet seen in "The Shining."
Lee Unkrich, one of the film's editors and the director of "Toy Story 3," is obsessed with the movie. He runs the film's fan site The Overlook Hotel.
"A BUG'S LIFE": A113 appears on a cereal box as Flik heads to the bug city.
Flik is unaware of his surroundings.
The Pizza Planet truck from "Toy Story" can be seen in almost every Pixar movie.
Here it is outside a trailer in "A Bug's Life."
A poster for "The Lion King" musical can be seen with the posters in Bug City.
You have to pause the movie to get a good look at this one.
"TOY STORY 2": Take a close look at this arrangement of stars at the start of the movie.
It should remind you of the opening of every Pixar movie.
The stars are the outline of the Pixar lamp which appears in the opening logo sequence.
It was in Pixar's 1986 computer-animated short "Luxo Jr."
It looks like there's an early version of Lotso, the mean-spirited bear viewers meet later in "Toy Story 3," in the Al's Toy Barn ad at the film's start.
In a 2010 NPR interview, "Toy Story 3" director Lee Unkrich said Lotso was in an original idea for a Pixar movie before they even came up with "Toy Story."
It's hard to miss the "Bug's Life" characters Flik and Heimlich during a "Toy Story 2" outtake at the end of the movie.
Flik thinks he's filming a sequel to "A Bug's Life." You can watch the scene here.
There are lots of "Bug's Life" references in "Toy Story 2."
Mrs. Potato Head can be seen reading a "Bug's Life" storybook.
There’s a "Bug’s Life"-themed calendar in Andy’s room.
Francis the ladybug can be clearly seen on the calendar.
Right before Buzz comes across a wall of Buzz Lightyear toys, he passes by a series of "A Bug's Life" toys in Al's Toy Barn.
You may have missed these while the toys were sneaking through the toy store.
"MONSTERS, INC.": Here's an easy one. Nemo from "Finding Nemo" pops up in Boo's bedroom near the end of the film.
It's one of several toys Boo hands to Sully.
He's not the only pal she has. The Luxo ball and Jessie from "Toy Story 2" are also among her toys.
The ball may have been easy to spot, but Jessie isn't as easy to see.
Nemo can also be spotted in the entry to this room that Randall goes inside.
It's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment.
The trailer that Randall winds up in near the film's end is the same one shown in "A Bug's Life."
The Pizza Planet truck is still parked outside.
"FINDING NEMO": You may have noticed A113 on the scuba diver's camera.
This scene happens near the start of the movie.
Look closely and Buzz Lightyear can be spotted in the dentist's waiting room.
The airplane he flew around Andy's room is on the bookshelf to the right.
You'll also see a hint at Pixar's next film, "The Incredibles," in "Finding Nemo."
Mr. Incredible is on the comic's cover that a child is reading in the dentist's office.
There's a similar image hanging up on Mr. Incredibles's wall in "The Incredibles."
You'll see similar memorabilia in "Incredibles 2."
The Pizza Planet truck appears in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment when the fish tank crew are escaping the dentist's office.
The group are heading to the ocean toward freedom.
"THE INCREDIBLES": If this car in the background looked familiar, it's because it's featured in Pixar's next movie.
That's a character from "Cars."
That's the same design used for Doc Hudson (Paul Newman) in "Cars."
He winds up teaching Lightning McQueen in Pixar's next movie.
These two men near the end of "The Incredibles" are actually Disney animators.
They're two important Disney animators.
They're Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston.
They were two of Walt Disney's original animators who were referred to as part of Walt's "Nine Old Men."
The Luxo ball can be seen in the animated short "Jack-Jack Attack" which was included on the DVD release of "The Incredibles."
You can watch the short here.
"CARS": The 95 on Lightning McQueen is a reference to 1995, the year "Toy Story," Pixar's first movie, came out.
The number on Lightning McQueen is a big reference to Pixar.
McQueen's tires are made by Lightyear, a nod to "Toy Story" character Buzz Lightyear.
Forget Goodyear. Buzz is more than a toy in the "Cars" universe.
One of the sponsors of the races in "Cars" is Dinoco.
That brand name goes all the way back to Pixar's first movie.
It's a fictional company first referenced in "Toy Story."
Andy makes a run for it to get Buzz back at the Dinoco station.
Numerous trucks seen at a pit stop have references to several Pixar movies.
There's one with the initials "FN," presumably for "Finding Nemo." Another labeled iInc. appears to marry together the "Incredibles" and "Monsters, Inc." titles.
"RATATOUILLE": The lab rat Git has a tag with A113 on his left ear.
He's not the only animal in Pixar movies to sport an A113 tag.
The Pizza Planet truck can be spotted crossing a bridge when Skinner is going after Remy.
You have to know what you're looking for to spot the Pizza Planet truck in "Ratatouille."
I wouldn't get too close to that mime in "Ratatouille."
He's a villain from another movie.
That's Bomb Voyage from "The Incredibles."
If you're not convinced, his name appears in a paper read by Collette during the movie.
Linguini's boxers have "The Incredibles" logo.
Remy was asked to hide in Linguini's pants.
That shadow of a dog barking at Remy is a familiar face from "Up."
Of course, we didn't know this dog yet. "Up" wasn't out in theaters yet.
That's Dug.
Dug is the happy, talking dog that who follows Carl Fredrickson on an adventure to Paradise Falls.
This glass mosaic in "Wall-E" looks like one our friends from "Finding Nemo."
Hint: He has a son named Squirt.
It looks a lot like Crush the turtle.
Crush helps Marlin get to Sydney Harbour in "Finding Nemo."
Rex from "Toy Story" can be spotted on one of Wall-E's shelves.
You may miss the familiar face hiding in the dark.
This rubble has more meaning than you may think.
It's Skinner's vespa from "Ratatouille."
"UP": When Carl's house begins to float into the sky, we see Lotso from "Toy Story 3" and the Luxo ball in a girl's bedroom.
That plane she's playing with is also the one Buzz flew around Andy's room in "Toy Story."
You can also see Kevin teased in a drawing before she's seen later in the movie.
The Pizza Planet truck can be seen several times during "Up."
Here it's seen in the street while Carl's house takes off.
A113 can be spotted while Carl is waiting to enter a courtroom.
Again, you may have missed it while focusing on Carl.
The famous Luxo ball can be seen as one of the badges on the belt Carl is wearing.
But there's another button in the movie with more significance.
We've seen the brand of soda before that's pinned on Carl's jacket.
We've seen that image in an older Pixar movie.
It was featured in a commercial for Buzz Lightyear during the first "Toy Story" movie.
You can see the ad after Buzz is kidnapped.
"TOY STORY 3": Can you spot the "Finding Nemo" Easter egg in this scene?
Andy has a lot of stickers in his room and a lot of them are Pixar Easter eggs.
Nemo is hiding out as a sticker on Andy's toy box.
The toys are too busy watching the army men departing for a new life outside of the college-bound teen's bedroom.
Look closely at that magazine Andy's sister Molly is reading.
A face from a previous Pixar movie is hiding on the magazine cover.
That's Darla from "Finding Nemo."
Darla is the niece of the dentist where Nemo is trapped.
A Lightning McQueen wooden car can be spotted in one of the daycare play rooms in "Toy Story 3."
The toy is a simplified version of the race car.
You can see Atta, the name of the princess in "A Bug's Life" on a wall in Sunnyside.
Atta's not a very common name so it stands out.
Also in "Toy Story 3," Finn McMissile from "Cars" can be seen on a poster in Andy's room.
You have to be a big fan of "Cars 2" to notice this one. (And many aren't.)
Here's Finn from "Cars 2."
Finn is a British spy in "Cars 2."
This scene isn't in the movie, but an image released for the film shows a postcard on top of Andy's dresser.
Take a close look and it has "Up" characters Carl and Ellie Fredricksen's names on it.
Buzz's batteries read "BnL."
That's a reference to "Buy n Large" from "Wall-E."
"CARS 2": The Pizza Planet truck is an animated car at the Radiator Springs Grand Prix.
It appears in a brief scene of the sequel.
When Mater and Lightning McQueen drive by the Radiator Springs Drive-In in "Cars 2," take a look at the movie playing.
It's called the "The Incredibmobiles," a nod to "The Incredibles."
You can see Merida and her parents from "Brave" in the background at one point.
A drawing of Pixar's next movie was tucked into the film to hint at "Brave."
That building with the name "Gastows" should sound familiar.
"Gastows" rhymes with the name of a restaurant in "Ratatouille."
It's a play on the name of Gusteau's restaurant in "Ratatouille."
We're not sure what kind of food cars are eating.
"BRAVE": There are a lot of Pixar references in the Witch's home.
One that stands out is a carving of Sulley from "Monsters, Inc."
That's not all that's there.
She also has a carved figure of the Pizza Planet truck.
An eagle-eyed fan noticed A113 was carved as Roman numerals (ACXIII) above the door in the witch's home.
YouTuber PixarFan8080 noted the Easter egg.
The Luxo ball can be spotted on the Witch's floor too.
According to Disney site OhMyDisney, the ball is on the floor of the Witch's home.
"MONSTERS UNIVERSITY": The Pizza Planet truck is outside the JOX fraternity house.
Sulley and Mike head to a party where the truck is parked outside.
The Luxo ball can be seen in graffiti on the wall behind two characters during the Scare Games's first challenge.
It's mysteriously drawn on a wall next to other kid toys.
Mike's monster doll little Mikey can be seen in his dorm room and later in his bed.
Little Mikey is seen prominently in "Monster's Inc."
A poster about the Winds of Change in Randall's room is a callback to one of the chameleon's lines in "Monsters, Inc."
This is a clever nod to the first film. You can watch the moment here.
During the last event of the Scare Games, there's a dinosaur toy on the floor that looks like Arlo from "The Good Dinosaur."
"The Good Dinosaur" was released two years after "Monsters University."
Mike's locker has some memorabilia from his girlfriend Celia.
Her photo has a note which refers to him as her "googley bear," a nickname she calls him in "Monsters, Inc."
"INSIDE OUT": Joy picks up a memory bubble which shows children going down a slide.
It closely resembles the playset at Sunnyside Daycare in "Toy Story 3."
The Luxo ball can be spotted in the living room while Riley is playing with her imaginary friend Bing Bong.
But there's an even better hidden detail in the living room.
Can you spot the "Ratatouille" reference in this "Inside Out" scene?
One of the characters from "Ratatouille" makes a brief appearance in the movie.
That's chef Colette on the cover of a magazine called "Haute Dish."
Here's a reminder of what she looks like.
The Pizza Planet van appears in one of Riley's memories.
It's one of three times fans have spotted it in the movie in a memory ball.
Nemo can be spotted on the board game titled "Find Me!" while Joy and Sadness are on their adventure.
It's one of the easier references to find in the film.
Do you recognize this dragon in Riley's mind?
You may recognize him if you've visited Disney parks.
If you've been to Epcot in Walt Disney World, you know that's Figment, the Imagination mascot.
Pretty fitting of him to be a figment in Riley's mind.
Arlo, from Pixar's subsequent movie "The Good Dinosaur," is teased during a scene in "Inside Out."
Arlo appears in a memory.
"THE GOOD DINOSAUR": You'll never find Toy Story's Pizza Planet truck hidden in this asteroid belt. Can you see it?
Bet you didn't think it would be in space.
It's there just floating out in space. This is probably the least believable appearance by the truck.
OhMyDisney pointed out the hard-to-spot Pizza Planet truck.
There weren't any cars in the stone age, so Pixar had to get clever when hiding A113.
Do you see it here?
It's hidden right there in the sticks!
You can read more on A113 here.
The Pixar Luxo ball can be found while Arlo and Spot are hallucinating in "The Good Dinosaur."
It appears in a wacky scene.
If this dinosaur silhouette looks familiar, you may have spotted it before in "Toy Story."
We've already shown it once before here.
It looks a lot like the Dinoco logo used at the gas station where Andy's mom stops.
That definitely looks like the dinosaur that's seen in "The Good Dinosaur."
"FINDING DORY": The A113 license plate pops up once again on a truck near the end of the movie.
This one is pretty clearly seen on screen.
Inside the truck, the horn is made in the shape of Captain America's shield.
Or you can say it's a nod to the Luxo ball. But it really looks like Cap's shield.
Together, Rudder and Fluke also display A113 on their Marine Life Institute tags.
Usually the letter and numbers aren't split up like this.
The registration number for the boat that grabs Dory outside the Marine Life Institute is PA1200.
That's short for Pixar's address: 1200 Park Avenue.
There's a character from "Inside Out" hiding in this group of children.
Look closely in the background.
Back there is Riley, the main character from "Inside Out."
The Marine Life Institute isn't real, but animators based it on the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey Bay, California. In "Inside Out," Riley's family moves to San Francisco. They're a little over a two-hour drive apart.
One of the first promotional images released for "Finding Dory" had a "Finding Nemo" Easter egg.
Can you spot it?
There's a picture of the dentist's niece Darla from "Finding Nemo" in the background.
Darla just keeps popping up in Pixar movies.
Darla was quite the memorable character.
It's unclear which of Darla's family members may work at the The Marine Life Institute.
"CARS 3": The Luxo ball appears on a car during the demolition derby.
The car gets ample screen time front and center as its squished between a few vehicles.
Cinderella's carriage can be seen sitting on a shelf in Sterling's office.
Sterling is CEO of the Rust-Eze training center Lightning McQueen heads to in the third movie. He visits him to speak about retirement.
A113 appears on the door to Sterling's office.
You can also see the letter and number combo on Miss Fritter, the school bus, later in the movie.
"Coco": Nemo appears as a small sculpture in Pixar's tale about the Day of the Dead.
The fish is the main character in "Finding Nemo."
Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Mike Wazowski are among the Pixar characters that can be seen as piñatas in the street.
Miguel passes by them on the street.
A113 can be seen on a door after Miguel enters the world of the dead.
There's also an old Apple computer on the table which may be a nod to Pixar co-founder, Steve Jobs.
Finally, there's an "Incredibles 2" poster on a wall as a firework goes off.
The Incredibles all look like they're members of the undead, too.
The Parr family gets Chinese takeout while living in a motel.
Take a close look at the Chinese food box.
The logo on the box looks identical to the one seen in "Inside Out."
Riley and her family also have takeout after moving into a new home. The containers have also appeared in "A Bug's Life" and "Monsters, Inc."
The Incredimobile seen in the sequel was first seen in the original movie.
Mr. Incredible drives it at the start of 2004's movie. You may remember that a young Syndrome first appears in the car alongside Bob Parr.
He thought the car was missing until it wound up sold in an auction in "Incredibles 2."
"TOY STORY 4": Tinny opens the door to the secret toy hangout in the antiques store.
Tinny is from Pixar's first 1988 short, "Tin Toy." It was the first CGI short to win an Oscar.
Read more: Every Pixar short ranked
Billy, Goat, and Gruff go to hand Bo a pin and it's the grape soda one from "Up."
Ellie gives a pin with the same bottle cap when they were kids.
A lunchbox in the kindergarten classroom is shaped like Al's Toy Barn.
Woody was stolen in "Toy Story 2" by the man who ran the toy store. The toys worked together to make their way to the barn-shaped store to find Woody.
In a cubby nearby is a Battlesaurs lunchbox. The Battlesaur dinosaur toys appeared in the "Toy Story" short, "The Toy Story That Time Forgot."
The kid running the carnival game where Bunny and Ducky are has a Pizza Planet tattoo.
When he first finds Buzz, take a look at the back of his leg and you'll see the familiar truck.
Read more: 8 celebrity cameos in "Toy Story 4"
The Luxo ball is seen all over items at the carnival and on the cards Woody plays with at the film's start.
If you look closely, you can also see guitars that look similar to the ones from "Coco."
A napkin with the words "Wally B" and a little bee symbol can be seen in the antique store.
"The Adventures of André and Wally B" is a short that was produced when Pixar was called The Graphics Group in 1984. It's a story of André being awakened and stung by a bee.
You can spot this as Bo Peep and Woody are climbing up some shelves in the store.
Near the movie's end, Ducky and Bunny ask a toy toad if he wants to go on a wild ride.
The two are referencing the dark Disneyland ride called Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.