Moviefone Editorial

Tag: easter-eggs

  • ‘The Walking Dead’ Season 6 Finale Director Responds to Fan Outrage, Reveals Easter Eggs

    AMC's "The Walking Dead" Season 6 Fan Premiere Event At Madison Square Garden 2015 - ArrivalsAfter that bold, The Walking Dead,” you know there’s no way Greg Nicotero, the series’ co-executive producer, effects supervisor, and director of the episode in question, is going to offer even a hint as to which of Rick’s band of survivors ended up on the fatal end of Negan’s barbed-wired Louisville Slugger.

    But Nicotero was perfectly willing to offer a little insight as to how the show ended up at a moment that left the fan faithful looking at several months of nail-biting ahead before the doomed member of the Grimes group is revealed and his thoughts on the explosive fan reaction to the scene. He also plants a very persuasive seed of doubt for when the cast appears in shots taken during the production of the upcoming season — meaning don’t start your process of elimination when shots from the set of Season 7 show up online…

    Moviefone: Tell me how you came to the decision, creatively, to end the season in such a spectacular fashion.

    Greg Nicotero: Well, thank you for saying “spectacular fashion,” because so many people are so angry about it. I appreciate you saying that! [Laughs]

    With the comic book, we had a great blueprint. The blueprint gets darker and darker as the comic book progresses. So we weren’t very shy about lining up where we were going to land: it’s whichever comic book panel we stopped on and started on. I’m proud of the story that we told, of our actors and the performances that they gave.

    Still today, I was getting texts from Josh [McDermitt] and from Steven [Yeun]. Josh told me that his wife screamed at the television because she didn’t know. She thought, “It wasn’t you, was it?” It’s just amazing.

    Did the reaction line up with what you thought? Or was there a little more outrage than you expected?

    Well, I don’t know if I would have expected quite so much outrage. But people are passionate about it. Listen, if the next morning everybody woke up and went, “Oh yeah…,” just had their coffee and went on with their day, then we would have done something wrong. I’m not saying we did it on purpose, but people care and people are passionate about it. They want to feel something.

    So how are you going to deal with letting your cast members be in public in any way, shape, or form, where they’re going to be getting grilled? How are you going to release images and footage for next season without giving away at least part the secret?

    The minute you see somebody not on their knees in front of Negan, you may have an inkling. But listen, sometimes the show has flashbacks and sometimes the show jumps the timeline a little bit. I mean, this season, the first episode jumped the timeline a bunch of times. So we could potentially shoot footage that would have taken place before that.

    Is there any kind of fun Easter egg that you guys put in the finale that the fans should look for on the second or third viewing? Maybe something subtle about one of the walkers?

    Oh, there’s an interesting thing: the walker that Carol fought near the dumpster, I hired two twins because we did the before and after. Because Carol grabs the hair and pulls it, stretches the face off. It was the two girls that play harp at the conventions, these two blonde girls. And Ashton Kutcher‘s sister [Tausha Kutcher] was a zombie in the scene where we had the Red Rover walkers.“The Walking Dead” Season 7 premieres October 11th.

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  • ‘Finding Dory’ Pixar Easter Egg Is an April Fools’ Joke We Can Get Behind

    hank, octopus, finding dory, ed o'neill, pixar, easter eggPixar fans have come to expect elaborate Easter eggs from the animation studio’s films, with recurring objects and references popping up in numerous movies as a wink to both the filmmakers and audiences alike. Well, get ready for the ultimate Pixar Easter egg, which today was revealed to have appeared in every single Pixar flick since 1995’s “Toy Story.”

    If you guessed it was a color-changing octopus, who we finally meet in “Finding Dory,” you’re right! Unfortunately, you’ve also fallen victim to an April Fools’ Day prank, courtesy of the studio. Thankfully, unlike most groan-inducing April Fools’ jokes, this one is pretty tame, and actually kind of clever, in that it helps highlight a new character from “Finding Dory,” while reminding audiences of all the classic Pixar movies they know and love (and hinting that they’ll soon come to see “Dory” the same way, too).

    The clip is introduced by “Dory” director Andrew Stanton and actor Ed O’Neill, who voices the cephalopod in question, an octopus named Hank. Hank is one of many new sea creatures that Dory meets on her quest to reunite with her family in the flick, and it looks like his ability to blend into his surroundings will be the source of some shenanigans for our favorite blue tang fish.

    Be on the lookout for Hank — and other actual Easter eggs — in “Finding Dory,” which swims into theaters on June 17.

    [h/t Screen Crush]

    Photo credit: Pixar via USA Today

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  • ‘Zootopia’ May Be the ‘Most Easter Egg-Packed Movie Ever Made by Disney’

    Disney's ZOOTOPIAThis weekend, “Zootopia” joins the illustrious Disney legacy of people-less, all-animal animated movies, like “Robin Hood” and “The Lion King.” Directors Byron Howard and Rich Moore bring us a new take on the genre by creating a world not unlike our own, filled only with anthropomorphic animals, some of whom call the big, sprawling city of Zootopia their home. The movie tackles a number of social and emotional issues, while, at the same time, breaking new ground in computer animation.

    We sat down with directors Moore and Howard to talk about the early days of “Zootopia” and the long road to becoming (potentially) one of the most important (and impactful) Disney movies to date.ZOOTOPIA directors byron howard and rich mooreIn early concept art, “Zootopia” seemed to have a very different look and story. Can you talk about how the movie went from space bunny adventure to animal metropolis film noir?

    Byron Howard: One of the ideas was about animals in space hunting space animals. The other idea was the “The Island of Doctor Meow” that had a Roger Corman B-movie feel about a mad scientist who had a savage serum. So you see little bits of these ideas sort of floating around back then. All these ideas had anthropomorphic animals in them cause I loved “Robin Hood” growing up. John Lasseter was also a fan of that genre of Disney classic cartoons. He said, “I will fully support any movie that features animals running around in tiny clothing.” He got on board and loved the idea of doing it. He really did charge us with making it different from any other animals movie before. He said, “Don’t think about story, just go off and do research.”

    We did about seven or eight months of research. We talked to animal experts and sociologists. Experts about how cities get built and formed and then he sent us down here to Disney’s Animal Kingdom and we talked to experts down here who helped us figure out animals personalities. And then finally he said, “Go to Kenya.”

    Kenya is amazing. He sent about 14 of us, including a lot of our leadership in different departments of the film, to Kenya. And they were all looking for something different. The animators were looking for movement and how animals’ fur behaves in light, and we came back completely changed and making the film way more in-depth than when we first left. It really did change our viewpoint on what we were going to do.

    Computer-generated animation has come a long, long way. In older movies, hair was more like a blob on a character’s head. Now you can see the breakthroughs Disney’s made, from the hair in “Tangled” to the fur in “Zootopia.” It’s outstanding.

    Rich Moore: Our technology took a huge step forward on the movie “Big Hero 6,” because they came up with this new software with a rendering system and lighting system called Hyperion. That makes it possible now to just render out an incredible amount of information per frame on our films. We now have the ability to kind of light scenes more organically, from where light sources come from. The process is sped up so much faster now, and when we’re reviewing animation we’re able to see it looking more like the finished frame.A WORLD FOR BIG AND SMALL — Walt Disney Animation Studios' "Zootopia" features a vast world where humans never existed. With advanced transportation systems that accommodate mammals of all shapes and sizes, the modern mammal metropolis was built by animals for animals. Directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore, and produced by Clark Spencer, "Zootopia" opens in U.S. theaters on March 4, 2016. ©2016 Disney. All Rights Reserved.Speaking of “Big Hero 6,” that reminds me of how Disney’s movies have been doing a great job of teaching audiences important moral lessons. That movie dealt with loss, and “Zootopia” feels current in exploring the need for empathy as a theme for the characters living in this big city. Is that something you looked to bring forward?

    Howard: That’s a very smart question. You’re actually the first one to articulate the question about empathy, which is a central part of what Judy is, I think in building who Judy [Hopps] (Ginnifer Goodwin) is as a character. I go back to the original “Superman” movie, with Christopher Reeve. What I really love about that film wasn’t that he was a superhero it was that he was compassionate. That’s what I think made that film work for me when I saw it when I was 10.

    I saw this person who cared and wanted to make a difference in the world, who had these feelings and this desire to make people happy, and I think that’s where Judy comes from, too; the fact that she sort of has this great Frank Capra-esque core but is still a flawed character that has something to learn, to mature. She does and she becomes a more whole character through this very challenging relationship that she has with this very smart fox. They’re both incredibly smart characters. And the fact that she wants to do good in the world but he keeps knocking down her sort of sunny disposition in saying, “Look, it’s not that easy. Things aren’t like that.” The fact that they actually bond over when he was a kid, he wanted the same things. That gave us very strong threads to pull on in the story, and I think that’s why people really are connecting with her. I think everyone wants to make a difference throughout the world but we find it’s sometimes more challenging than we anticipate.

    Moore: I think that the key was letting Judy make a mistake. Letting her not be perfect, not a sterling kind of Eagle Scout of a character that never makes a mistake. The fact that if Judy, who is this pure of heart, can have such a blind spot in her life, then it can happen to anyone out of naivety. We knew that once he had Judy as a main character, we knew that we were going with the theme, it was very important to us that she not just be a cartoon character that’s just a champion for everything good, but that our main character, though enlightened and progressive and thinking that she is kind of above the way that her parents think, is susceptible to these things, too.MR. BIG — The most fearsome crime boss in Tundratown, Mr. Big commands respect—and when he feels disrespected, bad things happen. A small mammal with a big personality, Mr. Big is voiced by Maurice La Marche. Walt Disney Animation Studios' "Zootopia" opens in U.S. theaters on March 4, 2016. ©2016 Disney. All Rights Reserved.Lastly, I know you guys have fun with the Easter eggs. What do you suggest audiences keep an eye out for in “Zootopia”?

    Howard: This is perhaps the most Easter egg-packed movie ever made by Disney.

    Moore: Hidden Mickey-ed movie. If you like sign gags, there’s tons of them all throughout. As soon as you get into the city of “Zootopia,” there are sign gags. If you like silly puns, there’s some and there’s groaners. If you like Disney references, I think it may be the first time, maybe “Aladdin” had a few with the Genie, but we went for it because we wanted it to feel like our world. In their world, they have their version of Disney movies. Let’s show ’em.

    Howard: Here’s one that no one knows yet. Our character designer is a big fan of Patrick Swayze‘s “Road House,” and one of the villains wears a t-shirt that is a homage to the bar in “Road House.”

    Disney’s “Zootopia” hits theaters Friday.

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  • Disney Reveals Pixar’s Hidden Easter Eggs (So Far) in Official Video

    This is why you have to watch Pixar movies multiple times — at least once just for the story, one more time for the jokes you missed the first time, a third to appreciate the visuals, and a dozen more times to make sure you caught all the Easter eggs tying the movie to the rest of the Pixar canon.

    Many Pixar fans have expertly scoured past movies to sleuth out secret clues, but this is the first time Disney has gotten in on the act itself. Not too long ago, Disney posted a 2 minute, 21 second video called “Pixar Hidden Easter Eggs & Secrets,” showing the subtle and not-so-subtle objects that appeared in one Pixar movie and were then referenced in another.

    Check it out:

    You may have already noticed all of those Easter eggs (especially the obvious ones from “Finding Nemo” to “Monsters Inc.” to “Toy Story”), but there’s always someone who’s just seeing them for the first time. Plus, this is just the start. As Disney teased in the description, “What other Disney movies have you spotted the Toy Story Pizza Planet Truck in?” Almost all of them! There’s only one Pixar movie (so far) that has not included it. Do you know which one?

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