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35 Sneaky Little Jokes and References Hidden in Pop-Culture Staples

Secret treasures in your favorite movies, TV shows and music

35 Sneaky Little Jokes and References Hidden in Pop-Culture Staples

November 11, 2024

Well, these crafty little creators have done it again, haven’t they?

Just when we thought we found every possible hidden joke and reference in the realms of movies, TV and music, a much more meticulous hunter than us goes and unearths a fresh one. This, of course, got the higher-ups to call a 6 a.m. meeting to hound the rest of us for not looking hard enough.

So here we are. We found a lot more. They were right. Yay.

Wringing these out of their respective art forms took every ounce of our strength, so please enjoy them while we take an ice bath and nap hard.

35

The Invisible Man

The Invisible Man has a Saw reference. Leigh Whannell, writer of Saw and director of The Invisible Man, really likes adding Billy the Puppet in the mo

34

South Park

EASTER EGGSTRA South Park The My Neighbor Totoro reference. In Mysterion Rises the relationship between Cartman and Cthulhu is a homage to Hayao Miyazaki's anime film. CRACKEDCO — Source

33

Get Out

Get Out There's a reference to The Shining in the opening scene. When Andre gets lost in the opening scene, he says It's like a fucking hedge maze out here. — Film School Rejects

32

Maturin

Easter Eggs in stephen King Movies It: chapter one/Two Turtles reference The Dark Tower. If you are a fan of The Dark Tower, you are aware of Maturin the Turtle, one of the Guardians of the Beam. While Maturin is referenced in the It book, he is not really featured in the films, but there are multiple turtles that reference him. CRACKED.COM — Source: Inverse

31

Candyman

The original CANDYMAN reference In Nia DaCosta's Candyman, there's a character named Burke that's a reference to Dr. Burke from the first film. What's interesting is that both Dr. Burke in the 1992 film and WORK CLIVE RARKER Burke in the 2021 film are the final kills before the protagonists WERYE (Helen/Brianna) start siding with Candyman. CRACKED.COM

30

Batman

EASTER EGGSTRA I BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES THE JIMMY OLSEN REFERENCE SRO HOTEL J.OLSEN AND SONS PHOTOGRAPHE DISCOUNT IN THE EPISODE APPOINTMENT IN CRIME ALLEY THERE'S A TRUCK WITH J. OLSEN AND SONS, PHOTOGRAPHY EQUIP, DISCOUNT PRICES WRITTEN ON IT. IT'S A REFERENCE TO JIMMY OLSEN, THE PHOTOGRAPHER FOR THE DAILY PLANET IN THE SUPERMAN COMICS. CRACKED.COM

29

T-Pain

Faheem Najm's stage name T-PAIN is short for Tallahassee Pain, in reference to the hardships of growing up in Tallahassee, Florida. GRACKED.COM — Source: How Celebs Arrived At Stage Names (They're Stuck With)

28

Home Alone

Odd, Fascinating Trivia About Home Alone - The title of the movie-within-a-movie, Angels Filthy Souls, is a classic movie reference. — Source: Vanity Fair

27

Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga was inspired by Queen. She was first called Gaga as a reference to Queen's song Radio Ga-Ga. CRACKED.COM

26

King of the Hill

Peggy Hill (a substitute Spanish teacher) being very confident, yet very terrible at speaking Spanish is a long running joke on KING OF HILL THE A rec

25

Rugrats

A Rugrats Chanukah snuck in an adult joke for anyone who knows Hebrew. S CUT RATE MONTE The sign on this storefront says mohel. A mohel is a Jewish circumcision specialist. CRACKED.COM — Source

24

Call My Agent!

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM JEAN RENO'S NICKNAME IN CALL MY AGENT! IS A JOKE IN FRENCH. The agents call him Godefroy de Montmirail, and of course the joke is that they think that that's his most memorable role - but there's also the fact that, in France, that's basically synonymous with moron. — Source

23

Community

EASTER EGGSTRA REFERENCES & HIDDEN MEANINGS APARTMENT 303 JOKE community In season 3's fourth episode (Remedial Chaos Theory - the one with the timelines), Britta and Annie try to remember if Troy and Abed live in apartment 303 or 304. 303 This was a joke about episode codes and scheduling, because this episode was originally meant to be the third episode of the season (3.03). Due to its apparent complexity, it was moved to episode 4 (3.04). CRACKED.COM — Video clip

22

Moon Knight

Moon Knight's name is a hidden joke. As one of the most popular characters associated with mental illness, what else could he be but a Moon knight. Lunacy= moon. Coincidence? CRACKED.COM

21

Zootopia

CRACKED.COM Zootopia makes a pretty sneaky sex joke. Bunnies are good at multiplying. — Source: These 34 Filthy Jokes Are (Somehow) In Family Movies & Shows

20

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

In Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, Jorma Taccone watching The Parent Trap is a multilayered joke. He's supposed to be watching the movie, which is — Source: FilmSchoolRejects

19

Iron Man

Iron Man has a Jeff Bridges in-joke. Vessel MSC LEBOWSKI Voyage V175-B Orign Port Departure Dase 05/19/07 LONG BEACH Pne of Dscharge Amival Date KARAC — Source: 7 Split-Second Movie Jokes You Totally Missed

18

Scrubs

CRACKED COM scrubs AIl right Doctor Cox. Ridiculous name by the way. This line coming from most characters would just be a joke about Dr. Cox's name

17

The Nice Guys

At the end of The Nice Guys, the two leads toast, To the birds! It's a joke about part of the plot, and also a play on the actors' last names, Crowe

16

Ghostbusters

CRACKED.COM GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE The symmetrical book stacking that Ray says refers to the Philadelphia Mass Turbulence of 1947 in the first film can be seen more than once in the background throughout the new movie. — Source: Movieweb

15

It’s A Wonderful Life

Zuzu was named after a cookie. A*KOTAO At one point in the movie, George Zu Zu refers to his daughter as his little GINGER SNAPS ginger snap. This i — Country Living

14

Gravity Falls

EASTER EGGSTRA JOKES AND MEANINGS NOT S&P GRAYITY KALLS APPROVED LICK PARTY NOT S&P APPROVED NO PHOTOS BETTER END UP ONLINE! In the Summerween episode, the bottom of Tambry's party poster reads Not S&P Approved. It refers to Standards and Practices who did not approve of the show wanting to make a spin-the-bottle joke in the episode. CRACKED.COM — Sources: Twitter, AvaFalls

13

Grand Funk Railroad

Grand funk's We're an American Band. has a verse mentioning Sweet, sweet Connie which refers to Connic Hamzy of Little Rock AR. Hamzy is one of th

12

Hidden Meanings

Les Demoiselles CRACKEDc COM d'Avignon means The Ladies of Avignon, right? Literally, yes, but the title refers to Avignon Street in Barcelona, which

11

The Kids in the Hall

May on prime video The Kids May 13 in the Hall The troupe's name refers to the writers on Your Show of Shows. Whenever a joke bombed, Sid Caesar blamed it on the kids in the hall, which included comedy legend Mel Brooks. CRACKED.COM — Source: Mental Floss

10

Us

The brown leather Us glove in the movie is actually a reference to three famous characters. Peele said it references Freddy Krueger, Michael Jackson, and O.J. Simpson. CRACKED.COM

9

The Matrix

THE ORACLE'S COSTUME IN THe MATRIX IS A REFERENCE TO A MICHELANGELO PAINTING It's of Michelangelo's Delphic Sibyl, a Greek oracular figure who wears the same colors the Oracle does. CRACKED.COM — Source

8

The Emperor’s New Groove

THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE Pretty sly reference to pitching a tent for a kid's movie. CRACKED.COM — Source

7

Back to the Future

EASTER EGGSTRA REFERENCES AND MEANINGS BACK A REFERENCE TO TO FUTURE A GALE ZEMECKIS THE MOVIE town ELMO USED CARS SAMPLE is THE When Marty rides to school holding onto the back of a Jeep, he skates past a sign that says Used Cars. It's a reference to the .1980 movie with the same title. 'CRACKED.COM — Video clip, IMDb

6

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

A line used in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a reference to Easy Rider. The 1969 film dealt with counterculture and changing times, SO it easily fi

5

WandaVision (One More Time)

WANDAVISION EASTER EGGS AGATHA'S BOOTS ARE A REFERENCE TO THE WIZARD OF OZ. CRACKED CO In the final episode, Agatha gets crushed by a car and disappears - only leaving her boots behind. This is a reference to the Wicked Witch of the East's ruby slippers sticking out after she gets crushed

4

Knives Out

A MIDNIGHT In Knives Out's car chase, there's a shot of graffiti of the letter A. That's a reference to Brick, Rian Johnson's first feature-length mov — Sources: Film School Rejects, IMDB

3

Cake

CRACKED'COM CAKE is not a reference to dessert. The name is actually supposed to be a verb, as in something that congeals and sticks with you.

2

Archer

In Archer, Charlotte uses a Renaissance reference to kick Sterling when he's down. ollb After getting beaten and choked by the gigantic Zirk, Sterling

1

The Matrix

In The Matrix Reloaded, Agent Smith's license plate is -5416. ISSUS ISUS IS 5416 That's a reference to a Bible verse Isalah 54:16. Behold, I have

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