Turning Red: All the easter eggs and hidden Pixar references you missed

17 March 2022, 21:43

Pixar’s Luxo ball, the A113 reference and a sneaky callback to Kevin from Up all appear in the film.

Turning Red is Pixar’s latest banger and fans have been busy trying to clock all the easter eggs, Pixar references and other behind-the-scenes details in the movie.

If you haven’t started your easter egg hunt yet, you’ll be pleased to know that Turning Red is packed (!) full hidden details that you may have missed on first viewing. Alongside all the throwback 2002 references, the iconic Pixar A113 detail, the Luxo ball and a nod to the next film from the animation studio (Lightyear, starring Chris Evans) are all scattered throughout the movie –– but how many other little details and callbacks to previous films did you spot?

Here’s a list of all the references and easter eggs we’ve spotted in Turning Red.

READ MORE: 21 hilarious Turning Red memes that are even funnier than the film

The iconic Pixar Luxo ball can be seen floating in the pool at Tyler’s party.

It’s not a Pixar movie without that instantly recognisable ball! If you look to the right hand side of the pool at Tyler’s party, you can just about make it out floating amongst the other inflatables.

There’s a Pizza Planet truck parked on the side of the road.

The intergalactically famous fast food chain Pizza Planet is still doing it’s damn thing all these years later… As Mei is running through the streets of Toronto on her way to the 4*Town concert, you can peep the famous delivery truck on the right hand side of the road.

Speaking of Toy Story, there’s a Lightyear sticker on Miriam’s skateboard.

In a quick nod to Pixar’s next movie, Lightyear, Buzz’s space ranger logo is stuck to the bottom of Miriam’s skateboard.

Priya is reading Nightfall, a reference to Twilight and Little Witch Academia.

Everybody caught this reference so it’s not exactly hidden. Buuuut… while YA vampire novels definitely existed before Twilight, the Stephenie Meyer book wasn’t actually released until 2005. And the iconic film poster, which the Nightfall‘s cover art is clearly based on, wouldn’t come out until 2008.

As well as the nod to Twilight, Nightfall is also a reference to the anime series Little Witch Academia, which also has an in-universe book called Nightfall. Turning Red‘s novel is written by Roberta Moyer while Little Witch Academia‘s is written by Annabel Crème.

On one of the toilet doors, there’s a sticker of a clown fish.

Just behind Abby’s head when the girls are in the bathroom with Mei, there’s a small sticker of a very familiar clown fish on the stall’s door. Nemo has been found.

And a Burrow sticker on Mei’s notebook.

There’s also a really cute nod to Pixar’s 2020 short, Burrow. You can see the rabbit on the front of Mei’s notebook at various points in the scene where she draws her fan art.

A skeleton that looks a lot like Kevin from Up can be seen in the classroom.

If you look in the right corner when the full classroom is shown on screen, you can just about peep a bird skeleton that looks very familiar. It’s definitely too small to be Kevin herself, but it seems like it could be a smaller version of the same species.

Tyler ends up getting a matching friendship bracelet from the girls.

Tyler is one of the besties now! At the end of the film, Tyler can be seen wearing the same matching friendship bracelet that Mei, Miriam, Abby and Priya all wear throughout the movie.

There’s a reference to Pixar’s Bao short hidden in the background.

When Mei gets off the tram at the start of the film, one of the restaurant signs on the side of building reads ‘Bao Restaurant,’ in the exact same font as the Pixar’s short’s title.

And some of the papel picado flags from Coco strung out on the street.

The nod to Coco and the Mexican culture can be peeped in the corner after Mei scares a couple walking down the street.

Mei’s movements match what real red pandas do when they are scared.

In the Embrace the Panda: Making Turning Red behind-the-scenes film, director Domee Shi and a handful of other crew members went to study red pandas and their real world behaviours. One of the best details they included within the characterisation of Mei’s red panda was her reaction to be being scared…

Two characters in the film can be seen wearing insulin patches.

Several Twitter users spotted the small detail, noting how important the visual will be for young children in particular. One user wrote: “This is probably getting lost with all the #TurningRed posts but they have two kids with diabetes patches on. This kind of representation is often lost and not talked about much for juvenile diabetes.”

Another added: “I’d like to thank whoever did this. It’s such a little gesture, mostly unnoticed by the most, but it’s literally the first time ever I’ve seen someone with a diabetes patch, let alone in a cartoon. This is so important, thank you.”

4*Town’s choreography matches the dance moves from the Backstreet Boys’ ‘Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)’ music video.

There’s a very brief moment towards the end of the film when 4*Town return to the stage to help sing during the ritual, and they use the same dance moves as the iconic boyband. 4*Town are also dressed all in white as a nod to the Backstreet Boys’ iconic Millennium album cover.

Jesse from 4*Town actually has two kids.

On Jesse’s profile on the 4town.com website, it’s revealed that he’s actually a father! His profile reads: “The oldest member of 4*Town, Jesse was in art school pursuing a degree in ceramics before the band took off. When fame starts getting to his head, throwing clay on his potter’s wheel and spending time with his two kids brings him back down to earth.”

The crew revealed the several working titles for the film, including My Neighbor Toronto.

The play on My Neighbor Totoro is not the only alternative title the crew had for the film. Notorious RPG (Red Panda Girl), PMS (Panda Mayhem Syndrome), Girl In Red, Panda Prime, Anything But Red, Big Deal and Fei-Fei/Fei Li and A Panda were all used as developmental names too.

Mei’s family members all wear green because it’s the exact opposite of red on the colour wheel.

We love a bit of colour theory! Shared by @dyanphibian, the tweet reads: “A detail I liked about Turning Red is how all Mei’s relatives wear shades of green which is the exact opposite of red which highlights how they’ve rejected the “red” of the panda.”

Devon was at the 4*Town concert.

Devon is a 4*Townie too!

Aaaand of course, the iconic A113 Pixar reference that is hidden in every single Pixar film.

The A113 easter eggs can be spotted on the chalk machine as Jin draws a circle around Ming and Mei in the SkyDome, and in the credits on a 4*Town ticket.

BONUS: In 2021’s Luca, there’s an Italian 4*Town easter egg.

Around 55 minutes into Luca, when Luca is hanging out with Giulia, there’s a vinyl record in her collection by the band 4*Villaggio.

Read more about Turning Red here: