Prepare to Have Your Mind Blown: The Back to the Future Easter Eggs Only True Time Travelers Ever Spotted!
Added on August 11, 2025 inEntertainment News Cards, Movie News Cards
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Isn’t it curious how some stories just refuse to age, like a fine wine—or maybe like a certain DeLorean that zooms through the decades? As the cosmos swirls under Jupiter’s expansive influence, pushing boundaries and expanding legacies, it’s only fitting that we shine a celestial spotlight on a film that’s been time-traveling hearts and minds for 40 years. “Back to the Future,” helmed by Robert Zemeckis, isn’t just any pop-culture relic. No, it’s a meticulously crafted capsule packed with Easter Eggs, from nerdy nods to “The Twilight Zone” and “Star Trek,” to sly visual gags hiding in plain sight. It asks us—what if small actions ripple through time, reshaping destinies? And, much like a cosmic alignment, its intricate storytelling brings together the societal tapestry of the 1950s and the 1980s with such finesse that the film feels as fresh today as it did back then. So, whether you’re a Marty on a skateboard or a Doc fiddling with clocks, buckle up because we’re taking a joyride through decades of hidden gems that make this sci-fi teen adventure a timeless legend. Ready to set your watch to 88 mph? LEARN MORE
When it comes to the most durable pop-movies that not only hold up incredibly well but truly defy aging and get better over time, the appreciable value of Robert Zemeckis’ Back to the Future is hard to beat. Indeed, with the film celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2025, there is still no shortage of discoverable tidbits, buried Easter Eggs, and fascinating trivia associated with the landmark sci-fi teen time-travel adventure. Much of the movie’s hidden audiovisual treasure trove derives from what ranks among the finest screenplays ever written, with Zemeckis and Bob Gale carefully crafting meticulous details and subtle clues, hints, references, and affectionate homages to pop culture’s past and present. The result is a vivid paragon of franchise worldbuilding, with several peripheral nuances reinforcing the themes of Marty McFly and Doc Brown’s story while commenting on the societal mores of the 1950s and 1980s.
In other words, Back to the Future’s vast menagerie of Easter Eggs serves a narrative function. By paying heartfelt tribute to everything from The Time Machine and The Twilight Zone to Star Trek and Star Wars, among many other science fiction time-travel stories, the movie subliminally underscores Marty’s quest to seize the day and forge his own future to the best of his ability. Not buying it? Well, dust off the DeLorean and rev that sumbitch to 88 miles per hour and crank up The Power of Love, it’s time to go Back to the Future once again!
Cinematic Easter Eggs
Okay, so the visual motif of half-hidden Easter Eggs begins in Back to the Future’s famous opening shot. As the credits start and the camera pans across Doc Brown’s collection of clocks, you’ll notice one model with a figurine of a man resembling Doc dangling from a clock hand. This not only subtly foreshadows the climactic finale in which Doc will do the same to help return Marty McFly to 1985, but it’s also a sly reference to Harold Lloyd’s character in the 1923 action comedy Safety Last!
More cinematic allusions abound in the opening scene. When Marty plugs his guitar into the amplifier that Doc later warns him not to use, the alphanumeric code “CRM 114” is displayed on the amp, highlighted in red. First used in the classic 1964 doomsday farce Dr. Strangelove, Stanley Kubrick continually referenced CRM 114 throughout his filmography. While it’s obvious that Zemeckis was fond of Kubrick’s work, Kubrick later repaid the favor by giving the highest compliments to Zemeckis’ Who Framed Roger Rabbit and the “incredible amount of backbreaking work” to weave animation and live-action so seamlessly with state-of-the-art technology. Not for nothing, but the image of Stanley Kubrick watching Roger Rabbit is pretty damn amusing.
Okay, so sticking with the movie theme, the next cinematic reference in Back to the Future comes in Hill Valley’s Town Square in 1985, where Marty meets his girlfriend, Jennifer. Partially in focus in the background is a movie theater marquee advertising the 1973 quasi-adult comedy film Orgy American Style. What many people don’t realize is that the bum, Red, whom Marty greets on the sidewalk bench as he returns to 1985 at the end of the movie, is the actor George “Buck” Flower, the star of Orgy American Style. While the easily missable detail is meant to depict how sick and depraved society has become since the so-called innocent era of the 1950s, it’s also a cool little homage to George Buck Flower. Many fans have theorized that the bum on the bench is the former Hill Valley Mayor, Red Thompson. However, Bob Gale has since disputed this.
Sticking with the Hill Valley Town Square sequence, the location was filmed at the famous Courthouse Square set on the Universal Studios backlot in Southern California. In addition to experiencing multiple fires during its existence, the Town Square featuring the iconic clock tower is the same Universal set that served as the setting of Kingston Falls, the fictional town featured in Joe Dante’s Gremlins. Of course, Francis Lee McCain, who plays Lorraine’s mother in Back to the Future, also played Billy’s mother, Lynn, in Gremlins. Further tying the two pop 80s movies together, if you look closely, Doc sports a large Gremlins notepad on his hip, attached to the left side of his belt, when he first meets Marty at Twin Pines Mall. What’s funnier, Kubrick watching Roger Rabbit, or Doc being a Gremlins fan?
Believe it or not, the two feline statues seen surrounding the tower clock were unused props recycled from Paul Schrader’s horror movie Cat People, also released by Universal three years before Back to the Future.
Right as Marty leaves 1955 in the DeLorean, another movie theater marquee displays a much different period-appropriate release as fiery tire streaks are left behind. Eagle-eyed fans can spot the title The Atomic Kid, the 1954 Mickey Rooney sci-fi comedy about a uranium prospector who gains radioactive superpowers after being exposed to an atomic blast. Of course, this refers to Doc Brown and his plutonium experiments, and Marty’s time-traveling superpowers afforded by the DeLorean. If you look closely, the Atomic Kid billboard can still be briefly seen when Marty returns to Hill Valley in 1985 before it suddenly turns into an Assembly of Christ Church. By the way, while the town name of Hill Valley was a deliberate oxymoron created by Gale and Zemeckis, the word DeLorean translates to “from the hills” in Romanian.
Over time, much has been made about Back to the Future’s play on The Shaggy Dog, the 1959 Disney Movie that concerns a young boy gaining superpowers that turn him into an Old English Sheepdog, a similar breed of dog to Einstein’s Catalan Sheepdog in Back to the Future. For those wondering, Tiger was the real name of the dog that played Einstein. For long shots of Einstein driving the DeLorean, stuntmen dressed in a dog costume were used, the same process used in The Shaggy Dog. Ironically, despite Dave McFly sporting a Mickey Mouse shirt in Marty’s photograph, Disney famously passed on Back to the Future and publicly regretted the decision. Not for nothing, but most studios declined the film, and the script was rejected 44 times.
Oddly enough, the inciting date of November 5, 1955, has been used in other time travel movies. In addition to being the date that Doc invented time travel in Back to the Future, November 5th featured prominently as the time-travel entry date in the 1979 movie Time After Time and the 1982 movie Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann. November 5th is also the birthday of Bob Gale’s father. As legend has it, Gale conceived the idea of Back to the Future after looking at his father’s high school yearbook and wondering, if he went back in time, would he be friends with his father?
Television Influences
Of course, overarching allusions to H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine have long been linked to Back to the Future, such as the color-coded DeLorean display readout. However, the movie leans more into its array of television influences. For instance, when Marty first enters the 1955 time frame, he immediately runs over one of Mr. Peabody’s pine trees. Hence, the change from Twin Pines Mall in 1955 to Lone Pine Mall in 1985. Mr. Peabody’s son in the film is named Sherman, an overt nod to the animated duo Peabody and Sherman from the Rocky and Bullwinkle TV show. As some fans are aware, the segment “Mr. Peabody’s Improbable History” features a storyline involving the genius canine Mr. Peabody and his adopted son, Sherman, traveling through time on the WABAC machine.
With clear tributes to Star Trek’s Vulcans, the most noticeable small-screen parallel correlates with the very first episode of Rod Serling’s classic horror/sci-fi anthology series The Twilight Zone. The story “Where is Everybody?” features a young man who wanders through a completely foreign town with no memory of who he is or how he got there. He walks into a diner with a jukebox and accidentally breaks a clock, thinking he is in a dream. Beyond the story similarities to Marty’s disorienting adventure, scored to The Four Aces’ Mr. Sandman, “Where is Everybody?” was filmed at the Courthouse Square at Universal Studios, the same setting as Hill Valley’s Town Square in Back to the Future.
Early in the 1985 timeline, when George McFly laughs hysterically at The Honeymooners episode “The Man From Space,” notice the board game LIFE sitting right next to the TV set. The entire plot of Back to the Future can be read as a game of LIFE, toying with the existential outcomes based on steps taken and moves made in the past and present.
Beyond the slew of movie and TV Easter Eggs, Back to the Future’s music is littered with cool trivia tidbits. Beginning with the most famous example, Huey Lewis, whose Oscar-nominated opening song “The Power of Love” perfectly sets the tone of the film, makes a hilarious cameo as the uptight authority who yells at Marty through a Megaphone for his music being “too darn loud” during the battle of the bands audition. The irony is that Marty is performing Huey Lewis and the News’ The Power of Love, meaning Huey is grousing about his own band’s creation. Of course, the band’s track “Back in Time” also features prominently in the film, adding infinite pop cultural cache. The band recorded a third song for the film, titled “In the Nick of Time,” but it was discarded and used in the 1985 Richard Pryor comedy Brewster’s Millions instead.
In the same audition scene with his band The Pinheads, the bass player holding a red guitar on Marty’s right side is Michael J. Fox’s guitar instructor, Paul Hanson.
Among the most memorable music sequences in the movie comes when Marty poses as Darth Vader and mercilessly blares heavy metal into George’s ear while he’s asleep in bed. A close-up of the cassette placed in the Walkman reads Edward Van Halen. Although the rock band Van Halen denied Back to the Future the rights to use its music, guitarist Eddie Van Halen circumvented the legal process and contributed music anyway. Although Eddie Van Halen created and performed the recorded guitar riff that nearly melts George’s brain, in actuality, he recorded the instrumental for the 1984 movie The Wild Life, also starring Lea Thompson and Eric Stoltz. Of Course, Stoltz was famously replaced by Fox after six weeks of filming when Zemeckis and Gale deemed his performance way too serious for the role. When the music from the song “Out the Window” went unused in The Wild Life, Van Halen granted permission for Back to the Future to use it.
As for the anachronistic hair dryer tucked in Marty’s waistband during the scene, it’s neither a goof nor an Easter Egg. It is one of the items from the 1980s that Doc left in the DeLorean, which is explained in a deleted scene. An extended deleted sequence shows Marty blasting George with the hair dryer, further frightening his father and forcing him to ask Lorraine out to the dance.
Meanwhile, while many assume Michael J. Fox sings in the film, in actuality, it was Jack Mack and the Heart Attack lead singer Mark Campbell filling in for Fox. Although Campbell was not credited, he earned a percentage of the soundtrack’s sales for his contributions.
Past the litany of movie, music, and television references, Back to the Future has no shortage of fun and fascinating literary links. One excellent example is seen when Marty crashes into old man Peabody’s barn. Peabody’s son hands him an EC comic from the 1950s titled Tales from Space. While completely fictional, the lettering and title design of the comic’s cover art are reminiscent of several horror and sci-fi comics of the time, including Tales From the Crypt. Remember, Zemeckis produced HBO’s Tales From the Crypt horror anthology, which launched four years after Back to the Future was released.
Also in the 1955 timeline, viewers can spot an Amazing Stories comic lying on George’s bedside table. Amazing Stories was a real science fiction comic created in 1926, but also alludes to the vastly overlooked Steven Spielberg sci-fi anthology series of the same name, which debuted on NBC two months after Back to the Future hit theaters. As you know, Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment produced the Back to the Future franchise.
In Lou’s Cafe, George reads the real-life magazine Weird Science #15. Coincidentally, John Hughes’ classic teen comedy, Weird Science, was released in August 1985, five weeks after Back to the Future. Both films were distributed by…you guessed it, Universal Pictures.
Others have noted literary parallels between Marty McFly and Hank Morgan, the young man who can ostensibly travel through time in Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. Others have equated Doc Brown with King Arthur from the same story.
In Marty’s bedroom at the beginning, a large photo can be seen on the wall featuring him and his siblings. It’s the same photo that Marty uses to show Doc that his family is being “erased from existence” due to the time travel paradox.
Another overlooked detail happens when Marty first arrives at school at the beginning of the movie. Scrawled in graffiti on the right side of the building entrance are the words Lorraine de Calvin. Many have interpreted this as a subtle in-joke referencing Lorraine’s fondness for Marty, whom she mistakes for Calvin Klein after reading the brand on his underwear. In France, Marty’s underwear brand was changed to Pierre Cardin. In Spain, it was altered to Levi Strauss.
When Doc sends Einstein one minute into the future, he times the process on two separate stopwatches. The time elapsed between Einstein’s exit and reentry is 1 minute and 21 seconds, the same as the time of reentry at 1:21 AM. While many fans have suggested this is an overt nod to Doc’s tirade about 1.21 gigawatts, Bob Gale has insisted it’s a total coincidence.
Another obscure background visual can be spotted when Marty arrives at Doc’s garage in 1955, where the DeLorean is stored. On the wall, a blueprint for the large Brain Wave Analyzer that Doc wears on his head as he tries to predict what Marty is thinking. It can be spotted behind Marty’s head right before Doc hands him the model car to wind up for demonstration. Notice, in the same scene, how Doc wears a watch on both wrists.
Less of an Easter egg and more of a hilarious aside, Zemeckis and his crew pulled a prank on Michael J. Fox while filming the scene with Marty and Lorraine parked outside the school dance. In the scene, Marty yanks a booze bottle from Lorraine before taking a sip himself. Although water was used for most takes, during one instance, Zemeckis had real alcohol substituted without telling Fox. When the cameras rolled and Fox took a sip of real alcohol, he burst out with a shocked grin and began laughing. Although the take was not used in the final film, the footage can be seen on the DVD outtakes.
One of the most pertinent storytelling sight gags occurs right before Marty goes back to the future. On the right-hand side of the street next to the Bank of America, a storefront for Ask Mr. Foster Travel Service is prominently displayed above the power cable. Above the storefront is another sign that reads Time to Travel? Ask Mr. Foster Travel Service, with a clock reading a few minutes after 10:00 PM. Ask Mr. Foster was not only a real travel agency founded in 1888, but the clock is also set to the time lightning will strike the clock tower and send Marty home. It’s a quick, blink-and-you’ll miss it moment, with the time and words Time Travel subliminally washing over viewers in nanoseconds.
Speaking of Marty’s race back to 1985, when he returns from the Enchantment Under the Sea dance, Doc tells Marty that there are exactly 7 minutes and 22 seconds before the lightning strikes the clock tower. From that moment on, precisely seven minutes and 22 seconds of real time elapse on screen before Marty returns home safely in the film.
As alluded to, the most well-known Easter Egg in the movie appears when Marty first meets Doc at the mall parking lot, with a sign reading Twin Pines Mall visible onscreen. This sign is changed to Lone Pine Mall in the alternative version of 1985, after Marty ran over Mr. Peabody’s pine tree in 1955. This is one of several easily missable sight gags and background visual clues that add subtle storytelling detail.
Similarly, when Marty returns to 1985, the ledge that Doc broke on the clock tower while trying to connect the power cable can be seen, alluding to the fact that it has not been repaired since that fateful night in 1955. The broken ledge is not present in the original 1985 timeline. Still, it is in the alternate version, highlighting how Doc and Marty redirected the course of events that changed their lives forever.
Speaking of alternate realities, once George defeats Biff, wins Lorraine’s heart, and forges a much brighter future for himself as a sci-fi author, his change in preferred beer reinforces his improved transformation. At the start of the film, George is seen drinking Miller Lite. In the end, when Doc rummages through the McFlys’ trash can looking for fuel, a can of Miller High Life, aka the champagne of beers, can be spotted. The implication is that George is now living the high life after reaching his full potential. It’s granular details like these that make Back to the Future such a treasure to watch, and why it’s held up so well for the last 40 years.
Alright, the last bit of business relates to several onscreen cast and crew shoutouts in Back to the Future. For instance, the man driving the jeep that Marty rides behind on his skateboard at the beginning of the movie is Stunt Coordinator Walter Scott.
Moments later, during the band audition, a car in the parking lot is seen with a license plate reading FOR MARY. This is a shoutout to Mary T. Radford, the personal assistant of Frank Marshall, the film’s first Assistant Director.
Later, when Doc and Marty visit Hill Valley High School, a prominent sign hanging in the hallway reads Ron Woodward For Senior Class President. This is a nod to Ron Woodward, who served as the Key Grip for Back to the Future and Zemeckis’ previous film, Romancing the Stone.
Finally, when Marty provokes Biff and escapes on the skateboard, Biff and his cronies run into a manure truck. The name D. Jones Manure Hauling is stamped on the truck. This is a reference to Dennis E. Jones, one of the movie’s Unit Production Managers.
As you can see, Back to the Future’s immense wealth of discoverable Easter Eggs helps to reinforce the movie’s time travel themes, alluding to several pop cultural references from the 1950s and the 1980s. It’s these brilliantly conceived storytelling details that subliminally convey Doc and Marty’s existential adventure in ways that appreciate the movie’s value and undeniable staying power. It’s also why the movie was the biggest box office hit of 1985, and why it remained #1 at the box office for three straight months. It’s also the reason why Gale and Zemeckis have vowed never to permit a franchise sequel, remake, or reboot in their lifetimes.
Indeed, the grand irony of Back to the Future, a movie about the passage of time, is that it remains timeless 40 years after its release.
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