The 15 Best Toy Story Easter Eggs, Ranked

Pixar may have started as a small computer graphics company (started by George Lucas and owned by Steve Jobs, no less) that made a few innovative short films in its early years, but it has since gone on to produce some of the most financially successful and critically acclaimed films of all time. The crown jewel of Pixar is undoubtedly its "Toy Story" series, which consists of four films. Not only does each film tell a hilarious yet heartfelt story about toys that come to life and go on adventures of their own, but it was the very first "Toy Story," released in 1995, that turned Pixar into a household name.

Clever writing and inside jokes abound in Pixar's films, and the "Toy Story" series is no exception. In every "Toy Story" movie, there are many Easter eggs that reference other Pixar movies and even nods to the lives of cast and crew members. While we could easily dedicate multiple articles to each film in the series and the hidden secrets they contain, we're just going to look at the 15 best "Toy Story" Easter Eggs from the quartet of films.

"Toy Story 4" is so packed with Easter eggs that we did a whole article on it, and it still doesn't even cover them all. One of those Easter eggs is the brief appearance of Boo from "Monsters, Inc.," the two-year-old who accidentally ends up in the dimension inhabited by monsters and develops an attachment to Sullivan and Mike. She has two blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearances in "Toy Story 4": a background cameo in Bonnie's class (you'll have to squint for this one, as she's out of focus) and in the carnival scene. She can be hard to spot in both instances, but those pigtails and purple shirt are dead giveaways.

Interestingly enough, there was some speculation that Boo had previously appeared in "Toy Story 3." It's easy to see why, as the scene in question features a young girl who somewhat resembles Boo, only slightly older, and playing with a bluish hirsute feline toy (Boo refers to Sully as "Kitty" in "Monsters Inc.") and is even heard saying "boo." However, "Toy Story 3" director Lee Unkrich shot this theory down on Twitter.

"Toy Story 2" features a scene wherein Andy's toys concoct a plan to rescue Woody, who's trapped at Al's Toy Barn. In their scheming, they draw up a map of the neighborhood. It may look like a sketch of any map, but the address for Al's Toy Barn, 1001 West Cutting Boulevard in Richmond, California, to be exact, is the location of one of Pixar Studios' original home. Cutting Boulevard gets another nod in "Toy Story 3." Andy has a street sign with that fabled name on it hanging on his bedroom wall.

However, the most prevalent reference to Pixar's origins is "A113," the number of the character animation classroom at the California Institute of the Arts where many Pixar staff members learned their craft. The number has been used in nearly every Pixar film, but keep an out for it in the "Toy Story" series. It's seen on the license plate on Andy's mom's car in "Toy Story," mentioned as a plane flight number in "Toy Story 2," and on Bonnie's family truck in "Toy Story 4." 

As one of the founding fathers of Pixar, John Lasseter has had a long and important tenure with the animation giant. His writing, directing, and producing credits include the "Toy Story" films, "A Bug's Life," "Finding Nemo," "The Incredibles," the "Cars" films, "Up," and many more. He's been breaking new ground in animation since Pixar's early days with his work on such computer-animated shorts as "Luxo Jr." (which features the origin of Pixar's iconic lamp) and "Tin Toy," for which he won an Oscar an Oscar for Best Short Film, and included elements that would later be developed in the "Toy Story" series.

Because of Lasseter's long history with Pixar, is it any wonder that he gets referenced throughout the "Toy Story" films? For example, during the scene in the first installment in which Woody is giving a speech to the other toys about moving buddies and Andy's approaching birthday party, there's a shelf of books (more on those later). One of those books is authored by someone named "Lasseter." "Toy Story 2" features a magazine with the date January 12, 1957. That is Lasseter's birthday. Also in "Toy Story 2," keep your ears open for an announcer mentioning the name LassetAir during the airport scene.

Near the beginning of "Toy Story," after Andy has left his room, we see all of his toys come to life for the first time in a charming sequence. Woody calls for a staff meeting to prepare for Andy's upcoming birthday party. As they convene for Woody's pep talk, Mr. Potato Head rearranges his facial features into an abstract expression to impress Hamm, calling himself "Picasso." Not catching the reference, Hamm walks away, prompting Mr. Potato Head to call him an uncultured swine. When Mr. Potato Head turns around, he yells "What are you looking at, you hockey puck?" and storms off, revealing that he was talking to an actual hockey puck.

This isn't just a physical gag. Don Rickles, who voiced Mr. Potato Head, used "hockey puck" as an insult for decades in his stand-up comedy career, going back to the 1950s. It even shows up in the title of his 1975 special, "Don Rickles: Buy This Tape You Hockey Puck." Rickles was known for pushing the envelope with his insults, so let's be thankful he kept it clean with a phrase that only sounds like an obscenity for this kids' movie.

If anyone needs some corroboration of the Pixar Theory and how all Pixar movies exist in the same shared cinematic universe, here's some proof. In "Toy Story 3," Buzz Lightyear talks to Lotso about getting transferred to the Butterfly Room with the older children who are less likely to be so rough on them. Lotso offers Buzz a chance to be transferred but not the other toys, an offer that Buzz declines. This angers Lotso, who has his flunkies restrain Buzz, open up his battery compartment, and reset him to his factory settings, erasing his personality and memories. However, there's something important about the logo on the batteries.

If you're a true Pixar fan, you'll recognize it as the logo for the fictional company, Buy N Large, which plays a prominent part in "WALL-E." In the film, Buy N Large's products are scattered around the abandoned Earth, many of which WALL-E is tasked with compacting. With their logo appearing practically everywhere, Buy N Large even owns the luxury starliners that Earth's populace inhabits. Hopefully, Buzz Lightyear properly disposes of his batteries to lighten the load on WALL-E eight hundred years into the future.

The first shot in "Toy Story" is of a bright blue sky with big fluffy white clouds, which are soon revealed to be the wallpaper design of Andy's bedroom. This leads to a sequence of Andy playing with Woody and the rest of his beloved toys. Keep this scene in mind next time you watch "Toy Story 3." The film ends with an older Andy giving his toys to Bonnie in a bittersweet goodbye, with one last shot of the sky filled with big fluffy clouds — just like the wallpaper in the first film.

This Easter egg is a touching way to bookend a series, but it's a little dated since we now have four "Toy Story" movies. "Toy Story 3" was originally supposed to be the final installment of the series, at least according to its director Lee Unkrich, who told NOLA in 2010 that "I really always thought of this as the conclusion to one big story. I feel like we were trying to make one really great four-and-a-half-hour movie. And so as a result, I really worked hard to bring an end to the story of Andy and his toys."

Years before Pixar established itself as one of the most beloved studios, it made numerous short yet innovative computer-animated films. While the studio is more focused on feature-length films, Pixar continues to develop short projects today such as their SparkShorts series. The "Toy Story" films have paid tribute to Pixar's early in a variety of subtle ways. In the first "Toy Story" film, when Woody is giving a pep talk to the other toys, behind him is a shelf with several books with titles that reference Pixar shorts, including the aforementioned "Tin Toy," "Red's Dream," "Knick Knack," and others.

"Toy Story 2" also features some nods to Pixar's past in the scene in which the toys surf the channels to spot the commercial for Al's Toy Barn. Don't blink or you'll miss Hamm skipping over "Tin Toy," "Red's Dream," "Knick Knack," and "Luxo Jr." "Toy Story 3" joins in on the nostalgia with a couple of references to Pixar's early shorts. Annie has a patch depicting Wally B. from "The Adventures of Andre and Wally B." on her backpack, and in one scene, some tin toys from "Tin Toy" can be seen cowering in the corner of the classroom at Sunnyside Daycare.