Mythology Gag/Film

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • There's an actual Mythology Nod in Troy: When Paris leads Helen and his brother's wife to the secret tunnel out of the city, he hands the king's sword to a random man passing by with his old father, so at least some part of Troy will remain. The man says his name is Aeneas, which would make him the man who led his family to a certain place later to be known as Rome.
    • Another would be a greeting Achilles gives to Odysseus as their forces arrive on the Trojan shore, taunting him for "always arriving last". Odysseus would, of course, be the last Greek home from the Trojan War, taking seventeen years to do so and experiencing the Odyssey in the process.
  • In Batman Forever, as they assault The Riddler's fortress, Robin references his predecessor's fill-in-the-blank "Holy X, Batman!" Catch Phrase from the 60s TV series, even as they emulate the series' classic climb-up-the-wall sequences:

Robin: Holey rusted metal, Batman!
Batman: Huh?
Robin: The ground, it's all metal. It's full of holes. You know, holey.

Batman: Oh.

    • Also, Robin considers "Nightwing" as his superhero alias, an alias which he eventually took in the comics on graduating from sidekick-dom, and when Edward Nygma is considering aliases he could use as a villain, one he thinks about is "The Puzzler", which is the name of a largely forgotten Superman villain with a similar schtick to the Riddler's. It's debatable whether or not the last one is intentional, though.
    • Two-Face is defeated by Batman throwing a bunch of coins and confusing him, very similar to the ending of the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Two-Face Part Two"
  • In the Spider-Man movie trilogy, the classic television theme song ("does whatever a spider can...") is inserted in every movie at least once:
    • Spider-Man: Guy in subway on guitar;
    • Spider-Man 2: Woman in alley on violin;
    • Spider-Man 3: Brass band in the park.
    • Also in the first movie, one of the costume designs Peter rejects is the black-and-white Spider-Man costume from the early-to-mid-1980s (which eventually became the design for Venom), albeit with a red spider insignia instead of a white one. Peter adds the note "NEEDS MORE COLOR!" before tossing it aside.
    • Again in the first movie, the pose Peter uses when trying to use his web is the pose he usually takes in the comics when firing his web (middle and third fingers folded into the palm, the rest extended outward).
    • Though not all of them actually become villains, many of the characters who were villains in the comic show up in the movies, including Dr. Curtis "Curt" Connors (who became The Lizard) and Dr. Mendel Stromm (who became Robot Master and Gaunt).
  • In the 2005 Fantastic Four film, Johnny shows Ben the prototype of a Thing action figure. The toy looks very much like the comic version of the Thing (large brow, wider shoulders and longer arms), instead of the movie version.
    • The prototype was actually modeled after the Thing in the unreleased 1994 film.
    • It's actually a 2002 Toybiz Marvel Legends Thing action figure.
  • In Star Trek: First Contact, the holographic doctor (Robert Picardo) responds to a request to stall the Borg by declaring, "I'm a doctor, not a door stop" -- a reference to Doctor McCoy's Catch Phrase from the original show.
    • Incidentally, this also referenced the fact that Picardo ad libbed a similar line in his audition for Star Trek: Voyager without realizing its significance.
    • And of course, The Doctor is himself an example.
    • This is a Running Gag in the Star Trek series, with both the EMH and Bashir doing the "I'm a doctor" lines.
  • In Attack of the Clones, when Jango Fett is escaping Kamino, he bangs his head on the doorframe of his spaceship. Since the scene was mostly CG, it was obviously done on purpose, a nod to the legendary blooper from A New Hope.
  • The film Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix had (at least) one amusing gag -- when the students first enter the Hog's Head tavern in Hogsmeade, we see the innkeeper shooing a goat from behind the bar. As devoted fans will know, the innkeeper is Dumbledore's brother Aberforth, who once got in trouble for "casting improper charms on a goat".
    • In the corresponding scene in the book, the description notes that the bar "smelled strongly of something that might have been goats."
    • One trailer for Half-Blood Prince emphasizes the Trio's love life. It ends with Dumbledore's deadpan "Ah, to be young and feel love's keen sting." A lot of people will just find it hilarious that Dumbledore had a love life. Most fans of the series will know that Dumbledore is gay, and love stung hard enough to get his sister killed. Presumably, the director was aware of this.
    • In the first film, Nearly Headless Nick mentions that his request to join the Headless Hunt has been denied, a reference to a scene from the second book. Presumably intended as Foreshadowing, but the scene didn't make it into the second film. Also, the ghosts riding through the Great Hall in the third film are presumably the Headless Hunt.
    • Also done in reverse with the books referencing the films. In the Half-Blood Prince book, Slughorn, who keeps getting Ron's name wrong, at one point calls him "Rupert". Rupert Grint, of course, is the actor who plays Ron in the movies.
    • Some casting choices could be considered this too. J. K. Rowling admitted she wrote the character of Snape with Alan Rickman in mind, so who else did they cast as Snape but Alan Rickman himself?
  • In the film Batman Begins, a mobster named Zsaz is shown on trial. In a miscarriage of justice, he receives a verdict of "not guilty by reason of insanity" due to Dr. Crane's false testimony. In the comic books, Zsaz is a serial killer who really is insane. In particular, he's a serial killer who keeps tally marks of his victims etched in his skin as scars, and, in one scene, the movie Zsasz shows similar scars on the back of his neck.
    • There's this line from Lucius Fox in The Dark Knight Saga regarding Bruce's new armor after he had problems with a dog in the previous suit:

Lucius: Should do fine against cats.

    • Also, the red-headed Wayne Enterprises employee who uncovers Bruce's secret identity is "Mr. Reese" -- 'Mysteries'... 'Enigmas'... Riddles...
    • An early leaked script of Begins featured a gag where Alfred had to remind Bruce to remove his black eye makeup before walking into his birthday party, a Take That to Micheal Keaton's magically disappearing makeup in Batman Returns.
    • Another scene from The Dark Knight features Bruce Wayne asking Lucius Fox for a new batsuit which would let him move his head. This is most probably a reference to the costumes of earlier Batman movies, which had their helmet attached to the neck and the shoulders, keeping the wearer from turning his head.
      • That's actually a direct reference to the earlier scene involving the drug dealer's dogs. Batman is bitten because the Batman Begins suit is a single molded cowl, like the Burton-era suits.
      • Particularly noticeable in the Burton films, where Batman moves his entire torso to look at someone a foot out of his line of sight.
    • During the climactic battle between Batman, the GCPD, and the Joker's goons, he has Lucius Fox send him sonar-based imagery of the surrounding area that he'd been using to search for the Joker. This was to make it possible for him to actually save everyone from the Joker's elaborate trap. This causes his eyes to glow white and makes him look exactly like he does in the DCAU.
      • Although the similarity works with the DCAU incarnation, this also functions as a general shout-out to the comics, where it's traditional to depict the eyes in Batman's cowl as white slits.
  • The Film of the Book adaption of A Series of Unfortunate Events recreates the unsuccessful wedding of Violet and Olaf from The Bad Beginning. She tries to sign with her left hand, but Olaf catches her and makes her sign with her right hand. This echoes back to the book where the same scene happens and she wasn't caught, thus making the marriage void.
  • The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy movie had tons of these, like running into the version of Marvin from the TV series in a queue on Vogosphere, and Zaphod calling Ford "Ix", as well as the original radio series' theme song -- "Journey of the Sorcerer" by The Eagles -- playing in the scene where the Guide is introduced.
  • Iron Man 2. My god, Iron Man 2...
    • The film's villain is named Ivan Vanko; he is more or less an amalgamation of the characters the Crimson Dynamo and Whiplash. His father's name is Anton Vanko, the name of the original CD in the comics.
    • Anton Vanko defected to the West in 1963, the same year both Iron Man and the Crimson Dynamo first appeared.
    • The Stark Expo is held in Flushing, NY, the original location of Stark's factory in the comic books.
    • Olivia Munn's small role is as Chess Roberts, a reporter from the first issue of the third volume of the comics who only appeared once.
    • Stark being forced to attend the Senate Armed Services Committee is lifted straight from the comics; the senator there was named Byrd, not Stern. Likewise, the government trying to get ahold of the Iron Man armor has been a recurring theme in the comics for decades, going away and coming back every so often.
    • Stark's line about the suit being a hi-tech prosthesis was mostly true in the comics originally; in the film though, the arc reactor in his chest is perfectly capable of keeping him alive without any need for the suit at all.
    • Stark quips at the senate hearing that he would consider being Secretary of Defense if they asked nicely; he held this position in the comics at one point.
    • Monaco, where the racetrack scene takes place, was the home of Justin Hammer in the comic books.
    • Ivan Vanko's fake ID and name tag at the racetrack is Boris Turgenov, the name of the second Crimson Dynamo.
    • Stark has been known to race in the comics as well; when he first met Happy Hogan it was when Happy saved his life after a crash, the same as Happy does now in the movie.
    • In the comics, Tony Stark would often carry his suit around in a briefcase. In later years he made the briefcase itself into armor.
    • The briefcase armor in the film bears great resemblance to the Silver Centurion armor from the comics in its color scheme.
    • Stark getting drunk in his Iron Man suit and recklessly endangering lives in it is a reference to Demon in a Bottle.
    • Though under different circumstances, Rhodey first donned the Iron Man armor in the comics due to Stark's alcoholism.
    • Howard Stark is said by Nick Fury to have co-founded SHIELD; in the comics, Tony Stark co-founded SHIELD and provided them with all of their tech.
    • In the same scene featuring Bill O'Reilly's cameo, Pepper Potts can be heard talking on the phone to company lawyers, attempting to do something about the acquisition and use of the Mark II armor by the government but ultimately being unable to. This is a reference to Armor Wars. Further, the person she is talking to on the phone is named Bert, who shares his first name with the lawyer Bert Hindel from Armor Wars.
    • Rhodey's armor is called the Variable Threat Response Battlesuit by Justin Hammer in the film; this was the original name for the War Machine armor in the comics as well.
    • Vanko remotely compromising War Machine's armor and taking control of it is similar to when Justin Hammer did this to Iron Man in the Demon in the Bottle story arc.
  • The 2008 The Incredible Hulk is loaded with them:
    • The laboratory setting for the Hulk's origin and the equipment therein are based on details from the 1978 TV series, right down to the targeting light creeping across Banner's face.
    • Likewise the eye-color effects, which also originated in the series.
    • In stumbling Portuguese, Banner begs a trio of Brazilian toughs, "Don't make me... hungry. You wouldn't like me when I'm ... hungry" -- a reference to a Dexter's Laboratory episode where Dexter gain's similar powers to the hulk when Dexter is hungry, but also a playful reference to the famous line from the Hulk TV series, featured in its opening credits.
    • When Banner is begging in the Guatemalan marketplace, a short excerpt from "The Lonely Man", aka the "Banner walking away at the end of an episode" music from the TV series, plays.
    • When Blonsky is debriefed about the Hulk, he describes him as being "Green... or gray. Grayish green. I couldn't tell, it was dark," which references the Hulk's original grey color in his first few comic appearances.
      • While simultaneously being true to life; in dim light we can't differentiate colors.
    • The two college students who talk to the TV reporter about the battle with the Hulk at the University are named for other Hulk characters: one is "Jack McGee", the tabloid reporter from the TV series, and the other -- "Jim Wilson" -- is named for an orphan who befriended the Hulk in a plotline from the comic book.
    • Shortly after they go on the run together, Betty gives Banner a pair of purple shorts, saying, "they were the stretchiest pair I could find."
    • The cryonic storage capsule holding the "super soldier serum" is labeled with the name "Dr. Reinstein", the original name of the doctor who gave Captain America his abilities in the comics.
    • The package from the pawn shop which contains Betty's pendant is addressed to "David B.", referencing the TV series' Banner, whose first name was "David".
    • General Ross makes several references to Banner being on the run for five years -- the time between this film and the earlier 2003 Hulk film.
    • The name Weapon Plus -- related to the Weapon X program that created Wolverine -- is seen at one point.
    • If memory serves, during the opening credits, one of the list of people suspected to have contact with Banner is "Richard Jones".
    • During the fight with the Abomination, Hulk rips a car in half and uses it like a pair of boxing gloves. This was one of the many, many fun things you could do in the Ultimate Destruction video game.
    • "Hulk smash!"
    • Bruce flicks past an episode of The Courtship of Eddie's Father while watching TV in Brazil; the series starred Bill Bixby before he was the star of The Incredible Hulk series. Later in the film, he runs into Lou Ferrigno, who played the Hulk himself in the same series.
      • Ferrigno also voiced the Hulk in this movie and in The Avengers movie.
    • When Bruce sneaks his way into the university laboratory, we see a student with whom he shared his pizza. In the novelization, the student identifies himself as Amadeus Cho, a supporting character for Hulk and Hercules.
    • We see the creation of the Hulk villain Leader, created when the Applied Phlebotinum goes into the scientist's head. Probable Sequel Hook.
      • More likely, hook for The Avengers movie. If I'm right, I can't wait to see how Joss handles it.
    • Similarly, Betty's boyfriend is obviously a pre-mutated Doc Sampson.
      • According to the novelization, yup, he is.
    • And at the very end, the movie's continuity is cemented with the appearance of Tony Stark.
    • Dont tell me I was the only one to see "stark industries" written on the rocket launcher.
  • Disney's |Hercules has several literal Mythology Gags referencing the 12 Labors of Hercules/Herakles -- like the lion's skin he wears when posing for a portrait, or when he breaks into Hades' private chambers while riding Cerberus. The series has even more, like when he applies for his "hero's license" and finds out he's 12 deeds short.
    • Double bonus -- that lion skin is actually Scar.
  • In Beauty and the Beast, a mounted deer's head is seen in the bar that Gaston frequents; Word of God is that this is Bambi's mother.
  • Disney's The Lion King includes a Self-Deprecation towards one of Disneyland's more infamous rides:

Scar: Oh, Zazu, why don't you sing something with a little more bounce in it?
Zazu: (sarcastically) It's a small world, after all...
Scar: NO! No, anything but that!

    • Jeremy Irons, who voiced Scar, got a self-referential moment when, after Simba calls his uncle 'wierd', Scar says "You have no idea" in exactly the same intonation Irons used at the end of his Oscar-winning portrayal of Claus von Bulow in Reversal of Fortune
    • A more positive reference was in Aladdin: Genie asks "You've just won the heart of the princess. What are you going to do next?" In ads, celebrities would answer such questions with "I'm going to Disneyland!" As he asks, the soundtrack plays a few notes from the beginning of "When You Wish Upon a Star", the famous song from Disney's Pinocchio that was at the time used as the anthem for the Disney theme parks.
    • Another obscure Ride Cameo sneaks into Toy Story 2 when Tour Guide Barbie starts channeling the automated voice from the Matterhorn (quite audible from the line): "Remain seated please. Siga asentado por favor."
  • In Disney's Tarzan, you can clearly see a teapot and cup almost identical to Mrs. Potts and Chip from Beauty and the Beast, when the monkeys are rocking out at the camp. (The only difference is a lack of eyes and mouth.)
    • The set returns in Kingdom Hearts' Deep Jungle level. Ironically the real Mrs. Potts appeared in the second game where Deep Jungle did not appear.
    • Also, later in the movie, when the gorillas hold Professor Porter upside-down, one of the many things that fall out of his pockets is a toy Little Brother from Disney's Mulan.
  • The 2010 Remake of The Karate Kid has Mr. Han attempting to catch a buzzing fly with his chopsticks. When he fails to manage, he immediately takes out a fly swatter and picks the fly's corpse off with his chopsticks before resuming his meal. (In the trailer, this is accompanied by a diagetic "You're the Best Around.")
  • The Movie of Wanted sticks one in at the end. Wanted, the comic book the movie was (loosely) based on, was written by Mark Millar and drawn by J.G. Jones. The office drone at the end acting as Wesley's decoy has a nametag on his cubicle that gives his name as "J.G. Millar".
  • In Addams Family Values the new son is named "Pubert". This would have been Pugsley's name but for the TV censors of the 1960s.
  • In Daredevil, the fighters Matt's father's boss names ("Miller. Mack. Bendis.") are homages to Frank Miller, David Mack, and Brian Bendis, three highly acclaimed writers of the comic.
    • The first criminal Daredevil kills is names Jose Quesada, a nod to then-Marvel EIC Joe Quesada. Quite a few fans got catharsis out of this following One More Day.
  • The Disney Fairies Tinkerbell movie opens with a paraphrase of the origin of fairies in Peter and Wendy, and the sequence of Tink being created seems to be set (between the baby's laugh, and her arrival in Pixie Hollow) in Kensington Gardens, location of J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan In Kensington Gardens (which eventually became the story we're familiar with), and current site of a statue of Peter.
  • The Lost in Space movie contains a reference to an oft-used line in the original series:

Robot: It sounds like old Morse code.
Will Robinson: What does it say?
Robot: Danger, Will Robinson, danger.

    • It also has cameos by most of the original cast, although editing reduced some to mere flickers on the screen.
    • The protective shroud worn by the Jupiter II during its launch is a dead ringer for the original design of the ship on the TV show.
    • At one point, Evil Spider Dr. Smith says "The pain, the paaaaaiiin," which was his Catch Phrase on the television show. However, in the show, he would use the line to feign an injury, whereas in the movie, he uses it sarcastically when shrugging off a blow from the Robinsons.
  • The Avengers 1998:
    • When Steed finds the entrance to Sir August's underground base, he calls out "Mrs. Peel, you're needed", a reference to the Catch Phrase of the original TV show: "Mrs. Peel, we're needed".
    • Steed's Nice Hat and Sword Cane Umbrella of Pain and the Spy Catsuit Mrs. Peel and her clone wear.
    • The streets of London being entirely empty of cars and pedestrians except for the title characters and anyone following them.
    • The scene at the end where they drink champagne is a reference to the opening sequence in the original show where Mrs. Peel shoots off the cork of a champagne bottle and they pour champagne into glasses.
  • G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra features a number of these:
    • A painkiller-addled Ripcord describes Heavy Duty as having "realistic hair" and a "kung-fu grip", which are two of the features advertised with the original G.I. Joe figures back in the 1960s.
    • In one scene, General Hawk remarks "Knowing is half the battle."
    • Another scene has Duke referred to as "a real American hero".
    • During the pivotal chase scene in Paris, Storm Shadow states that Snake Eyes "never gives up", certainly a reference to the classic theme song from the 80s G.I. Joe cartoon series.
  • The Godzilla films tended to do this, in one form and another, but this was often limited to just referencing a mash of the first and second films, with no mention of the previous films. However, in Godzilla X Mecha Godzilla, the events of Mothra and War of the Gargantuas are acknowledged, despite the films being released ages ago, and in Godzilla: Final Wars stock footage from Toho's older films appear, indicating that they may indeed have happened. Yes, even Hedorah.
    • Also in Final Wars, Godzilla outright kills off all his opponents, except King Seesar, Anguiras, and Rodan; whom he leaves laying in a comical heap. This may be a nod to the fact that while Godzilla typically fought with all the other monsters, in the 60s and 70s, Godzilla teamed up with those three.
  • In Man on the Moon, during Andy Kaufman's stint in pro wrestling in Tennessee, he begins his rivalry with Jerry "The King" Lawler. Who's doing commentary for his matches? None other than good ol' JR, Jim Ross; the two were long-time broadcast colleagues for WWE Raw.
  • Quite possibly the most awesome part of Michael Bay's Transformers movie, whether you think the rest of it stinks or not, is the part where Optimus Prime and Megatron start off their fight by quoting their respective lines from the original animated movie (and Optimus is even voiced by the same actor). And even though Optimus technically doesn't win the fight himself, he certainly does end up much better off than Megatron this time around which adds an extra delicious irony to the context of the quoted lines.
    • During the Sequel Hook at the end of the first movie, Optimus, while talking about humans, states "Like us, there is more to them than meets the eye."
    • Also, when Sam drops Mikaela off at her house, he tells her "I think there's more than meets the eye with you."
  • In Shaun of the Dead there are several references back to the team's previous work on Spaced, including the character Tyres being clearly visible as a zombie outside The Winchester, and a reference to old times which works as an oblique description of the series when Shaun (i.e. Tim) first bumps into Yvonne (i.e. Daisy).
  • In the second Terminator movie (Judgement Day), at one point our heroes pull into a gas station. The pumps have "Benthic Petroleum" logos on them -- the company that owned the undersea oil rig in The Abyss, also written and directed by James Cameron.
  • In The Lion King, Timon claims that stars are fireflies that got caught in that big bluish-black thing, and laughs at Pumbaa's suggestion that they're balls of gas burning millions of miles away. In Princess and The Frog, another Disney film released over a decade later, the firefly Ray is in love with "Evangeline", a star that he believes to be a firefly. And later in the movie, a distraught Tiana basically quotes Pumbaa, telling Ray that Evangeline is really a ball of gas etc. etc. And at the very end of the movie Ray dies, but is seen to Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence.... as a star, shining right next to Evangeline. So... it looks like Timon was right.
  • At the beginning of the movie version of the John Grisham novel The Runaway Jury, Nicholas Easter comments to his apartment super that he should stop smoking. This is probably a reference to the fact that the original novel's case dealt with cigarette companies and lung cancer deaths; this was altered for the movie version because of real life verdicts against cigarette manufacturers.
  • The swingin' Expository Theme Tune from the 1960s Animated Adaptation of Iron Man becomes instrumental background music in the early Vegas-set scenes of the 2008 film (and when Tony has his one-night stand with Christine). It also serves as the ringtone when Tony calls Rhodes.
    • Also, during one scene in Tony's workshop you can see Captain America's iconic shield -- though given the upcoming Avengers movie, this could actually be foreshadowing, or even a really subtle Chekhov's Gun.
      • It's explained in a (canonicity unknown) bonus comic that Tony reverse-engineered the alloy he used in his upgraded suits from a prototype of Cap's shield.
      • The sequel backs this up by acknowledging the existence of the shield in Tony's lab... then promptly using it to prop something up.
    • The terrorist organisation "The Ten Rings" and their leader, who fondles a huge finger-ring and repeatedly makes references to Genghis Khan is of course a Shout-Out to the original Iron Man villain "The Mandarin" who received super-powers from ten magical rings and wanted to set himself up as a new Genghis Khan.
    • Also, the two fighters that were chasing Iron Man were codenamed Whiplash One and Whiplash Two, in reference to an old member of his Rogues Gallery. Cue the sequel.
  • Marvel Comics writer Stan Lee makes a cameo in most modern film adaptations of his work.
    • In the first Fantastic Four film he's Willy Lumpkin, the mailman who delivers to the Baxter Building.
      • This is actually a gag-within-a-gag, since Willie Lumpkin was originally made the FF's mailman as a reference to the Willie Lumpkin syndicated newspaper comic strip Stan did years earlier with Dan DeCarlo.
    • In the second Fantastic Four film, he plays himself, trying (unsuccessfully) to crash Reed and Susan's wedding.
      • It is also interesting to note that this exact gag happened in the original comic depiction of the wedding.
    • In Daredevil he's an old man the young Matt Murdock keeps from stepping into the path of an oncoming vehicle. (Which is also a Mythology Gag, since in the comics Murdock gets his powers while pushing an old man out of the way of an oncoming truck full of radioactive materials.)
    • In the 2003 Hulk, he's a security guard, along with Lou Ferrigno, who played the Hulk in the TV series.
    • In the 2008 Hulk movie, he is the consumer who drinks the bottle of juice tainted by Bruce Banner's blood. Ferrigno also appears, and even talks to Bruce Banner.
    • In X-Men, he plays a stunned hot dog vendor at the beach, staring in silence as a newly-mutated Senator Kelly emerges from the ocean.
    • In X-Men The Last Stand he can be seen as one of the confused neighbors in young Jean Grey's scene. Another is Chris Claremont.
    • In Iron Man, Tony Stark greets a man in a red satin robe surrounded by women as Hugh Hefner. The guy turns around to reveal himself as Stan Lee.
    • In the sequel, this veers into Running Gag as a busy Tony Stark mistakes him for Larry King.
    • He also manages to play at least one character in every animated adaptation as well. See his IMDB entry for the astonishingly large number of roles he's played, dating back to 1966.
    • Heroes gave Lee a cameo as Hiro and Ando's bus driver. There's also a swordsmith named "Claremont" and a climactic series of events in "Kirby Plaza."
  • In Casino Royale, a distracted and stressed Bond orders a martini. When the bartender asks him if he wants it shaken or stirred, Bond snaps, "Do I look like I give a damn?"
    • And in Octopussy, Bond encounters a snake charmer on the flute playing none other than the James Bond Theme.
  • In the remake of Clash of the Titans, when Perseus is rooting through equipment, he considers a golden owl but one of his companions tells him he should leave it. The owl was an important part of the original film. Unusually this isn't to reassure the audience that the film would remain true to the original but more a derisive joke at the expense of this aspect of the original film (often counted as The Scrappy by audiences).
  • In The a Team film, B.A.'s "pity da fool" line is referenced with his Knuckle Tattoos, a black van belonging to B.A. and similar to the TV series' iconic one gets crushed early on and the original theme tune plays during the 3D film in the psychiatric hospital.
    • The original Opening Theme is laced throughout the soundtrack, as it was in the original show (albeit more prominently back then).
  • The 1998 remake of Disney's The Parent Trap (starring Lindsay Lohan) is rife with them:
    • The song "Let's Get Together" from the original version appears in three places: at the start, as a musical flourish at the end of the end credits, and in the hotel quietly sung by Hallie as she walks to the elevators.
    • Meredith's mother Vicky is played by Joanna Barnes, who played Meredith's counterpart (named "Vicky") in the original.
    • Meredith is heard speaking on the phone to Reverend Mosby, who was a character in the original.
    • The camp counselors have the last name Kulp, as a tribute to Nancy Kulp, who played the younger counselor in the 1961 version.
    • When caught on the phone, Annie claims she is speaking with "Mildred Plotka". This is a double-barrelled reference, to both the 1961 movie and to Carole Lombard's character in the 1934 film Twentieth Century.
    • The hotel where everyone meets up, The Stafford, is named for a boy Susan spoke to during the camp dance in the original.
  • In the first Superman movie, Clark is casting about for a place to change. He glances briefly at a pay phone--a phone on a pole, with an enclosure that would cover him only down to mid-thigh--shakes his head slightly, and continues looking.
  • Transformers Dark Of The Moon is also loaded with references to G1. The guns are now separate from the robots, instead of transforming their arms into it, just like in G1. Some weapon choices are from G1, including, what is probably the most awesome moment in the film, Optimus using the energon axe to fight the villain. The trailer from G1 returns, including its purpose of holding weapons. Shockwave is a large, one-eyed purple robot with a cannon for an arm, just like his G1 counterpart (And while he never does so in the film, apparently transforms into a self-propelled cannon; in other words, a flying giant gun). The Matrix of Leadership is now used as a symbol of command, and is stored inside Optimus' chest. The new girl is named Carly, and Sam uses a Spike shaped explosive to Kill Starscream, a possible nod to his G1 counterpart's name (Spike, which the writers have been trying for ages to work in as a nickname but never got an appropriate scene for it).
  • Rise of the Planet of the Apes the 2011 prequel to the 1968 classic Planet of the Apes is full of subtle Shout-Outs to the original film.
    • The most obvious is when Caesar, the main ape, fights back against his abusive animal control handler, the handler responds by shouting "Get your stinkin' paws off me, you damn dirty ape". What most people don't catch is in both films the line is uttered in roughly equivalent scenes with a captive Civilized Animal (Charlton Heston[1] in the original, and Caesar in the prequel) attacking the captors that had abused him, and in both cases the line triggers the "holy shit, it can talk!" moment for the captors, Charlton Heston uttering the actual line, and Caesar responding to the line with a startlingly assertive "NO!".
    • "No" is also historically the first word ever spoken by Ape.
    • The abuse Caesar suffered in captivity also mirrors that suffered by Heston.
      • In the original Heston escapes and attacks an ape, and is confiscated by the ape Ministry of Science, to the protest of Heston's owner, Dr. Zira who knows Heston is intelligent. In the prequel Caesar escapes and attacks a human, and is confiscated by Animal Control, to the protest of Caesar's owner Dr. Rodman who knows Caesar is intelligent.
      • In the original, Heston is attacked by one of the mute animal humans which results in a fight, and subsequently Heston is locked to an individual cell. In the prequel, Caesar is attacked by one of the regular apes which results in a fight, and subsequently Caesar is locked to an individual cell.
      • In the original, the Ministry of Science handler attacks Heston with a firehose jammed through the bars of his cell when he becomes belligerent. In the prequel, the Animal Control handler attacks Caesar with a fire hose jammed through the bars of his cell when he becomes belligerent.
    • Ceasar's mother, the first ape given the intelligence-boosting drug is given the name Bright Eyes. This is the same name that Dr. Zira gives' to Heston's character before she finds the patch from his astronaut uniform and learns that his name is really "Taylor".
    • Though Rise of the Planet of the Apes takes place in San Francisco, towards the end, Dr. Rodman's Jerkass neighbor who came into contact with the aforementioned intelligence-boosting phlebotinum (which is actually a virus that dramatically boosts intelligence in apes, and kills humans, despite the fact that humans are technically a species of ape) is revealed to be an airline pilot and is seen preparing to board a plane that he's about to pilot... to New York City.
    • A news broadcast tells of a lost manned space mission called the Icarus 1, lead by a Colonel Taylor...
  • The opening of Napoleon Dynamite is a shot of Napoleon looking through his notebook as he waits for the bus. This is based on a similar opening shot of Peluca, a previous Jared Hess directed short which Napoleon Dynamite was inspired from.
  • Judge Dredd. The smiley face graffiti seen on the Statue of Liberty is a reference to the original comic's story "Un-American Graffiti", in which these were a signature part of Chopper's tags.
  • Early on in Captain America: The First Avenger Steve and Bucky go to the Expo and a glass capsule holding what appears to be the body of Jim Hammond, the original Wartime Human Torch can be seen. This is also probably an Actor Allusion to Chris Evans who played the Human Torch in Fantastic Four.
  • Several Mel Brooks films have mythology gags: When Achoo is appointed the new Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Achoo says "Hey, it worked in Blazing Saddles!" And Harvey Korman has twice played an Evil Chancellor with an Insistent Terminology regarding his name: Hedy Lamarr (that's HEDLEY!) and Count deMoney (that's deMonET!)
  • In the movie Aliens vs. Predator Requiem one of the characters tells another to "get to the chopper" while on the hospital rooftop, obviously a reference to the famous line "get to da choppa" from Predator, only in this movie it was, ya know, not as memorable.
  • At the beginning of The Adventures of Tintin, a painter paints a self-portrait of Tintin. The painting turns out to be his design from the comics! And if you look closely in the background, you can see that the painter has done paintings of the other characters from the comics too.
    • What's even better is that the painter is a Creator Cameo of Hergé.
  • In The Godfather Part III, Vincent Mancini's mother is a major character from Mario Puzo's original novel whose plot was almost completely omitted from the first movie for obvious reasons.
  • In the Disney adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, two of the comic relief gargoyles are named "Victor" and "Hugo", a reference to the author of the original novel.
  1. ↑ Let's just face the facts, nobody actually thinks of Heston's character as "Colonel George Taylor".
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