15 Hidden Easter Eggs You Missed From Your Fav Disney Movies
If you're not familiar with Easter eggs when it comes to films and animation, let's give a quick rundown. Easter eggs in this context mean hidden items, objects, or signs in a film that are an acknowledgment of past or future films from the same company, at least usually. Occasionally, references in kid-friendly Disney fare are a little more adult, like the recent Mad Max parody that popped up in Moana. Disney has been around for a along time, so it's totally understandable that Disney animators would want to have a little fun with their work and incorporate some hidden images, inside jokes, and self-referential nods to previous films. In fact, there are usually hundreds of mini references inside Disney films, especially their more recent movies done with Pixar. That being said, when you're getting over a hundred Easter eggs in ninety or so minutes, you're probably really dissecting the subject matter and maybe grasping at straws. That's not the case for these 15 Easter eggs, which will have you looking at your favourite Disney films in a whole new way!
15 Sully from Monsters, Inc. makes an appearance in Brave
If you've seen Brave, you know that Merida, the Disney princess in this film, accidentally ends up turning her mother into a bear - but that's not the only furry creature visible in the movie! Also made by Pixar, a company that has a habit of acknowledging their previous films in secret ways, a scene in Brave (which was produced by Pixar and released by Disney) where Merida visits the witch's hut features a wooden carving of Sully, the hairy monster from Monsters, Inc! In fact, that scene features quite a few Disney Easter eggs, including the witch carving what appears to be the Pizza Planet car out of wood - an Easter egg that is famous for popping up in almost every single Pixar-Disney film since Toy Story. Like most Easter eggs, finding Sully in Brave is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, but definitely a cute little nod to the other big and fuzzy creatures who are actually good at heart.
14 Chief Bogo's lecture
Zootopia is filled with references to Frozen, from designing Tundratown to look a lot like Arendelle to outfitting two young elephants in dresses that look remarkably like Anna and Elsa's gowns, this Disney Easter egg is actually in the form of a spoken line, rather than something visual. While Officer Judy Hopps is saying that she wants to do the right thing and find Mr. Otterton instead of working as a meter maid, her boss, Chief Bogo, delivers the following: “Life isn't some cartoon musical where you sing a little song and your insipid dreams magically come true. So let it go.” Did you catch that? If you weren't living under a rock the year Frozen was released, then you know it was impossible to escape hearing “Let It Go”, so it's a cute little joke for Disney fans and creators alike, and one of the few examples where Disney references itself in the script rather than the animation.
13 Sven the Reindeer pops up in Moana
Your favourite recent silent sidekick, Sven the reindeer from Frozen, also popped up in Disney's most recent offering, Moana. With his magical fish hook, Maui (voiced by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) the demi-god, is able to transform into different shapes. Too bad he happens to be a bit rusty while doing it! While trying to become a giant bird, he accidentally changes into a few other things first, including Sven! This is just one Easter egg in the newest Disney film, which also includes an appearance by Flounder from The Little Mermaid in a drawn-out, 2D animated world, Wreck-It Ralph pops up in the credits, and a kakamora bear looks an awful lot like Baymax from Big Hero 6. Apparently, there's another Frozen reference in Moana, in the form of a melted Olaf, but he's a lot harder to spot than Sven! Makes sense that they'd throw in two Easter eggs for the film, though, since a Frozen sequel was announced!
12 The Genie pulls out Sebastian the Crab
As far as Easter eggs go, they're usually split-second moments that are hard to spot the first time around, which is why we have handy lists like this! However, that is not the case when it comes to this pretty obvious Easter egg that pops up in Aladdin. In fact, some people even argue if it qualifies as an Easter egg at all, but we're counting it since it also works as an inside joke among Disney fans. While Genie is granting Aladdin's wish to be a prince, he pulls Sebastian the Crab out of a recipe book for “King Crab”. King? Crab? Get it? (Hey, not all Disney jokes have to be stellar.) Another cool thing to note here is that, according to some early versions of the script, Sebastian was going to say, “Ariel?” in his easily distinguished Jamaican accent. While that may have been a bit overkill - and thus better left on the editing floor - this crazy Easter egg is still worthy of a spot on our list!
11 The spinning wheel in Tangled pricked Aurora in Sleeping Beauty
If you think about it, there are actually plenty of similarities in the stories of Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel. To begin with, both girls are taken away from their parents at a young age, both girls are locked in a tower for most of their lives, and both girls have to be rescued by a prince. Fortunately for us, Tangled updated the old damsel-in-distress trope and has Rapunzel kick some butt alongside Flynn Rider, who doesn't totally qualify as a prince, especially when compared to Prince Phillip.
That being said, there is also a visual connection between both Disney princesses that goes beyond their blonde hair. In Rapunzel's room, you can spot the spinning wheel that Princess Aurora pricked her finger on and caused her to fall into a deep sleep, as Maleficent's curse! It seems like a pretty bad idea for Rapunzel to keep something so dangerous nearby, but when you consider that she lived with Mother Gothel, it actually makes perfect sense!
10 Rapunzel's obsessed with Disney Princesses
We've already covered how the spinning wheel in Tangled is the same one from Sleeping Beauty, but there are actually plenty of other references to Disney princesses throughout Rapunzel's home! The wardrobe in Tangled looks quite similar to the one who dressed Belle in Beauty and the Beast, although from the way it behaved towards Rapunzel (and the fact that the woman who was transformed into it was released at the end of Beauty and the Beast), we can probably assume that Mother Gothel enchanted it to be a lot more violent.
Also, alone the stairs, we can see a different symbol for a variety of Disney princesses, from Belle's rose, to Ariel's seashell, to Cinderella's glass slipper, to Snow White's poisoned apple. Since books of fairytales are in Rapunzel's room, we can probably assume that she read and became obsessed with these stories of princesses being given a chance at a different life.
9 The tea set in Tarzan is Mrs. Potts
To be honest, I'm not a major Tarzan fan, and can't really separate it from the Phil Collins soundtrack, but I do love Beauty and the Beast, which is why I included this cool Easter egg! At Jane Porter's campsite, we can see Tarzan's gorilla friend, Terk, playing around with a tea set - that looks remarkably like Mrs. Potts and Chip! (Without the faces, of course.) To explain this Easter egg, Disney fans have come up with a theory that links Jane to Belle, so hear us out. First, they draw parallels between Jane's flouncy yellow dress and Belle's famous gown, Jane's ability to talk to and understand animals and Belle's ability to understand the Beast, Jane's and Belle's eccentric fathers, and both ladies' needs to civilize the men they love. Sure, it sounds pretty believable, but there are a few differences that don't add up, like Belle being French while Jane is English and the fact that the tea set exists at all - wouldn't it disappear once Chip and Mrs. Potts became human again?
8 The Beast shows up in the Sultan's figurines in Aladdin
Speaking of Beauty and the Beast, we have another appearance on this list from Aladdin! While Jasmine's father, the Sultan, is whiling away his time by stacking an increasingly precarious tower of animals, all you need to do is take a closer look to see that, among the elephant, hippo, and giraffe is a figurine of the Beast! While the Beast is clearly the most obvious Disney Easter egg in this scene, diehard Disney fans have also speculated that the other animals in the stack are subtle nods to other films in the House of Mouse, including Peter Pan (the crocodile), The Jungle Book (the vulture), and the other animals who held up Simba during his rendition of “I Just Can't Wait to be King”. But, it turns out that those fans were just grasping at straws, since the artists in the Aladdin DVD commentary state they're just regular animals, only the Beast was intentional.
7 A bunch of surprises are visible in The Hunchback of Notre Dame
It's pretty impressive that the Disney animators were able to cram so many visual references to past films in one quick scene, but they managed to pull it off in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In this scene alone, we get to see a man beating a carpet in the street - a carpet that looks remarkably like the magic one Aladdin spent so much time flying around on - and a woman who looks an awful lot like Belle walking down the street in her easily identifiable blue dress, with a book in her hands (because of course). Considering that The Hunchback of Notre Dame was set in France, having Belle reading through the streets actually isn't too far of the mark to be believable! However, we've also got an appearance by Pumbaa, the warthog from The Lion King, pop up in the same scene, although his fate isn't exactly rosy. (If it's hard for you to tell, he's being carried upside down by the two men on the left. Eek!)
6 Scar is slain in Hercules
It seems that Scar got his just desserts in a different way when it comes to Hercules! In a nod to the myth of Hercules, the Disney film references the hero's need to perform twelve labours, the first of which required him to slay a Nemean lion, whose hide is considered to be invulnerable. Well, it turns out that Scar may not have been as invincible as he planned, since he makes his appearance in Hercules as the Nemean lion hide! In the film, viewers can actually see Hercules wearing Scar before throwing him to the feet of his teacher/sidekick, Phil (whose short stature is matched by the actor who voiced him: Danny DeVito is only five feet tall).
It's a pretty brutal end for Scar, even though he has been pretty much the worst brother and uncle in Disney history, but if you're firmly on the side of Mufasa and Simba, it seems like a fitting end for the conniving lion.
5 Nemo is found by Boo
What do you get when you combine the cutest character from one awesome Disney-Pixar movie with the cutest character from another Disney-Pixar movie? This scene, which puts Boo and Nemo in the same place at once! Monsters, Inc was actually made two years before Finding Nemo was released, but Disney-Pixar films are pretty complex to make, so even though Nemo hadn't come out yet, animators had definitely already settled on some parts of character development, which is why we see Boo give Sully a stuffed Nemo in her bedroom! And, in a nice little nod back to Monsters, Inc, we get to see Mike Wazowski swimming by at the end of the credits in Finding Nemo, complete with a uni-goggle, snorkel, and flippers! It's probably not too much of a stretch to assume that a lot of the same employees worked on both films, which is why we get great Easter eggs like this!
4 King Triton appears as a Mardi Gras float
Another obvious Easter egg, but still a cool one, you can actually see a float of King Triton, Ariels' dad from The Little Mermaid, appear in the Mardi Gras parade in The Princess and the Frog - and the self referencing doesn't stop there! In fact, the guys who are throwing beads from the float are actually animated riffs on directors John Musker and Ron Clements, who directed The Princess and the Frog, The Little Mermaid, and Aladdin (Clements actually pops an animated version of himself into Aladdin, too).
This is just one noticeable Easter egg that shows up in Princess Tiana's film, but there are tons more, including an appearance by Aladdin's magic carpet and magic lamp (same directors, remember?), and tons of princess books and fairytales throughout Charlotte's room (because of course there would be)! Despite years over a decade separating these films, it's pretty awesome to see the references abound!
3 Flynn Rider and Rapunzel attend Elsa's coronation
We all like to imagine the Disney princesses as friends, because who else is going to understand the drama of dealing with a wicked stepmother and lacing yourself into fancy dresses better than another princess, right? Plus, can't you just imagine the conversations between a badass princess like Mulan versus a complacent one like Snow White? Anyway, it seems like Disney animators heard our wishes, because look who's popped up to attend Queen Elsa's coronation? Flynn Rider and Rapunzel! Of course, Rapunzel isn't as easily identified with her short brown hair as she would be with her long golden locks, but this Easter egg is definitely awesome nonetheless! Other eagle-eyed viewers have noticed what looks like Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen in the crowd at Elsa's coronation, but they're not quite as clear as Flynn and Rapunzel, since the scene is from the balcony of the castle. Hey, maybe after Elsa calmed down after her whole ice tantrum, she and Rapunzel can commiserate over their shared princess powers!
2 Rapunzel's mobile prophecy
How cool is this? We already know that Rapunzel's hair has healing powers, but by the looks of this, Rapunzel herself has a bit of a talent for telling the future as well! There are five items hanging from baby Rapunzel's mobile, all of which points towards her upcoming journey. Most obvious, of course, is the green chameleon, who ends up being Pascal, then we have a white horse, aka Flynn Rider's horse Maximus, and finally we have a yellow duck, which represents The Snuggly Duckling pub. If those seem too obvious to you and you're asking for more, how about the remaining two items on the mobile? The angel at the bottom is a nod towards one of the pub thugs who's dressed as Cupid and the blue bird at the very top is the bird that flies around Rapunzel once she finally leaves her tower. A pretty incredibly adventure for the little princess, all summed up in her infant mobile!
1 The movies sold in Zootopia are Disney movie parodies
We know by now that Disney loves to reference their past work, but they really pulled out all the stops for this brief scene in Zootopia, which sees Officer Judy Hopps checking out the wares of a merchant. Since Zootopia is about the lives of animals, of course the animators of the film had to tweak some of their newest Disney offerings to be more animal-oriented. Thus, Big Hero 6 becomes Pig Hero 6, Wreck-It Ralph turns into Wreck-It Rhino, and the then-not-released Moana is changed to Meowana, with the subtext reading, “Adventure in the South Purrcific”! (If you're not sure what Giraffic is a reference to, it's for the upcoming 2018 Gigantic, more evidence of how early Disney-Pixar animators begin their work.) You can imagine how much fun everyone had with that scene! For having so many cute Easter eggs in one quick scene, it's clear that this is deserving of the number one spot of crazy Easter eggs from your favourite Disney movies!