Hidden in Plain Sight: A Guide to the Easter Eggs of “Toy Story 4”

The long wait is over. Pixar’s Toy Story 4 is finally here and, in true Pixar fashion, it is loaded with dozens of Easter eggs. We’ve put together a list of as many Easter eggs as we could find so you don’t have to go on the scavenger hunt for them yourself.

Warning – There may be some minor spoilers below!

a bug’s life Calendar

The same a bug’s life calendar in Andy’s room from Toy Story 2 can be seen in the prologue to Toy Story 4 and keen-eyed fans will notice that the month has changed from August to September.

Reptillus Maximus

The hero of “Battlesaurs,” the action dinosaur toy franchise featured in Toy Story That Time Forgot is featured on a lunch box in Bonnie’s class, which Woody uses to move around the class unseen.

Grape Soda

A grape soda bottle cap is offered to Bo Peep by Billy, Goat, and Gruf on the playground. She quickly dismisses the “Ellie Badge” from Up.

Dogs Playing Poker” and other Pixarified Paintings

While things are still looking Up (sorry), a painting of dogs playing poker with the villainous Charles Muntz can be seen on the wall of the Second Chance shop. Elsewhere, fans my recognize Riley’s dad from Inside Out in a painting of a conquistador and a Walter Keane-style portrait of Angel Kitty from Toy Story That Time Forgot.

Ernesto de la Cruz Records

The label on the record playing on the Victrola when Woody and Forky enter Second Chances Antiques is a Chalupa Records release of Ernesto de la Cruz, although the song playing doesn’t sound like his style.

Tripledent Gum and A113

Among the old metal signs in the antique shop are retro ads for Tripledent Gum from Inside Out, Eggman Movers from the first Toy Story, PJ’s Pop from a bug’s life, and Poultry Palace from Small Fry, which also has a cameo as a brief stop on Bonnie’s road trip. The infamous hidden A113 is also in the film as a sign, but it’s stylized in 1970’s font and it doesn’t look as obvious as it has in past films.

Boo

It appears a character has made a jump from her own movie to this one. Boo, the adorable little girl who wanders into the Monster world in Monsters Inc. is the first girl seen playing a carnival game in the film.

Monsters University

While we’re on the topic of monsters, a pennant from Monsters University, which is the name of both a fictional monster school and the sequel to Monsters Inc., can be seen on the wall of the Second Chance shop.

Pixar Shorts

Before every great Pixar movie is a great Pixar short. Some of the studio’s best are seen stacked amongst the film boxes before the “big jump.” Lifted and Knick Knack can be seen in that stack of boxes.

Pizza Planet Truck

Of course you can’t have a Toy Story movie without the Pizza Planet truck. The delivery truck is represented in Toy Story 4 as a tattoo on a carnival game attendant.

Mickey Mouse Phone

When Woody hides in plain sight at the antique store, he strikes a pose identical to the one most famously used by Mickey Mouse in a widely available home-use telephone.

Star Wars

When the toys meet in a speakeasy inside a pinball machine, you can see a reenactment of the famous scene from Star Wars in which Obi-Wan Kenobi cuts off the arm of a fellow patron of the cantina. The Obi-Wan action figure is in the style of the original Kenner figures from 1977.

Tin Toy

Within that same pinball machine, you might just spot a familiar toy from another classic Pixar short, Tin Toy.

Tiki Masks

The pinball machine the toys hangout inside is called “Tiki Party.” Pay close attention to the theming of the game and you may recognize some familiar tiki masks first seen at the base of Mt. Wannahockaloogie from the office aquarium of P. Sherman in Finding Nemo.

Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride

Ducky and Bunny reference the classic Disneyland attraction when they help a frog plush escape from the carnival during a mid-credits sequence.

The Muppet Movie

In the same mid-credits sequence, Ducky and Bunny reference “The Rainbow Connection,” the most famous song from the beloved 1979 family film starring Kermit the Frog and friends.

Alien

We even got a reference to one of the properties Disney acquired in the Fox deal, Alien. As Ducky and Bunny are kicking Buzz Lightyear in the head, listen carefully for some references to some sci-fi films particularly Alien’s slogan “In space no one can hear you scream.”

2001: A Space Odyssey

One of Buzz’s many phrases spoken when he presses his own button is “Open the pod bay doors,” a reference to this classic 1969 Stanley Kubrick-directed sci-fi masterpiece.

Did you catch any other Easter Eggs in Toy Story 4? Let us know in the comments below.