Ever wonder why we tend to rewatch our favorite movies again and again? It’s simple, really: there are always more details in the background or even hiding in plain sight that you never noticed on previous viewings.
Want to look at your favorite films like never before? We decided to save you some time by uncovering the wildest details hiding in some of the best films ever made. Keep reading to discover what’s been hiding inside your favorite films all this time!
A smart detail in ‘Ratatouille’
Ratatouille is one of our favorite movies because of its wild conceit: a rat serving as the secret adviser helping a young chef, Linguini, become more successful. The movie has many colorful characters, including Chef Skinner, the new restaurant owner who makes the young chef’s life completely miserable.
What most fans don’t know about this character is that his name is an homage to B.F. Skinner, the famous psychologist. The real skinner was known for his eccentric experiments with rats, making him the perfect villain for a Pixar film about a rodent with a heart (and a palate) of gold.
Flounder’s cameo in ‘Moana’
For as magical as they are, most of Disney’s hit films aren’t part of an interconnected universe like the MCU. Nonetheless, iconic characters from one film sometimes make cameos in other movies where appropriate. That’s exactly what happened with the iconic The Little Mermaid character Flounder who later popped up in Moana.
In The Little Mermaid, Flounder is a faithful fish who sticks with Ariel through her many misadventures. Look closely in Moana and you can actually see Flounder swimming alongside other fish during the “You’re Welcome” song. Speaking of which, if you didn’t already know this trivia fact, then what else can we say but you’re welcome!
The magic number in Back To the Future
In Back to the Future, Doc Brown’s Delorean can’t travel through time until it goes fast enough. Specifically, the vehicle had to hit 88 miles per hour. Interestingly, though, this number pops up again in Back To The Future Part III in the last place you’d expect.
In that third film of the trilogy, there is a scene where Doc Brown and Marty McFly (both having traveled to the Wild West) take a picture in front of the clock that, over a century later, would still be atop the Hill Valley clock tower. Look closely at the clock in this brief scene. It reads 08:08, an homage to the DeLorean needing to hit 88 miles per hour to travel through time!
The Bard and ‘The Batman’
One of the most popular descriptions of Matt Reeves’ The Batman is that it is very serious. This grim film plays out like a superhero version of dark movies such as Se7en. Because of that, you might think the movie has nothing in common with the campy 1966 Batman series starring Adam West, but they actually have one strange thing in common.
In that classic television show, stately Wayne Manor had a bust of William Shakespeare with a special feature: pressing the button hidden inside would open the entrance to the Bat Cave. In The Batman, you can see a similar Shakespeare bust in a scene featuring Bruce Wayne’s faithful servant, Alfred Pennyworth. Sadly, it is never used to access the Bat Cave, but we can only hope that changes in the sequel.
A secret tribute to Stan Lee in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’
Speaking of superheroes, there is no comic creator more famous than Stan Lee. Arguably, his most famous creation is Spider-Man, and different movies featuring everybody’s favorite webhead have found different ways to honor Lee. The MCU film Spider-Man: No Way Home managed to do so in a way so subtle that most fans completely overlooked.
In the scene where Spider-Man is getting ready to fight Doctor Octopus, there are plenty of vehicles on the street. One of these is a cab with the number 1228 on top of it. Stan Lee was born December 28, 1922, and this cab is paying quiet tribute to the creator who first brought Spider-Man and Doc Ock to life.
Star Wars Easter eggs in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’
George Lucas is famous for creating Star Wars, which might just be the most popular franchise ever created. Because of this, many fans don’t realize the other things Lucas worked on outside of a galaxy far, far away. But he also helped develop the story for the first Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Because of that, a Star Wars Easter egg appears in that film, but it is very easy to miss. When Indiana Jones is standing near a pillar and trying to overcome his fear of snakes, you can see a fun doodle of iconic Star Wars droids C-3PO and R2-D2 inscribed on the pillar. Considering how much time Harrison Ford had already spent around those droids, he likely felt right at home next to this homage to his robotic traveling companions.