The newest adaptation of Stephen King's It contains a lot of Easter eggs — some of
which are more obvious than others.
In addition to the ones we've talked about before, like those t-shirt logos, here's a
look at some of the other small details in It that only true fans noticed.
The absentee parents
As we see in the beginning of the movie, Derry has instituted a town curfew in reaction to
the disappearances of Georgie Denbrough, Betty Ripsom, and others.
Kids are expected to be home by seven sharp.
But that appears to be the full extent of the adults' concern or responsive action regarding
their own children's well-being.
This is definitely a conscious nod to the parents depicted in the book, who prefer to
forget about the town's dark history, even ignoring violence as it happens.
Most of the parental figures in the film are ones that have created additional problems
for their children.
Robert Dohay's head
​During the movie's visual history of the Easter parade explosion that claimed the lives
of so many kids, there's one particularly gruesome image that the camera seems to linger
on: a boy's head up in a tree.
"What's that?!"
That's a nod to Robert Dohay, a nine-year-old character from the book whose remains popped
up days after the rest of the victims in a neighbor's apple tree… and it was just his
head.
Considering all the creepy book deaths that didn't make the leap from the page to the
big screen, that's an unsettling one to keep for sure.
The stutter chant
Another thing book readers and fans of the mini-series will recognize is the phrase Bill
uses to overcome his stutter.
In the book, it's "he thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts."
In the movie, only a fraction of that is uttered by Bill, perhaps because he's still struggling
to finish it.
Without the second clause, it's a little less creepy, but the line is still seen as a major
metaphor for the story as a whole.
And he uses it to regain his self-confidence and strength in times of trial in the book
and movie alike, so it's still effective.
I heart Derry
Patrick Hockstetter's death in the movie is nothing like it was in the book.
But there is still something familiar about his fate.
In the movie, he comes upon a balloon that turns around to read "I Heart Derry" on it
before It gets him.
It's ominous enough standing alone, but when you remember the book's story about Adrian
Mellon, it's even worse.
In the book, Adrian was a gay man who was beaten up and flung beneath a bridge by some
homophobic bullies.
While trying to rescue him, his partner saw the clown and that the overpass was filled
with balloons that had the same phrasing on it.
And it was a hat with the "I Heart Derry" logo that started the attack sequence in the
first place.
Perhaps the reason the balloon came into play for Patrick here is that in the books, he
too exhibited a preference for a same-sex partner, even though that didn't make it to
screen.
The corner
Another wink to the source material is contained in the location of Georgie's travels while
chasing his paper boat down the street.
The camera pans to the street signs, which reveal he's at the intersection of Jackson
and Witcham, just like in the book.
And the fact that he runs right into one of the sawhorses that littered the flooded street,
well, that's quite literally a book reference that smacks us in the face.
Paul Bunyan
When the Losers gather to discuss the town's killer clown in the park, a statue of Paul
Bunyan can be seen lingering behind Mike as he fills them in on what he knows.
In the book, the statue is not only there, but it also comes to life to taunt Richie
as his own personalized fear, instead of the clowns.
Perhaps the reason the statue still made it into the movie, despite not being presented
as Richie's materialized fear factor, is that the statue really does exist in Stephen King's
neck of the woods in Bangor, Maine.
Not only that, but it's been creeping all the locals out​ since it was erected.
"I know the difference between a bad dream and real life, okay?"
The forgetting
After they manage to defeat It for the first time, the Losers assemble for what is, unbeknownst
to them, the last time the seven will be together like this.
They listen to Beverly as she talks about what it was like to be under the deadlights
of Pennywise, and she tells them that she's already forgetting pieces of what she experienced.
That's a definite bit of foreshadowing for what's going to come when they grow up and
purge It and Derry as a whole from their adult memories… until It returns, of course.
Exit order
Another subtle preview exists in the order in which the Losers take leave of each other,
with Stan departing first and Eddie shortly behind him.
As we know from the book's second half, that's also the order in which they'll depart in
entirely different ways.
Stan, as an adult, is so shaken by the return of It that he takes his own life in the bathtub.
And Eddie makes it back to Derry to fight alongside his childhood comrades but is killed
in the battle before It is ultimately defeated.
Those might be stories for ​Chapter Two​, but ​It​ wasn't afraid to give fans a
little taste of what's to come here.
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