In a recent Reddit post shared to r/Movies, site user u/Ben_Soundesign asked, "What's your favorite 'blink-and-you'll-miss-it' Easter egg or hidden detail in a film?" Here are some of the most-upvoted answers:
1. "In Doctor No, James Bond stops and looks for a second at a painting displayed in the Doctor's lair. The painting is Goya's Portrait of the Duke of Wellington, which had famously been stolen in 1961 — implying, of course, that Doctor No was behind the theft."
2. "In Groundhog Day, when Phil starts helping people, he tries to save the old man but is informed at the hospital that the old man died. In the background, you see the kid who falls out of the tree sitting in a wheelchair. Phil wasn't there to keep the kid from hitting the ground."
3. "In the closing credits of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, there is a montage of various cities around the world in ruins after the events of the film; each one is accompanied by a star swipe showing the cities looking clean and nice again. For London, the city is grey and overcast and sad-looking. After the star swipe, it looks exactly the same."
4. "There's a xenomorph skull on display inside the spaceship in Predator 2."
5. "In Toy Story, Woody is trapped under a crate that is under a Binford Tools toolbox." "Binford Tools was the fictional sponsor of Tool Time (Tim Allen’s fictional show in Home Improvement). Tim Allen voiced Buzz Lightyear."
6. "When Marty is having dinner with his family in Back to the Future, we see that his father George drinks Miller Lite. But then at the end of the movie, when Doc goes through the McFly family's trashcan for 'fuel,' we now see that the stronger and more confident George of the alternate timeline has upgraded to drinking Miller High Life."
7. "In 50 First Dates, Lucy goes to the Callahan Institute that Dr. Keats (played by Dan Aykroyd) says was founded in Sandusky, Ohio. Dan Aykroyd previously played an automotive components tycoon from the same fictional Callahan Institute in Tommy Boy."
8. "Toward the end of Catch Me If You Can, there is a scene with Tom Hanks’ character standing in front of a chalkboard. In the corner of the blackboard it says something like 'Steven and Tom’s 4th'. This was because it was Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg’s fourth project together. They had previously done Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, and The Money Pit."
9. "In The Big Lebowski, Bunny's license plate reads 'lapin.' That's French for 'rabbit' or 'bunny.'"
10. "In Toy Story 4, Woody estimates that he was made in the late '50s. His guess is actually correct based on a detail seen in Toy Story 2. In a single shot that only lasts a few seconds, you can see a magazine with Woody's Roundup, the TV show on which Woody is based, on the cover dated January 12, 1957."
11. "There's a box of canes by Thor's front door in Endgame. In the comics, Thor's alter-ego, Donald Blake, carried a cane. When he tapped it on the ground, he would become Thor and the cane would become Mjolnir."
12. "The vitamin D in The Truman Show is a clever nod to the artificiality of Truman's world where there's 'no real sun.' It's a subtle yet powerful detail that adds depth to the film's narrative, highlighting the theme of manipulation and surveillance brilliantly."
13. "In Shutter Island one of the patients asks for a glass of water. When she takes a drink there is literally no glass, she’s just miming the action, which hints towards the twist at the end."
14. "I always loved the Jimmy Buffett cameo in Jurassic World where he's shown working in a Margaritaville, which is the name of the restaurant chain Buffett owns in real life. Dude's running from dinosaurs carrying a margarita."
15. "My favorite will always be at the end of Liar Liar where Jim Carrey appears as his Fire Marshall Bill Burns character from In Living Color."
16. "The mall's name in Back To The Future changed from Twin Pines Mall to Lone Pine Mall, because when Marty travelled back in time, he ran over one of the pine trees near where the mall would be built."
17. "There's a Biblical Ezekiel 25:17 reference on Nick Fury’s headstone in Captain America: The Winter Soldier."
Shout out to r/Movies and /Ben_Soundesign for having this discussion.
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.