Crew Tribute

Look at Homer in profile: the two zigzag strands of hair above his ear form an M, and the ear below is drawn from a G — Matt Groening's initials, baked into the character design…

'Boo' is Sulley's nickname for her, not her name. The film signs the real one in a place most viewers never read: the child's own drawing, marked Mary. That is also the name of…

After the credits, Finding Nemo carries a dedication to Glenn McQueen, a Pixar supervising animator who died of melanoma in October 2002, aged 41, during the film's production…

Ben Burtt — the sound designer who created R2-D2's beeps, the lightsaber hum and the blaster fire of Star Wars — both performs WALL·E and designed the film's robot vocabulary…

The studio hallways in "Hotel Reverie" are lined with posters for films that don't exist — except they all mean something. One advertises "White Bear" with the tagline "Justice…

The severed faces lining the House of Black and White in Braavos mostly belong to crew members and their families — and, tucked among them, showrunners David Benioff and D.B…

The overhead signs in the freeway sequence are a who's-who of Deadpool's comic lineage. WhatCulture's frame-by-frame hunt catalogued "Nicieza St." and a misspelled "Leifeld St."…

A street sign in downtown Zootopia reads Vine and Tujunga — the real intersection near the Tujunga warehouse in North Hollywood where the Zootopia crew worked while Disney…

Jim Beaver — Supernatural's beloved Bobby Singer — joins The Boys as Secretary of Defense Robert Singer, later the presidential candidate 'Dakota Bob.' The name isn't a…

Two of Vought's smarmy in-house creative staffers are named Seth and Evan — a tip of the hat to executive producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the writing-directing duo who…

Joe Gardner's performances are not invented hand positions. The animators worked from footage of Jon Batiste playing the film's jazz cues, matching finger placement to the real…

In the Episode 1 rooftop flashback where Nolan explains his powers and home planet to a small, wide-eyed Mark, the boy is wearing a red t-shirt with CANADA printed across it in…

In the background of Toronto sits a sign for a Bao restaurant, using the logo from Bao — the 2018 short about a woman whose dumpling comes to life, which won Domee Shi an Academy…

The face in the weirwood tree at Harrenhal was deliberately modeled on George R.R. Martin. Production designer Jim Clay revealed that Ryan Condal wanted it "as a bit of a…

The window of Dr. Kinbott's office building reads 'Millar & Gough' — the surnames of the show's co-creators. Miles Millar and Alfred Gough, the duo previously behind Smallville…

During the New Year's Eve dance in Jackson, the bearded musician on stage is Gustavo Santaolalla, composer of both the games and the show. It mirrors his cameo in The Last of Us…

Lumalee — the adorable blue Luma cheerfully monologuing about the sweet release of death in Bowser's dungeon — is voiced by Juliet Jelenic, daughter of co-director Michael…

The ham radio set carries the brand name DOMAD, which is DOMee Shi and MADeline Sharafian, two of the film's three directors, compressed into a single fictional electronics…

The team's rocket is named the Excelsior, Stan Lee's lifelong sign-off. It carried Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben on the mission that gave them their powers, and they re-launch it…

Yancy Street's storefronts hide the film's quietest creator tributes: Stanley's Service Center for Stan Lee and a shop called King's for Jack Kirby. Lee was born Stanley Lieber…

Two young men who look like Stan Lee and Jack Kirby watch the Silver Surfer arrive from the window of a Timely Publications office. Timely was the 1940s company that became Marvel…

The team's reality carries the multiverse designation Earth-828 because Jack Kirby was born on August 28, 1917. Kirby co-created the Fantastic Four, Galactus, and the Silver…

During the New York City scenes, a yellow school bus rolls past with "Crichton Middle School" painted on its side — a tribute to Michael Crichton, the author of the 1990 Jurassic…

On Mabel's windowsill stand figurines of a grizzly, a polar bear and a panda, stacked one atop the other. That is the signature image of We Bare Bears, the Cartoon Network series…

Among the animals at the council sit three small birds unmistakably drawn from For the Birds, Pixar's Oscar-winning 2000 short about a flock bullying an outsider on a telephone…

In the article headlined 17 Mayors We're Obsessed With, the name listed after Mayor Jerry is Grindle — a nod to the film's producer, Nicole Paradis Grindle. Pixar has a long habit…

The director calling the shots inside the Thriller recreation is not a hired actor. Fuqua's original extra had a problem: "The extra we hired to play John Landis didn't realize he…

The technician airbrushing Michael into a werecat on the Thriller set is played, uncredited, by Bill Corso — who is the actual makeup designer and makeup department head of…

In the quiet scene where Grace and Rocky compare what they left behind, Grace mentions an ex who is now with a man called Mark, and Rocky immediately replies "Rocky hate Mark."…

The film opens on a copy of the Daily Planet, and it is on screen for seconds — long enough to be a freeze-frame puzzle rather than set dressing. DC's own round-up confirms that…

The star charts are a thank-you note. The planet Holzherr takes its name from Brittany Holzherr, the DC Comics editor who shepherded Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. The planet…

Look closely at the New Republic personnel at Adelphi Base: Lucasfilm president Dave Filoni reprises his recurring pilot cameo as Trapper Wolf, Obi-Wan Kenobi director Deborah…

The holographic image of infant Rotta shown during Din's briefing comes from a physical model that director Jon Favreau hand-painted himself — and he signed his name at the…

The Lilypad tablet and the Smarty Pants toy are both made by Eggman Tech, a tribute to Pixar art director Ralph Eggleston. Eggleston was affectionately nicknamed "The Eggman"…