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40 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivia in Case You Need Some Filler for Your Annual Christmas Card

The kids didn’t do jack squat this year

40 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivia in Case You Need Some Filler for Your Annual Christmas Card

December 16, 2024

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40

Ant-Man

EASTER EGGSTRA MEANINGS AND REFERENCES ANT-MAN THEM! The 1954 black-and-white movie about giant invading ants has multiple references throughout Ant-Man and the Wasp. When ants start crawling through the lab, Bill Foster says, it's them! Scott, Hope, and Cassie also watch the movie at the end of the film. CRACKED.COM — Source

39

SpongeBob SquarePants

Comic and Cartoon Food The Krabby Patty from SpongeBob SquarePants This delectable burgerish sandwich is a focus of Plankton's envy for a reason, and Squidward became addicted to them for a while. While it looks meaty, SpongeBob creator Stephen Hillenburg has said it's completely vegetarian. CRACKED.COM — Source: Encyclopedia SpongeBobia

38

The Dark Knight

Easter Eggs of Oscar-winning movies 2009 Supporting Actor Sound Editing Cinematography Film Editing Art Direction The Dark Knight Bruce Wayne's car is a Lamborghini Murciélago. Murciélago is Spanish for bat. So it's a Batmobile. CRACKED.COM — Sources: Batman Fandom, IMDb

37

Nintendo

Nintendo is over 130 years old. ON M*X101 PLTINGCARDS MARK TRADE THE NNIENDO PLANG CARD 0 SHOMENDORI OHASHI. KYOTO, JAPAN, They've sold playing cards, — Source: Business Insider

36

Keith Richards

CRACKED KEITH RICHARDS Richards, the guitarist for The Rolling Stones, has stopped drinking a lot and said he'd been sober for over a year as of 2018 -- and he was 74 at the time. Не made this decision because he'd noticed an improvement in his performance on stage. — Rollingstone

35

Seinfeld

COMEDY NERD The Seinfeld episode The Pick often gets kind of unfairly overlooked. Sure, everyone goes for the Festivus episode (The Strike), but this episode is pretty fun too and has lines we all wish we could say, like You want a Christmas card? All right, here. Here's your Christmas card. CRACKED.COM — Source

34

Legally Blonde

40 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivia in Case You Need Some Filler for Your Annual Christmas Card — Source

33

Wheaties

Wheaties cereal has SO much iron, it sticks to magnets. That's because it's highly fortified with iron (like other foods, including baby formula), to help combat iron deficiency. NOW YOU KNOW — Source: Snopes

32

Get Out

Get Out The scene where Georgina is introduced in the kitchen is based on both The Shining twins and the meeting of Hannibal and Clarice in The Silence of the Lambs. Peele said on the commentary track:Just the whole vibe of coming up on somebody waiting for you patiently is — IndieWire

31

The Godfather Part II

Hyman Roth from The Godfather: Part II was based on Meyer Lansky, a real gangster. The story goes that Lansky called Roth after seeing the movie and said the performance was great, but also told him, You could have made me more sympathetic. After all, I am a grandfather. — Source: AMC

30

LFO

DEVIN LIMA Devin Lima died in 2019 after a yearlong battle with adrenal cancer. He was 41. Another untimely death due to cancer. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

Lucifer

In Lucifer, Daniel Espinoza is a good father to Trixie, a supportive ex-spouse to Chloe, and (on occasion) a good cop But that doesn't stop anyone, es

28

Radio City Music Hall

Radio City Music Hall has a swanky apartment. Radio City built it for its first impresario, Samuel Roxy Rothafel, who had brought in a ton of top-shelf acts. It became his bachelor pad and party venue. And today, it could be yours - it's been kept in top shape, and is up for rent. CRACKED.COM — Source

27

Professional Basketball

In the Philippines, basketball teams are corporate-owned. КА Tender Juicy HOTDOO Each team only serves as its corporation's marketing tool. Their names change often, depending on what the company wants to sell: for example, there used to be a team called Kia Sorento that became Kia Carnival. And the Purefoods Star Hotshots were Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs, then Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source

26

Keanu Reeves

Toy Story 4 - Duke Caboom’s posing Keanu Reeves had the idea that Duke should be posing all the time — Source: The Hollywood Reporter

25

Kong: Skull Island

Athena in Kong: Skull Island has an homage to Alien. ٨ I I С V ATHENA Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts deliberately made the lettering on the ship reminiscent of Alien, to make the ship his dumb, unnecessary nod to that movie. CRACKED.COM — Source

24

Iron Man

40 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivia in Case You Need Some Filler for Your Annual Christmas Card

23

Brad Pitt

If a woman's favorite movie is the 1991 Madonna documentary Truth or Dare, run. That's Brad Pitt's advice.

22

Lance Armstrong

Fallen Celebrities Then vs. Now DIRO GIRO ESTRONG.ORG LANCE ARMSTRONG won the Tour de France seven friggin' times, which is amazing. LIVESTRONG EXCEPT WHEN YOU FACTOR IN THAT НЕ RAN A HIGHLY SOPHISTICATED DOPING RING, and took performance-enhancing drugs for most of his career. Не was stripped of his wins and banned from the sport, but hey, what would Dodgeball trivia be without him? CRACKED.COM — Source: Wikipedia

21

The Traveling Wilburys

THE TRAVELING WILBURYS CRACKED.COM Side Project to Supergroup. George Harrison brought in Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, and Bob Dylan to record the track, Handle with Care. Having a blast in the studio, they formed The Traveling Wilburys, and took time away from solo work to record 2 full-length albums, tour, and win a grammy for Best Rock Performance in 1990. — Source

20

The McRib

The McRib Was A Military Experiment Gone Horribly Right. CRACKED.CO .COM To help boost troop morale by making soldier rations look more appetizing, the US Army had One of their scientists, professor Roger Mandigo, come up with a process of combining meat scraps into a familiar shape. The National Pork Producers Council approached Mandigo to use his technique for fast food pork sandwiches and pitch it to McDonald's. McDonald's then hired Rene Arend, a Luxembourg chef who'd prepared meals for royalty, to craft the first McRib, basing it on Southern BBQ pulled pork.

19

Star Wars

CRACKED.COM The Death Star is the size of a small moon, but its habitable space isn't limited to its surface. You'd have to cover THE ENTIRE EARTH (oceans and all) with a building 14 feet tall to get as much living room. — Source

18

Clerks

Clerks' oftthe-cuff style made it a cult classic. PLAN -OPLIFT US KNOW THAKS But it nearly ended in violence and death. The movie, which at its most s

17

Aaron Sorkin

erica albright may or may not exist GRACKED.COM At least, that's not her actual name. Writer Aaron Sorkin confesses to changing some characters' names, which likely includes the girl that Zuckerberg called a b*tch* in a blog. Considering the way he treated her, she likely has no regrets moving on. — Slashfilm

16

Mario Party

Nintendo provided gamers special gloves if they injured their hands playing Mario Party 64. The biggest number goes first. 10 8 S 9 GRACKED.COM Complaints were received by New York's attorney general's office about inju- ries sustained while rotat- ing the N64 controller's analog stick, and Nintendo agreed to an $80 million settlement. — Gamespot

15

Looper

Masterfully Subverted Tropes Looper The marvel of time travel Most time travel movies try to put a novel spin on it, while also treating it like a big deal. Looper's own novel spin, however, is dismissing the importance and details of its mechanics and instead focusing on its effects. The film removes the coolness from Bruce Willis' time-shenanigans by rather showing the crushing weight of his child-killing spree. CRACKED.COM — Source

14

Ben Affleck

THE ACTOR: Ben Affleck THE ROLE: Title role in Daredevil WHY HE I hate Daredevil SO HATED IT: much, he says. One of the reasons he took the role of

13

Caravaggio

CRACKED In his 1595 portrait of Bacchus, the god of wine, Caravaggio snuck in a minute self-portrait as a reflection in a carafe of wine. It took centuries for the miniature cameo to be spotted. — Source / Uffizi

12

Pizza Hut

Pizza Hut once sued Papa Johns, claiming that the slogan Better ingredients. Better Pizza. is false advertising. PizzaHut Pippe AND WingStreet TUESDAY BIGBOX PASTA CRACKED.COM 10 David Novak, President of Pizza Hut at that time, took issue with the phrase that led people to believe Papa John's used superior ingredients without providing proof. — Source

11

A Whole New World

Pop culture inspirations A Whole New World John Musker, co-director of Aladdin, revealed that the iconic song was inspired by Richard Donner's 1978 film SUPERMAN, where Christopher Reeve takes Margot Kidder's Lois Lane on a dream date. CRACKED — Source

10

Watchmen

COMIC PETS If you're a megalomaniacal billionaire genius, of course you're going to experiment with genetics to create a red lynx with black stripes and doodly-bop ears. A perfect lounging cat for Ozymandias. WATCHMEN BUBASTIS CRACKED.COM — Source: Watchmen Wiki

9

Forrest Gump

CRACKED.COM Superior Form BISMARCK Huron مو 29 PIERRE One day, Forrest chichigan Gump just felt MADISON HEYE like running. LINCOLN DES MONES COLUMBI And he ran a NVER 15,248 OKLAHOMA grand of JEF ROCK SPRI 65 INDIANAPOLIS ATLANTA RT total MILES. 59 CITY Pheidippides' run from Marathon to Athens 20 75 Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race 85 59 KSON MONTGOME Forrest Gump 10 The world's longest footrace is just 3,100 miles. 10 — Source

8

Conan the Barbarian

Conan the Barbarian could have been a fantasy classic, if Arnold's performance wasn't sO cheesy. The movie has great visual style, a world built with

7

The Cabin in the Woods

Meta Movies The Cabin in the Woods The merman was the most difficult creature to make. They tried several methods, the final one entailing its actor laying still on the floor for 12 hours. They'd wake him up and tell him, it's time to kill. CRACKED.COM — Source

6

Donald Trump

On August 21, 2019, Trump tweeted that the dollar was the strongest it's been in history. That day, the U.S. Dollar Index - the most common measure of the dollar's strength - was 40% less than its record high. CRACKED.COM — Source: 14 Incredibly Stupid Social Media Posts By Famous People

5

Michelangelo

Michelangelo used to burn his drawings so that people wouldn't know he had to work to achieve perfection. Michelangelo was con- stantly producing draw- ings throughout his 77-year career as an art- ist, but only about 600 of them have survived since the 16th century. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Medievalists

4

Glenn Close

Glenn Close's father helped contain the Ebola outbreak in Zaire. During the '70s, Dr. William T. Close was the personal physician of former DRC President of Mobutu Sese Seko. In 1976, the Ebola virus broke out in the village of Yambuku, and Dr. Close used his connections to round up helping hands and medical equipment, ensuring the containment of the deadly virus. CRACKED.COM — Source

3

Syd Barrett

The band helped Syd Barrett record his solo albums. THE MADCAP LAUGHS STD BARRETT CRACKED.COM Not wanting to leave their friend behind, Gilmour and Waters produced Barrett's first solo album, The Madcap Laughs, with Wright serving as a session musician. Barrett's declining mental health made the sessions difficult, and his solo career never took off. — Source: Ultimate Classic Rock

2

Groundhog Day

COMEDY DE NERD Groundhog Day basically destroyed Harold Ramis and Bill Murray's friendship. They disagreed very, very strongly on that movie - and it got so bad, at one point Ramis took Murray's collar and threw him at a wall. CRACKED.COM — Source

1

High School Musical

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS Ryan and Sharpay were written to be BLACK I believe they found someone to play Sharpay, but they couldn't find a black equivalent [for Ryan, says Corbin Bleu. And then I think they found Ashley sO they decided to cast Sharpay and Ryan as Caucasian. — Buzzfeed

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