While Blushing aligns with Pixar’s new era for its wonderful animation and commitment to diversity and real-world issues, the film – being a Pixar film – still lives up to the animation studio’s commitment to Easter eggs. While the filmmakers of course threw in their usual stuff like the A113, the Pizza Planet truck and the Luxo ball, it also paid homage to old and new Pixar creations.
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And while they did a great job sneaking in those classic little nods, the film is also sadly missing one of Pixar’s most popular Easter eggs – the one they’ve included in almost every movie since Toy Story.
Pizza Planet Truck
Although it started out as a comical mode of transportation for Woody and Buzz to get to Pizza Planet in Toy Story, the Pizza Planet truck has been a staple of Pixar films, appearing in every movie except The Incredibles.
The Pizza Planet truck can be easily found in the Blush parked on the street during the scene where Mei runs home from school after transforming into a red panda.
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References to “Bao”
The 2018 Pixar short Bao has several references to Turning Red, and for good reason. Bao and Turning Red share director Domi Shi, who became the first Asian-Chinese woman to direct a Pixar film.
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Not only does the movie feature the same dumplings as in the short, but Bao gets a direct scream through a restaurant sign hanging in the distance that reads “Bao’s Restaurant” written in the same font as in the short.
Handbook “Light Year”
Pixar has been hinting at their next release in their current releases for years now; something that has since become a tradition for the animation studio. But that easter egg has been harder to spot in recent years, as audiences sometimes didn’t even know exactly what the upcoming film’s easter egg was made of.
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But this time, it was pretty easy to find an Easter egg for Lightyear 2022. Miriam’s sticker-decorated skateboard just has a sticker with the Star Command insignia, a clear nod to Buzz Lightyear.
Luxo Ball
The Luxo Ball, better known as the “Pixar Ball”, is another Easter egg that has appeared in every Pixar film since appearing in the Pixar short Luxo Jr, and has since become a symbol of the animation studio.
While the filmmakers have made that yellow, blue and red ball harder to find in recent films, this time the ball is shown in one quick scene floating in the pool at Tyler’s birthday party.
A113
That combination of letters and numbers that marked Pixar’s class at the California Institute of the Arts, which they then decided to use in Toy Story, has since become Pixar’s most famous Easter egg in every single movie.
But being their mean personalities, you’ll have to wait until the end of the movie to find him. Pixar hides the class number in the end credits of the film Turning Red, pasted on the 4*Town concert ticket.
Sid’s skull
“Red Transformation” contains several Toy Story references, which is understandable since Domi Shi confirmed that the film is set in the same universe as Andy.
One notable nod to Toy Story was Miriam’s skateboard, which features the same skull logo as the T-shirt Sid Phillips wears in the first and third Toy Story films (as well as his cameo in ” Coco”).
Pixar character stickers
Pixar is getting more and more creative in how they incorporate other Pixar characters into their films. In Turning Red, they do it in the form of stickers.
Mei’s flip phone features a sticker of the Rainbow unicorn from Inside Out, and a cute blue Nemo sticker from Finding Nemo can be seen on the school locker.
Pixar Short Links
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Due to the popularity of Pixar shorts in recent years, Pixar animators also refer to their shorts in their films. If you keep a close eye on the action, you will see the chess player Jeri from Toy Story 2, Tinny from Tin Toy from Toy Story 4, and many others.
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In Turning Red, you can spot the Purl toy from the 2018 short film of the same name in Mei’s room. Mei also has a sticker of a rabbit from the 2020 short “Nora” on her notebook.
Blue Jays Double Easter Egg
Near the end of the film, when the destroyed Skydome is being rebuilt after the infamous “Pandapocalypse”, a small blue jay is perched on the fence.
This blue jay looks like a double Easter egg, not only a tribute to the Toronto Blue Jays (where the movie takes place), but this bird can also be found in an episode of Pixar’s Dug Days on Disney+.
No, John Ratzenberger.
The one classic Easter egg you won’t find in Turning Red is the voice of Pixar legend John Ratzenberger. After voicing Hamm in Toy Story (as well as its three sequels), Ratzenbeger has been considered Pixar’s lucky charm, appearing in every subsequent film.
But in recent years, Ratzenberger has had no voice roles in Pixar films, and 2020’s Soul featured only his likeness instead of his famous voice.
NEXT: Blushing Review: Pixar made a great coming-of-age movie that isn’t terribly sad!
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about the author
Ashley Amber (25 articles published)
Ashley Amber is a 27 year old writer. Ashley self-published her debut modern/magic realism novel in 2021, with a sequel due in 2022. She also made her poetry debut in 2021, published in the LGBTQIA+ anthology by InkFeathers Publishing, for which she also received an award. an honor to write an abstract on the back cover. In addition to books and poetry, Ashley has worked as a pop culture writer and blogger for numerous blogs, most notably MJ’s Big Blog and Collider.
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