For The Birds
For The Birds (2000). ©Disney/Pixar.
In 2000, Pixar released For The Birds, a short directed by Ralph Eggleston. It told the story of a group of birds who attempt to pick on a larger bird. It is arguably one of the best shorts that the studio has released.
Toy Story That Time Forgot (2014). ©Disney/Pixar.
In Toy Story That Time Forgot, one of the game boxes on the floor of the room (the blue box on the bottom of the pile) is marked with “For The Birds,” instantly making it a game that we would love to see made a reality. There is at least one more easter egg in this still, which leads us into the next reference to Pixar history…
Nemo and Dory
Finding Nemo (2003). ©Disney/Pixar.
Finding Nemo is one of the highest-grossing Pixar films ever, and it remains one of the funniest in the studio’s catalog. Much of that is due to Ellen Degeneres’ portrayal of Dory, the blue tang fish with memory difficulties. Dory and Nemo will be back in the sequel, Finding Dory, in 2016.
Toy Story That Time Forgot (2014). ©Disney/Pixar.
Both Nemo and Dory can be seen on one of the boxes that are piled up on the floor of the room (towards the left side of the image). The orange/white and blue/yellow colors of the fish make them unmistakably Nemo and Dory.
Strangers From The Outside
Toy Story (1995). ©Disney/Pixar.
The original Toy Story is jam-packed with memorable scenes. One of the funniest is when Buzz and Woody encounter the little green aliens for the first time. It is in this scene that we are introduced to “The Claw,” a gag that would return several times later in the series. When Buzz climbs into the machine and meets the aliens, one alien says, “A stranger,” while another says, “From the outside,” resulting in all the aliens humorously exclaiming, “Wooooooaaaa.”
Toy Story That Time Forgot (2014). ©Disney/Pixar.
In Toy Story That Time Forgot, when the Cleric meets Trixie, Buzz, Woody, and Rex, he says, “Strangers from the unforgiving outlands.” It is close to the original line, so I half expected a group of the Battlesaur dinosaurs to say “Wooooooaaaa” too. Alas, that was not the case. That might have been pushing it too far, anyway.
Luxo Jr.’s Ball
Luxo Jr. (1986). ©Disney/Pixar.
Luxo Jr., released in 1986, was the first piece of animation produced by Pixar after John Lasseter and Ed Catmull left George Lucas’ company behind. In it, a small lamp proceeds to play with a ball, flattening it before moving on to playing with a significantly larger ball. The blue/yellow colored balls featured a red star. The lamp would go on to become Pixar’s mascot, appearing with the company logo before every one of its feature films, while the ball would be an easter egg in each of those films as well. The ball even appears in several of the studio’s other projects.
Toy Story That Time Forgot (2014). ©Disney/Pixar.
In Toy Story That Time Forgot, the famed ball appears on the packaging for the Battlesaurs. It can be seen in several scenes of the film, but most clearly in the climactic scene where Reptillus Maximus chases Trixie. The ball is accompanied by the word “Luxo.”
There are surely other easter eggs in the TV special. Did you spot any others? Let us know in the comments below!
You can find these easter eggs in one of the many re-airings of Toy Story That Time Forgot this holiday season. The next time it runs on TV is this Sunday, December 7th, on ABC Family at 8 pm ET!
