'Toy Story 3' Chock Full of Hidden Facts and Movie Reference

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"Toy Story 3" has entertained children and parents alike (and has made at least one childless, unmarried adult male in his thirties cry) to the tune of $110 million dollars in its opening weekend.

Chances are, considering the amount of money the film made over the weekend, that if you're reading this, there's a better than average chance you've seen the film. If you have, there are a few hidden "Easter eggs" (the cinematic term for meaningful images or references buried in a movie) worthy of a second look. Even if you haven't seen "Toy Story 3," it's worth reading on for some fun facts you can impress your friends with.

Slashfilm and ComingSoon.net have put together exhaustive lists of the Easter eggs hiding in "Toy Story 3," and the New Orleans Times-Picayune also did some digging and found a few pieces of trivia that bear repeating. Highlights of those lists include:

• "A113," the number of a classroom at CalTech where many Pixar animators studied, shows up as an Easter egg in every Pixar film. In the "Toy Story" series, it's the license plate on Andy's mother's car.

• Sid, the bully from the first movie who wears a skull T-shirt, appears as a garbage man in the new film wearing the same skull T-shirt.

• There's a postcard on Andy's dresser addressed from the featured characters from last year's "Up," Carl and Ellie Fredrickson.

• Lightning McQueen from "Cars" is referenced a few times throughout the film: A miniature toy car at the daycare center, on a child's shirt at the center and on a fictional train that shares McQueen's number, 95. That number is itself an Easter egg, referring to 1995, the year the first "Toy Story" was released.

• A calendar from Pizza Planet is clearly seen. Pizza Planet has appeared in every Pixar film except "The Incredibles."

• Pixar has a history of hiding a character to be featured in a later movie somewhere in a current film. Nemo first appeared in "Monsters, Inc." and "Toy Story 3" newcomer, Lots-o-Huggins Bear (who, ironically, is not very huggable), first appeared alongside a bed in "Up." A poster on Andy's wall shows a character from next year's "Cars 2." It shows Finn McMissile, a British sports car/secret agent who plays a major role in the sequel.

• Buzz Lightyear's batteries are from "Buy 'N' Large," the giant corporation responsible for ruining the planet in "WALL-E."

• Totoro, the furry, friendly creature from Hayao Miyazaki's Japanese animated classic "My Neighbor Totoro," shows up as a toy that Woody meets. Pixar founder John Lasseter has called Miyazaki an inspiration for his work, and Lasseter produced his most recent film, "Ponyo."

• A significant amount of the film takes place at a daycare center. At the daycare center, Mr. Ray the Scientific Stingray from "Finding Nemo" makes a cameo. Nemo himself appears as a sticker on Andy's toybox.

• "Toy Story 3" director Lee Unkrich performs one line in the movie, as the voice of the Jack in the Box character.

• The "Toy Story 3" screenplay took 2 1/2 years to write and storyboard.

• John Ratzenberger keeps his streak alive of appearing in every single Pixar film made to this point. For "Toy Story 3," he reprises his role as Hamm.

• Ken, voiced by Michael Keaton, was based on a 1988 version of him called "Animal Lovin' Ken" which included his "own chimpanzee to care for and love." Um, okay. The Barbie featured in the film is based on a 1983 version titled "Great Shape Barbie."

• Ken wears 21 different outfits in the movie.

• Woody has 229 animation points of movement in his face. Buzz has 215 animation avatars in his face.

• There are 302 characters in the film.


"Toy Story 3" marks the best opening weekend in the history of Pixar, which is quite a feat, considering all eleven Pixar films have opened as the number one in their respective weekend. "Toy Story 3" is the first film in the "Toy Story" series to be released in the very lucrative 3D format. Considering the added cost per ticket, plus the demand to see the film, it's little surprise that "Toy Story 3" is on pace to pass the $400 million mark in domestic box office.
 
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