These days, part of the fun of watching a movie in theaters or at home with the ability to freeze frames, is finding the Easter eggs hidden within. For the history buffs out there, the origin of the cinematic Easter egg dates back to THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW. Supposedly one day on the set, the cast decided to have a traditional Easter egg hunt, as you do, but some of the eggs were never found and actually appeared in frames of the movie! So if you're obsessed with finding hidden messages, jokes, and ways to make you look smart in front of your friends, check out these Easter eggs!

Understandably some of these have been around for a while, but some may be new to other readers; there’s no expiration date on sharing so enjoy and have fun!

**POSSIBLE SPOILERS**

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE GHOST PROTOCOL – Alpha, always

Brad Bird has directed some great movies that include THE IRON GIANT, THE INCREDIBLES, and RATATOUILLE. He even worked on The Simpsons in its early years. He would eventually take on his first live-action feature with the awesome MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL. It's no surprise that with his background in animation and Pixar features under his belt, he has left his fair share of Easter eggs behind for us to find.

Bird, along with other notable Pixar directors, are known for adding the code "A113" into the majority of their films as a reference to the classroom number of the animating class which they attended. There are two references to A113 in Ghost Protocol, one when Trevor Hanaway opens the cap on his ring to reveal the A113 engraved on it (above image), and when Ethan Hunt requests for extraction from Moscow with the code "Alpha-113".

Bird has actually put the reference in every one of his projects:

The Simpsons

THE IRON GIANT

THE INCREDIBLES

RATATOUILLE

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY – Recall inevitable

In Tim Burton’s 2005 remake, Charlie’s father works at a factory that makes "Smilex" toothpaste. This just so happens to be the same name of the chemical the Joker tries to kill the people of Gotham in BATMAN (1989) which was also directed by Burton. OMG CHARLIE VS JOKER 2023!

MAN OF STEEL – The writing was on the wall

If you’re looking forward to BATMAN V SUPERMAN next year then you might have already seen or heard of this little egg hidden away in MAN OF STEEL. There is a "Keep Calm and Call Batman" sign slightly visible when General Zod first discovers his heat vision and brings a skyscraper down around Superman. Such a mess.

It might have confirmed that not only do they share the same universe but what we’re going to learn in BATMAN V SUPERMAN is that Gotham and Metropolis are very close together. According to Zack Snyder, the gag was put in there by the visual effects company, who also happened to do the visual effects for the Dark Knight movies.

DEATH PROOF – Wall of fame

I've lost track of just how many Easter eggswe have covered from Quentin Tarantino movies. It's a lot. So it’s my pleasure to share with you this little egg in DEATH PROOF. If the movie wasn’t already filled with homages and references to many other movies, let’s toss Jack Burton’s vest From BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA for good measure.

Fans of John Carpenter’s B-movie starring Kurt Russell (DEATH PROOF's Stuntman Mike) will notice on the wall of the Texas Chili Parlor is Jack Burton’s iconic Asian-themed vest from BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA. Perhaps he pulled over for some nachos and lost it in a brawl. Let's go with that.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE PREVIOUS "MOVIE EASTER EGGS" COLUMN (ANT-MAN, APOCALYPSE NOW AND MORE!)

Got a cool Easter Egg discovery? E-mail us at: [email protected] with any you'd like to see featured in future columns!