A brief history of Pixar in 18 Easter eggs

The ‘Pixar Connection Theory’ makes the bold claim that every Pixar film exists within a shared universe. And frankly, there are enough Easter eggs in the movies to give this idea merit. Linguini in Ratatouille wears boxers with The Incredibles logo on them, and Hoppers is packed with further evidence: Dr Sam’s lab reveals the blueprints for the talking dog collar Dug wears in Up, there’s a cleaning robot (Wall-E), a robot feline (Sox in Lightyear), and a polishing robot (also seen in Wall-E). 

There’s a surprising addition to the toys seen in Toy Story 3: Totoro, the woodland spirit from Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbor Totoro. Lasseter, then head of Pixar, was heavily influenced by the work of Hayao Miyazaki, and the two share a mutual admiration and friendship. The inclusion of Totoro is a loving nod to the towering legacy of Ghibli and Miyazaki. 

Pixar Easter eggs run really deep. A simple pipe in Finding Dory is actually a nod to an old Disneyland attraction known as the Submarine Voyage. The ‘TL’ on the pipe refers to Tomorrowland, where the ride was to be found, while ‘59’ is the year it opened. That same ride has been repurposed into the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage – apparently an identical pipe can be found in Disneyland.

In Monsters University, Don’s business card has an address on it: 1200 Dark Ave. That’s actually a nod to Pixar Headquarters, which is situated at 1200 Park Ave in Emeryville, California. There’s also a reference to this in Toy Story 5, as Emily’s address is 1200 Ranch Ave.

Pizza Planet is a key plot element of Toy Story, Pixar’s first film. In honour of the film that started it all, the restaurant’s delivery truck has appeared in every Pixar film, including the most recent Toy Story 5. There’s been some debate about whether the truck appears in The Incredibles, but some eagle-eyed viewers on Reddit found it, confirming it appears in every film.

In Soul, protagonist 22 has a massive wall full of name tags of her past mentors. Leave it to Pixar to turn this into an opportunity to spotlight real-life people. There are historical figures like Martin Luther King Jr and Archimedes among them, and a touching inclusion for Joe Ranft, Head of Story at the studio until his death in 2005. 

Fans of Pixar shorts have plenty of easter eggs to enjoy in the studio’s feature films. Oscar-winning short For the Birds gets a shout-out in Inside Out, where you can see some of the adorable little birds sitting on a telephone wire as Riley and family head out on the road. If you want a better look at the blue birds, they even get a quick close-up in Hoppers.

Domee Shi became the first woman to have a solo directing credit for a Pixar movie with the terrific Turning Red. Her film references her Oscar-winning short Bao. As Mei walks the streets of Toronto, there’s a sign in the background for a restaurant called Bao, in the exact same font that appears in the 2018 short.

One of the earliest Pixar shorts, 1989’s Knick Knack, gets a callback in Up. When Carl visits a travel agent, there’s a brochure that features one of the characters in Knick Knack.  

In every Pixar film, there’s a visual cue to their next project. One of the best examples is in Cars 2, where the family from Brave are represented as – you guessed it – cars!

John Ratzenberger became close friends with Toy Story director John Lasseter when he voiced piggy bank Hamm in the 1995 film. The Cheers star quickly became a Pixar talisman, voicing characters in every film to date. Our pick? His adorably helpful Abominable Snowman in Monsters, Inc.

Pixar bounced onto the scene in 1986 with the short film Luxo Jr. That marked the first appearance of the blue and yellow ball with the red star known round the world. In honour of the studio’s first short, the Luxo ball has cameoed in just about every Pixar movie, including a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance in The Good Dinosaur hallucination sequence.

Pixar wears its film inspirations on its sleeve, and in the case of Luca, it put them directly in the film. When Luca and Alberto walk through the town square, there’s a poster for legendary Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini’s La Strada in plain sight.

The first Pixar project to feature a human in the main role, the star of 1997 short Geri’s Game (another Oscar-winner) shows up in a major way in Toy Story 2. Geri isn’t just a cameo, but a full-fledged character as ‘The Cleaner’, the man who repairs Woody. 

The alphanumeric code ‘A113’ appears in one form or another in every Pixar movie, perhaps never clearer than in the original Toy Story. It refers to a classroom number at CalArts, where many Pixar staff members honed their animation skills. It even appears in Disney properties like The Princess and the Frog and Avengers Assemble.

Not all Easter eggs are visual. In The Incredibles, Elastigirl’s pilot call sign is ‘India-Golf-Niner-Niner’. That may sound like a random selection of words and numbers, but it’s a secret reference to Pixar alumnus Brad Bird’s The Iron Giant. ‘IG’ are the initials of Iron Giant, and ‘99’ is the year the movie came out. Bird wrote and directed both films.

Various toys from the Toy Story franchise appear in other movies. In the dentist’s waiting room in Finding Nemo, there’s a Buzz Lightyear toy, while Rex is seen amongst Wall-E’s collection of Earth curiosities.

One of the most notorious villains in all of Pixar is Sid, Andy’s next-door neighbour in Toy Story. We see Sid again in two other Pixar films, wearing his distinctive skull T-shirt. In Toy Story 3, he’s a garbage man. But it seems like Sid’s life may have been short-lived, as Sid appears as a musician in Coco’s Land of the Dead.