Here is a complete compilation of all the Easter eggs in the classic Back to the Future trilogy. The first Back to the Future premiered in 1985 starring Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox as Doc Brown and Marty McFly, respectively, time-traveling in a plutonium-powered DeLorean and trying to get out of the year 1955 without causing any time paradoxes. Four years later, Back to the Future: Part II came out with Back to the Future: Part III being released just the following year. After over thirty years, the trilogy’s legacy still ripples in our culture. People worldwide commemorated “Back to the Future Day” on October 21, 2015, in reference to the day in the future that Marty and Doc traveled to in Back to the Future: Part II. Likewise, from Marvel’s Back to the Future Easter eggs to Family Guy cutaway gags, Back to the Future continues to reverberate through pop culture.
Despite Back to the Future being quintessentially ’80s, the trilogy has managed to become timeless in its own right. Fitting, considering that the trilogy explores a 130-year period. The first film focuses on how to get Marty back to the year 1985 while avoiding an Oedipal bond with his mother and getting his reclusive, nerdy father out of his shell. Part two follows a similar formula by revisiting events from the first film and exploring different aspects of time travel. Finally, part three takes the main characters to the Wild West as they try to once again return to 1985 in the face of technology that’s yet to be invented.
Back to the Future’s numerous Easter eggs have engaged audiences in finding them for the past three decades. References remain after Back to the Future lowered their budget in lieu of their original nuclear bomb-based storyline. There are in-universe references such as the well-known Twin Pines/Lone Pines Mall Easter egg and the evolving Statler trade. Behind-the-scenes references to Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale, and executive producer Steven Spielberg also pop up throughout the trilogy. Easter eggs include anything that the audience can point out as a behind-the-scenes gag or in-movie reference. Callbacks like Biff’s manure truck bit, line repeats from earlier, or the bedside “you’re safe and sound in good old…” gag won’t be considered, as they’re meant to be formulaic to the film. If something’s popping in the background or hints at the filmmakers being clever and fun, then it’s on the list. Regardless, whatever the reference relates to, here are all of the Easter eggs to be found in the entire Back to the Future trilogy.
Back to the Future‘s time travel accuracy bases a lot of itself on existing sci-fi classics because, well, time travel isn’t scientifically feasible. Still, right at the first shot are two references. First off, the synchronized clock opening is one of the few homages to the movie Time Machine (1960). Secondly, the clock with the man hanging from the minute hand references actor Harold Lloyd’s famous scene in Safety Last! (1923) and also alludes to Back to the Future’s climax of Doc at the clock tower.
On the bed during the opening shot, there’s the JVC video camera that Marty later uses to film the DeLorean footage. It’s a good allusion to the eagle-eyed viewer for what’s to come later, and it’s a good clue into how much time Marty spends at Doc’s place. The Burger King wrappers are also a pretty good indicator.
CRM 114 on the giant guitar amp that Marty plugs into alludes to Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove and is referenced throughout movie history as a popular Easter egg. It’s kind of like the “A113″ Easter egg in Pixar films, referencing the classroom for first-year graphic design at the California Institute of Arts. The CRM 114 Easter egg is also used in A Clockwork Orange, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Men in Black 3.
As Marty is rushing to school to Huey Lewis and the News’ sweet “Power of Love” tune, “1646″ is on the gate as he’s leaving Doc’s place. This implies that Doc is living out of his garage, no longer the massive mansion from 1955. Doc does say that his time-traveling dream cost him his family fortune, after all.
See that guy yelling that the music’s too loud? Ironically, that’s Huey Lewis himself. He’s referring, no less, to his own song.
Michael J. Fox saved Back to the Future in many ways after replacing the original Marty, Eric Stoltz. While there’s no hate on Stotz, Fox brought a funnier, more charismatic quality to the character. His guitar skills also heightened the cool factor of the role and brought forth some of the franchise’s most iconic moments. During his talent show audition with his band “The Pinheads,” the mulleted blond guy with the army hat and red guitar is actually Fox’s real-life guitar instructor, Paul Hanson.
The Statler family in Hill Valley go way back. They’re referenced throughout the trilogy, from selling horse-and-buggies in Back to the Future: Part III and being a Studebaker dealership in the ’50s. Their first on-screen mention was the film’s opening radio commercial.
Look in the back, and you’ll see “Orgy American Style” on the Essex theater marquee. Marty and his girlfriend Jennifer, played by Claudia Wells before Elisabeth Shue replaces her in Back to the Future: Part II, pass an adult store not long before this shot. So, a pornography theater in the middle of downtown Hill Valley? Not unusual. But, the theater playing a porno from 1973, 12 years prior? This is because that film stars George “Buck” Flower, the guy playing the “bum” in Back to the Future.
The Honeymooners’ episode “The Man from Space” is referenced throughout the first movie. Its first instance on screen is in 1985 with the McFlys eating dinner and George (Crispin Glover) watching it on television, laughing while Lorraine (Lea Thompson) is recalling the night they met at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance. The next instance is in 1955 when Marty is watching television with his mother’s family at the dinner table. “Hey, hey, I’ve seen this one!” remarks Marty. “What do you mean you’ve seen this? It’s brand new,” says his young uncle Milton.
How did Marty and Doc meet in Back to the Future? An old scientist and a high school kid is kind of a weird friendship, but it’s strong enough for Doc to make Marty the first person alive to witness time travel with him. And what better place to showcase your time machine than a mall parking lot after midnight? In one of Back to the Future’s most famous Easter eggs, Twin Pines Mall (really Puente Hills Mall in Industry, California) becomes Lone Pine Mall at the end of the film, calling back to the moment that Marty crashes down one of Farmer Peabody’s pines with the DeLorean in 1955.
Alluding to Disney’s 1959 film The Shaggy Dog according to Bob Gale, Doc’s dog Einstein is behind the wheel of the DeLorean. Equal parts cute, equal parts necessary for time travel experimentation. Also, Back to the Future’s original monkey sidekick for Doc would have probably been more difficult to keep behind the wheel, compared to a Catalan sheepdog. Another minor Easter egg in this shot – the red-green-yellow color scheme of the time dashboard is another Time Machine reference.
Everyone who’s watched Back to the Future knows that the DeLorean requires 1.21 “jiga”-watts. During Einstein’s time travel experiment, he’s taken one minute into the future from 1:20 AM. It’s a clever little play, then, to have Einstein arrive at 1:21 AM.
While Bob Gale insists that it’s just a coincidence, fans looked into whether November 5 has any relevance. It turns out that, besides being Guy Fawkes day, it’s the birthday of Gale’s father. Again, totally a coincidence – but a fun thing to catch. The time-travel dates were chosen to coincide with the filming schedule.
While the fate of Back to the Future’s Libyans is unclear in the film, Doc’s first instance of getting shot by them gives viewers a little foreshadowing. Notice that Doc’s bullet holes aren’t bleeding. Maybe this is chalked up to the PG rating, but still, getting shot close-range by a machine gun would produce something. Either way, at the end it’s revealed that Doc wore a bulletproof vest. Is he wearing the bulletproof vest here, or is this not the right timeline? Let’s leave that to the time travel experts.
When Marty time-travels to 1955, he arrives at the ranch that eventually becomes Twin Pines/Lone Pine Mall. He’s first greeted by a scarecrow, which many see as a Wizard of Oz reference. It’s just like Dorothy who meets Scarecrow first on the Yellow Brick Road.
Disney may have turned down Back to the Future, but not Universal, which distributed the “Rocky and Bullwinkle Show” and its supporting feature, “Peabody’s Improbable History” with Mr. Peabody and Sherman in the “WABAC” Machine. The son on the ranch Marty arrives at is the only one in the family given a first name, credited as “Sherman Peabody.” He tells his family that the DeLorean “ain’t no airplane” as he gives his father a science fiction comic book.
Give it up to the art department for their attention to detail on this comic book cover. While “Tales from Space” is fictional, everything from the 1950s EC Comics logo to the lettering closely replicates comic cover art from that time period. The 1950s had a science fiction boom, and this isn’t the only sci-fi reference in Back to the Future.
With Michael J. Fox replacing Stoltz in Back to the Future, he was able to build up a more fish-out-of-water angle that the film was trying to go for, playing up the comedy. Him walking around 1950’s Hill Valley and seeing all the differences with “Mr. Sandman” scoring the scene is one of the trilogy’s most memorable moments. Look around the scene. There are lots of tidbits from the 1950s. For example, the record store window that the camera pans to references Patti Page and Nat “King” Cole.
Doc Brown’s house at 1640 Riverside Drive is actually a famous property in Pasadena, California. It’s the “Gamble House,” once owned by David and Mary Gamble of “Proctor and Gamble” fame. The house’s interior is actually the Robert R. Blacker House, as filming inside the Gamble House is prohibited.
Notice to the left a poster saying “Ron Woodward for Senior Class President.” Ron Woodward was the film’s key grip, and the set decorators put his name on the poster as an inside joke. Woodward also worked with Zemeckis on Romancing the Stone.
Marty inserts a cassette tape labeled “Edward Van Halen,” with “Edward” squeezed on the label. Van Halen didn’t give the film permission to use their music, but Eddie himself was okay with it. Eddie’s music cameo in Back to the Future is a further nod to the musician’s part in helping the film out. May he rest in peace.
“My name is Darth Vader, and I come from the planet Vulcan!” No need to explain this reference further. Notice the hairdryer at the waist – fans point out that hairdryers didn’t exist in 1955, which Gale explains away in his Back to the Future FAQ. The hairdryer is also a goof, though, as it wasn’t in the shot previously.
A funny joke in the film that is often referenced in pop culture is the Marvin Berry moment. As Marty is playing “Johnny B. Goode,” Marvin is on the phone with his cousin, Chuck. The rest is history.
Marty’s influence in 1955, from Back to the Future’s Biff (Thomas F. Wilson) to, of course, his parents, changes 1985 for the better. After going back to that year, Doc celebrates in the street around the firey track marks. In the background, the Town Theater marquee reads “The Atomic Kid,” alluding to the 1954 Mickey Rooney film about a kid gaining superpowers from uranium exposure. It references the original script that involved Marty going back to the future via a nuclear bomb explosion.
Notice underneath the clock a chip in the concrete. That’s where Doc chipped it during the 1955 lightning storm while getting Marty back. Also notice at the beginning of the film that the chip is not there.
When Marty comes back to 1985, fans wonder if it’s a new Marty or not in Back to the Future. Either way, in a relieved tone, Marty greets the bum on the bench as “Red!” Fans joke that the bum is former Hill Valley mayor Red Thomas, but the creators dispute that. It was apparently Michael J. Fox ad-libbing.
“I have your car towed all the way to your house and all you got for me is Lite beer?” remarks Biff at the beginning of the film. At the film’s end, look in the garbage can while Doc is rummaging and notice the regular beers. Nice character development.
Signs are always fun Easter egg hunts. Picking up from Back to the Future’s reshot ending with Elisabeth Shue in her role as Jennifer, Doc takes her and Marty to the year 2015 to deal with something disastrous happening to Marty McFly Jr. Entering the flying-car highway of the future, there’s a floating sign welcoming visitors to Hill Valley. Notice Goldie Wilson Jr. carrying on his father’s legacy as mayor. See the typical surrounding emblems for Kiwanis, Lions Club, the Neighborhood Watch Program, and so forth. And the greatest one: “Please FLY safely. Ejection seats save lives.” Do they, though?
Marquees are always a good Easter egg spot in Back to the Future. Notice that Max Spielberg, Steven Spielberg’s real son, is Jaws 19′s director. Another funny thing to spot on the marquee is that for Jaws 19, “This time, it’s REALLY REALLY personal.” Back to the Future: Part II isn’t exaggerating too much with predicting present-day sequelitis. It’s still left to the imagination what Back to the Future II’s Jaws 19 would be like.
The Grays Sports Almanac at the window is also surrounded by other little Easter eggs. A Roger Rabbit stuffed animal references Zemeckis’ Who Framed Roger Rabbit? that apparently talks. There’s also Jaws and Jaws 2 in the left corner. At the top is the Dustbuster mentioned in the shop and a JFK head bust that could reference “John F. Kennedy Drive” in Hill Valley. Who knows how good that antique Perrier water is, though.
Here’s another I Spy game. The Cafe ’80s is full of Easter eggs, where Griff gets Marty heated for being called “chicken” – which, of all insults, why is “chicken” Back to the Future’s go-to insult? In the film, identify the Halloween masks on the wall, the LA Dodgers World Series T-Shirt, a San Francisco ’49ers Super Bowl poster, and the ’80s television shows playing on the cafe’s multiple screens. The scene also shows extras on stationary bikes to allude to the cafe formerly being a fitness club during Marty’s era. There are a lot of references packed in this little cafe, from the walls to the menu items. And that little boy in the red shirt…
Yep, it’s Elijah Wood. Of course, the filmmakers weren’t intending this to be a “wink wink, nudge nudge” moment, but many fans like to point this out when watching Back to the Future: Part II. Looking at Elijah Wood’s movies, he reached superstardom with the Lord of the Rings trilogy and also starred in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Happy Feet, Sin City, and many others. It’s appropriate that his impressive movie resume starts with one of the most popular trilogies of the last generation.
All right, if Elijah Wood is going on this list, then so are the Chicago Cubs. Again, clearly, the filmmakers weren’t intending for this to be a reference. However, it’s still pretty fun to see that Back To The Future: Part II was only off by a year with this prediction (the Cubs won in 2016). This scene is Marty’s catalyst getting the Grays Sports Almanac.
It’s a really difficult reference to find and might have gone unnoticed if Bob Gale didn’t mention it himself. While many Back to the Future superfans found the train reference on Doc’s shirt foreshadowing Back to the Future III (notice the trains on his shirt are chasing horses), look really closely and find that the bandanna is made of the same shirt.
On an Easter egg hunt, always pause at newspapers. Fun Back to the Future jokes are on the 2015 newspapers and the alternate 1985 paper stating Nixon’s fourth term campaign and the continuing Vietnam War. Looking at this paper here, bandits are running around hospitals cutting people’s thumbs off, a man was killed by litter tossed out of a flying car, Madame President is tired of the same questions, and the princess is now Queen Diana. Oh, and Jaws 19 didn’t do so hot.
Never mind how Back to the Future’s Marty and Jennifer exist in two different times. Audiences in the ’80s wanted to know who that Michael J. Fox lookalike playing his daughter was. Well, it’s Michael J. Fox. Watch out RuPaul’s Drag Race.
With all the available ways to personalize our TV experience, from hundreds of cable channels in existence to the growing number of streaming platforms, seeing multiple TV screens at once is not usual. Unless we’re like Marty Jr. and need to multitask with our shows. Look at the shows he watches and have fun seeing the references.
Product placement is everywhere in Back to the Future. Pepsi, California Raisins, Black & Decker, the list goes on. Pizza Hut, however, has its name on the best-looking 5-second hydrated pizza ever.
There’s a lot of Back to the Future timelines to keep track of, but a clue to alternate 1985 is hidden in plain sight. Marty and Doc find the head of Old Biff’s cane in the DeLorean. However, if viewers look at the time dashboard for the “Last Time Departed,” it shows November 12, 1955 – the day of the Enchantment Under the Sea dance. However, it should say October 26, 1985, when Doc picked Marty and Jennifer up.
Every Back to the Future timeline shows the clock tower, with alternate 1985 being no exception. Notice that Biff turned it into a fire-spouting high-rise. About saving the clock tower, it looks like he nixed the clock altogether.
In evil – er, alternate 1985, everything finds a way to be a little darker. Note the “Smoking Required” sign by Marty’s head as he enters Biff’s museum. Funnily enough, it doesn’t look like the patrons already inside lit up.
Thomas F. Wilson’s Back to the Future ad-lib “Make like a tree and get outta here!” is just one moment proving why he’s genius for the role. It’s golden moments like the way Biff ogles at his love interest Marilyn Monroe in the Biff Tannen documentary, that makes Back to the Future: Part II all the funnier. Just the previous shot also showed him elbowing with Jayne Mansfield.
“How’d you get past my security downstairs?” yells Biff to Marty when he interrupts the party. Marty, only there to get down to business about the Grays Sports Almanac, doesn’t bother to answer. It’s a nice detail in the movie, however, foreshadowing the DeLorean twist. Marty probably got past security just by not going through the front.
While Doc’s Back to the Future catchphrase “Great Scott!” is iconic to the character, Doc never says “Just try it, Tannen!” in Back to the Future, Part III. He says it in the trailer for it at the end of Back to the Future, Part II. It’s just one of those things laying on the cutting room floor.
As a nod to the first film, Marty picks up the old model car out of 1955 Doc’s trash can. Much to Doc’s alarm, he’s back in 1955 from the events of Back to the Future Part II. Now, he needs his help to get back to 1885 to rescue 1985’s Doc.
Doc Brown’s canon is sometimes up for scrutiny. For example, Back to the Future Part III’s Doc Brown death plothole ends up not really being important. Likewise, the “L” in “ELB,” or Emmett L. Brown stands for “Lathrop,” making Doc’s first and middle name sound like “time portal” backward. Only the animated ’90s show really makes this canon, though. Still, “L” is undisputably Doc’s middle initial. It’s seen again on his time-traveling train later.
Once again, the look-at-the-marquee rule applies to the Easter egg hunt. At the drive-in theater shot in Monument Valley where Marty drives the DeLorean back to 1885, the marquee and movie posters are all Universal films, including some with Clint Eastwood. They’re Revenge of the Creature and Tarantula, both made in 1955.
Marty’s greeted by three overlooking old-timers upon his saloon entrance. They’re Western legend cameos. From left to right, it’s Dub Taylor, Harry Carey Jr., and Pat Buttram.
In a nearly-deadly Back to the Future Michael J. Fox scene, Marty is hanging from a noose held up by Mad Dog Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson). Doc coming to his rescue by shooting the rope is a reference to another Eastwood film, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. This is also the scene that Doc would have probably said, “Just try it, Tannen!” from the trailer.
In the back, there’s the famous clock for the Hill Valley clock tower. During this time, Doc and Marty are inquiring about how fast a train can go. In 1885, trains are only going 55 miles per hour, tops.
The woman in the blue dress is the first on-screen instance of Clara Clayton (Mary Steenburgen). According to Bob Gale, she got the horse-and-buggy that drove her to the ravine because no one at the train station picked her up. Here’s a clever nod to that. In the meantime, while Clara is trying to find her ride, Doc and Marty still need their DeLorean.
It’s one of the more fun Easter eggs. The band playing during the hoe-down is bearded Texas band ZZ Top making a cameo. Their hits include “La Grange,” “Cheap Sunglasses,” and “Sharp Dressed Man.”
Frisbie’s was a real pie brand once upon a time. It’s referenced in Back to the Future III as a joke to Marty’s naivete. Of course, there’s a clear chicken-and-egg situation here, where Frisbie’s pies inspired the “Frisbee” name for the toy disc.
“You talkin’ to me?” and “Go ahead, make my day!” are the two iconic movie lines Marty says to himself in the mirror. Anticipating the Mad Dog standoff, he’s having a little Taxi Driver/Dirty Harry moment in the mirror. It’s another instance of comedic relief in Back to the Future III. Unfortunately for him, Doc’s gasoline Back to the Future plothole is moot, meaning he still has to stay in 1885 and face Tannen.
There’s a barbwire salesman character in Back to the Future III. Played by Richard Dysart, this character is inspired by the real-life inventor Joseph Glidden. Glidden became the richest man alive for his barbwire creation.
Known colloquially in Hollywood as the “Movie Star Locomotive,” the Sierra No. 3 is perhaps the most famous train in cinematic history. Having starred in an estimated 170 films, Back to the Future: Part III is no exception. It’s Doc Brown’s time-traveling train and was used in the film’s climax. Rest assured, it wasn’t the train that fell into the ravine. That was a model. How Back to the Future‘s Doc makes a time-traveling train is certainly an intriguing question that got fans researching.
From the Native American “Shonash Ravine” to “Clayton Ravine,” Marty and Doc once again change history with “Eastwood Ravine” at the end. In Back to the Future, it’s assumed to the rest of Hill Valley that Marty’s Clint Eastwood character fell into Shonash Ravine, thus providing its namesake. In an exhaustive list, it’s the final real Easter egg in the Back to the Future trilogy.