Never before has Pixar taken so long to make a sequel as they did with Incredibles 2, but
the 14-year wait was well worth it.
The movie is jaw-droppingly gorgeous, with style to spare and action sequences so tense,
you forget that nothing on the screen is actually real.
With Incredibles 2 clocking in as the longest Pixar movie to date, you can't say you didn't
get your money's worth.
Also, Pixar has plugged a mind-boggling number of Easter eggs and references into the movie
to reward sharp eyes and repeat viewings.
It's all but impossible to catch them all the first time around.
Whether you've seen the movie and are wondering what you missed, or are going to the movie
and want to be prepared, here are the Easter eggs we caught in Incredibles 2.
And of course, spoilers ahead.
Baby Mozart
Edna Mode and Jack Jack Parr are the best team-up Incredibles 2 has to offer.
Edna, the icy inventor and costume designer, is completely won over by the little superhero
when she sees the breadth of his powers, and the duo end up spending hours together while
Mr. Incredible gets some rest.
When Bob returns to pick up Jack Jack, Edna mentions that the boy has taken a liking to
the music of Mozart.
It's not a random reference, when it comes to classical composers, Jack Jack has an established
preference.
In the 2005 short film Jack Jack Attack, Jack Jack's babysitter sets up a number of neurologically
stimulating activities for the baby, and the selection includes a Mozart CD.
Turns out, the music really does bring something out in Jack Jack, inspiring him to make the
babysitter really earn her pay by destroying the entire house.
There's clearly something to Mozart's music that brings out the monster in the little
man, and naturally, Edna loves that.
Smelling Ratz
One of Pixar's longest-running Easter eggs involves actor John Ratzenberger, whose voice
appears in every Pixar movie.
He's got an even better record for appearances than the storied Pizza Planet truck.
Since his first appearance as Hamm the piggy bank in Toy Story, Ratzenberger has been a
sort of good luck charm for Pixar.
In The Incredibles, he lent his voice to the villainous Underminer, who drilled up from
beneath the earth's surface at the end of the film.
Since Incredibles 2 picks up exactly where the first left off, Ratzenberger remains in
the mix for the second round.
He lives to fight another day, too, which unexpectedly makes the Underminer Incredibles
2's biggest sequel hook.
Seeing Underminer near the end of the credits' stylized summary of the movie's events reminds
us that he's still at large.
So if an Incredibles 3 does happen, it's a good bet that the Underminer will be back
for another showdown.
A113
One of the most famous Pixar Easter eggs is also one of the easiest to miss.
"A113" is a short sequence of letters and numbers that does not, on its own, mean anything.
So why has it appeared in so many movies?
The sequence refers to a specific classroom at the California Institute of the Arts, where
many influential animators and filmmakers attended college.
It's not just a Pixar reference, either, A113 has also appeared in movies and TV shows from
Family Guy to The Hunger Games' sequel.
Since the Easter egg is so inconspicuous, it pops up a lot throughout Incredibles 2.
It appears on the side of a runaway train, shows up on a license plate, and turns up
on the theater marquee at the end of the movie, and that's just a few examples.
It's fitting that the reference would show up In Incredibles 2, considering that writer-director
Brad Bird is the one who started the tradition over 30 years ago in an episode of the show
Amazing Stories.
Safari Court
After an exploding jet falls on their home during the climax of The Incredibles, the
sequel sees the family living in a throwback-style motel called Safari Court.
The distinctive, familiar-looking building is recognizable for a reason: It's based on
a real place.
The Parrs' temporary residence is clearly modeled after the Safari Inn, a semi-famous
hotel in Burbank, California, located only a few streets away from Walt Disney Studios.
Clearly, the photogenic location made an impression on the filmmakers, and they wouldn't be the
first ones to use it.
The inn has hosted scenes in popular movies and a ton of TV shows.
Its weird ubiquity in pop culture makes it the landmark equivalent of a familiar face,
beautifully recreated in Incredibles 2.
Evelyn Deavor's evil endeavors
Incredibles 2 doesn't try all that hard to hide the fact that the brilliant Evelyn Deavor
is actually the movie's true villain.
One of the most telling hints as to her true nature?
That would be her name.
Instead of reading her name as "Eve-a-Lynn", pronounce her name as "EVE-ill" Say it all
at once, and it sounds like "evil endeavor", which pretty much says it all, right?
In any case, it's enough evidence to let an engaged viewer see the plot turn coming from
miles away.
The real twist, by comparison, is that Evelyn's brother Winston actually turns out to be a
pretty solid guy.
New math for life
Bob's difficulty in helping Dash with his math homework is one of the funniest gags
in Incredibles 2, and it hits the hardest for parents around Bob's age.
In case you haven't been around an intermediate school math class for awhile, you may be surprised
to learn that they really did change math, whoever "they" are.
"I don't know that way.
Why would they change math?
Math is math!"
It's not just Bob being clueless.
Dash's "New Math for Life" textbook and its indecipherable problem-solving methods are
a reference to the often-confusing Common Core method of learning and doing arithmetic.
The competing old and new approaches have been fueling debates among parents and teachers
for years, so if you hear some grown-ups laughing particularly loudly at the movie's homework
sequence, the Common Core callout is probably what got them.
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