Easter Eggs in the Toy Story Franchise

It is no secret that Disney-Pixar inserts Easter eggs in all its movies and feature films. There are even websites and online communities that plainly discuss the various Easter eggs fans find in Disney-Pixar movies.

Easter eggs are scenes that show references to other movies produced by the same production outfit. They sort of imply that the stories or characters exist within the same universe as that of the movie’s setting. For example, if you’re watching a movie about Jack and the Beanstalk but you catch a glimpse of Cinderella’s glass slippers being sold in a shop – then this scene is an Easter egg. Note, though, that this is just an example. :) In some cases, Easter eggs may also refer to some info or trivia about the company that produced the films.

Most Easter egg scenes are very brief, and it takes the very watchful eye of a movie aficionado to even notice it. The thing about Easters eggs is that they were intentionally put in there by the film’s creators to tease the movie goers, and certainly enough, the fans love to notice and make a fuss out of them – thereby creating much hysteria among the fan-base.

In this article, we took the pleasure of mentioning popular Easter eggs from Disney-Pixar’s Toy Story franchise.

Toy Story 3

Nemo

Did you know that Nemo (from the movie Finding Nemo) was shown in the drawing on one of Andy’s toy chest?

Pixar Studios’ Address

On the cork board inside Andy’s room, one of the envelopes posted on it showed the address of Pixar Studios.

Monsters Inc’s Logo

The logo of the Pixar movie, Monsters Inc, was displayed on the door of Andy’s room.

Lightning McQueen

Car’s Lightning McQueen was a toy in the Sunnyside Daycare centre.

Sulli and Bob

Do you remember Sulli and Bob from Monsters Inc? Well, they were in the Sunnyside Daycare centre too.

Another Nemo

Nemo was shown (again) in one of the drawings inside Sunnyside Daycare.

Toy Story 2

A113

A113, pronounced as “A One Thirteen,” was the number of the class attended by students of character animation at the California Institute of the Arts. Many of its alumni got employed by Pixar, and so the number was randomly scattered in many of the Pixar films.

True enough, A113 is seen as an Easter egg in Toy Story 2. It is on the plate number of the vehicle driven by Mrs Davis (Andy’s mum).

This number can also be heard being announced in the airport as “LassetAir Flight A113.”

John Lasseter

LassetAir Flight A113 is actually a double Easter egg because LassetAir is in reference to John Lasseter who is one of the founders of Pixar Animation Studios. Lasseter oversaw all the projects of the studio until his retirement in December of 2018. He is said to be the one who has immensely contributed to making Pixar a success.

John Lasseter | Photo c/o Eric Charbonneau, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Lasseter’s Birthday

There is a scene in which an old copy of Life Magazine shows a picture of Woody and Bullseye on its cover. The date of the magazine is 12 January 1957 – the birthday of John Lasseter.

Pixar’s Address

In the scene wherein the toys are planning to rescue Woody, the Etch-a-Sketch board depicts a map to Al’s Toy Barn situated at 1001 West Cutting Boulevard. In the real world, that is actually the address of Pixar Animation Studios in Richmond California.

A Bug’s Life

Toy Story 2 has a few references to another Pixar movie, A Bug’s Life. One is near the end of the film when the calendar is shown having a picture of a scene in A Bug’s’ Life.

Another one is when Flick, a character from A Bug’s Life, appears as a toy on the ground in AI’s Toy Barn.

There is also a cut in the movie where Mrs Potato Head is reading a book and the page of the book has an illustration of another scene in A Bug’s Life.

Toy Story 1

Watch Out for the Pizza Truck

While it was not shown in other pre-existing films of Disney-Pixar, the Pizza Planet’s pizza truck has a significant light in the movie because it will appear (or has appeared) in the succeeding Toy Story movies and other box-office hits under Disney-Pixar such as A Bug’s Life, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, Wall-E, Up, and even in the Disney princess movie, Brave. Note, though, that only the sharpest of eyes can spot it on those films mentioned.

Books behind Woody

When Woody is giving a speech to his friends, the books behind him have the titles of previous Pixar short films like Tin Toy, The Adventures of Andre and Wally B, Knickknack, and Red’s Dream. If you look closer, those books have Lasseter as their author – Lasseter is in reference to John Lasseter, the (former) chief creative officer of Disney-Pixar.

Binford Tools

The toolbox used to weigh down the bin, when Buzz Lightyear is caught by Sid, has the label Binford Tools. In Toy Story (1), Buzz is voiced by Tim Allen who happens to star in a TV sitcom entitled Home Improvement. Within the show, however, there is a mini-show called Tool Time (a show within a show) and it is sponsored by Binford Tools.

The Shining in Sid’s Room

Are you familiar with the horror movie, The Shining? You will be surprised that Toy Story has an Easter egg for it. Given Sid’s dark character in the story, the makers see it fit to put a reference to that horror classic inside Sid’s room. The carpet’s design inside the room is the same as that of the Overlook Hotel in The Shining.

The Gas Station

Andy’s mum works at the Dinoco gas station. Dinoco will be the trade mark gas station of various Pixar films, particularly of the Cars series.

Then again, there are other Easter eggs in Toy Story but the ones mentioned here are (what we believe as) the noteworthy ones. So in case you think we missed those you believe are worth mentioning, we encourage you to tell us about them..