10 Incredible Comedy Movie Details You Definitely Missed
You were laughing so hard you didn't spot these tricks.
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00:00If there's one thing filmmakers love to do, it's sneak hidden details into their movies.
00:04It's a practice that has existed for decades, and you can find examples of this attention
00:09to detail across every genre. Still, one that might not get the credit it deserves
00:14is the irreverent world of comedy. So with that being said, I'm Gem from WhatCulture.com,
00:19and here are 10 incredible comedy movie details you definitely missed.
00:2310. Gretchen's Hoop Earrings in Mean Girls
00:27If one of your friends ordered you not to wear a specific piece of clothing,
00:30you'd probably tell them to mind their own business, right? Well, that's because you're
00:34not buddies with the terrifying Regina George. When this mean girl tells you to stop wearing
00:39something, you stop. The original Mean Girls was a side-splitting comedy that lovingly explored
00:44high school clique culture and created a menacing villain in the leader of the Plastics, Regina.
00:49One of her most toxic traits was her fashion gatekeeping, dictating to her followers what
00:53they could and couldn't wear. A major victim of this tyrannical reign was Regina's supposed BFF,
00:59Gretchen, who she forbade from wearing hoop earrings as they were her thing. But don't
01:04feel too bad for Gretchen or her accessories, as things eventually turned around for the both of
01:08them. Although, you might have missed it. As the film wrapped up, it showed off each of
01:12the Mean Girls post-prom, with Gretchen hanging out with the cool Asians in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it
01:17moment. Still, if you're quick enough, you can spot that she's wearing hoop earrings again,
01:21proving that she has moved on from Regina and is still looking pretty fetch.
01:259. It's Only Half Time, Hercules
01:28Hades is the god of the underworld, the brother of Zeus, and quite possibly one of Disney's
01:33funniest villains. James Wood's rendition of the iconic mythological figure is an easy highlight
01:38of Hercules, but it seems that his version of Hades had more than just the ability to control
01:43the dead and shoot fire. He could also break the fourth wall. If you've seen this 1997 animated
01:48offering, you no doubt remember the titular character's epic encounter with Hydra. After
01:52stepping toe-to-toe with this monstrous beast, the legendary hero managed to slice his head
01:57clean off, implying that he had won the fight, but the dastardly Hades knew better. As he said,
02:02"'Guys, guys, relax. It's only half time,' before the Hydra grew two new heads."
02:07Fascinatingly, this quote was not just typical villainous bragging,
02:10it was a gag inspired by the film's runtime. You see, Hades called half time at the 46-minute mark,
02:16which placed this dialogue smack bang in the middle of the 92-minute movie. If you picked
02:20up on that the first time you watched the film, you'd better cool up the fates,
02:24because you clearly have the gift of prophecy. 8. The Missing Date in Guy's Calendar – Free Guy
02:30One major difference between movies and video games is that movies have direct control over
02:34what audiences see. Video games, on the other hand, don't have that same level of influence,
02:39as players can easily walk off the beaten track and look at things the designers never intended
02:43them to. This is something that plays a major part in Sean Levy's Free Guy, as this action comedy
02:49builds itself around an NPC whose life was an afterthought from the developers. His apartment
02:54is evidence of this, as the whole thing looks flat and unfinished. But ironically, a lot of
02:59thought went into making it that way, as can be seen in this detail. If you look at Guy's Calendar,
03:04you'll notice that, for some reason, it is missing the fourth date of the month. It might seem like
03:08a continuity error to some, but it's a deliberate choice by Levy and the film's production designer
03:14Ethan Tobin. Tobin discussed this detail in an interview with Variety, and claimed it was to
03:18help Guy's apartment feel like a half-thought sentence. You'd almost certainly fix an issue
03:22like this for a main character, but for Guy, nah, there's no need. 7. Jack Has the Cleanest Bag
03:28in Finding Dory Everyone remembers the Tank Gang. This
03:32delightful crew of sea critters told a great story of struggle, adversity, and triumph in Pixar's
03:37Finding Nemo as they sought their freedom from P. Sherman's dentistry. Of course, their great escape
03:42was tempered by the fact they ended up stuck in plastic bags in the ocean, but still, they got to
03:46live free of their fear of dollar. And they even reappeared in the sequel, Finding Dory, in a
03:51hilarious post-credits zing. That zing, however, proved why you should never throw rubbish into
03:56the ocean, as they were still confined to their plastic prisons a whole year after their escape.
04:01On top of that, they were utterly riddled with algae, but if you look closely, you could see
04:06that one of these things was not like the other. Keen viewers might have noticed that Jack,
04:10a shrimp, sported a spotless bag. Why was his clean when the others weren't? Well, you might
04:15recall that he was a skunk cleaner shrimp, and often cleaned the algae in the original tank.
04:20The animators clearly remembered this important aspect of his character, and thus made sure his
04:24bag was thick as spam. Let us know your thoughts on this list so far in the comments down below,
04:29and while you're there, drop us a cheeky like, share, and subscribe too.
04:326. Tackle Burry's Gun Knowledge in Police Academy
04:36Only the irreverent and utterly ridiculous Police Academy movies could create a character
04:40whose whole personality is, I love guns, and make him genuinely enjoyable. Eugene Tacklebury,
04:46who appeared in every Police Academy movie, was so obsessed with firearms you'd think he was
04:51attracted to him. Which, to be fair, he might have been, and most of his jokes came down to
04:54his unhealthy obsession with boomsticks. Still, his lead-loving personality was not a surface-level
05:00gag, as one scene from the first film proved how much thought the crew put into it. In 1984's
05:05Police Academy, the cadets went to a shooting range and practiced with live weaponry. As
05:09expected with these misfits, it went very wrong, as Leslie Barbera accidentally misfired before
05:14sweeping around and pointing his pump-action shotgun at everyone. Naturally, the whole cast
05:19quickly ducked for cover. Except Tacklebury, who stood still as a statue. Why did Tacklebury not
05:25jump out of harm's way? Well, it's because he knew that the gun would not fire again,
05:29as pump-action shotguns needed to be cocked every time before shooting. Unlike everyone else,
05:33his knowledge of the weapon helped him understand that he wasn't in any danger.
05:37It is a very clever and easy-to-miss detail in an otherwise stupid movie.
05:425. They Grow Up So Fast in Vegas Vacation
05:45National Lampoon's Vacation series had more ups and downs than a ride at Thorpe Park,
05:49with the fourth movie, Vegas Vacation, certainly one of the low points. Still,
05:54that didn't stop it from opening with a surprisingly decent and well-hidden meta-gag.
05:58The film opens with Clark Griswold excitedly telling his family he's taken them to Las Vegas,
06:03before saying, You kids are growing up so fast, I hardly recognize you anymore.
06:07This seems innocent enough, but after delivering the line,
06:10Park actor Chevy Chase looks slightly confused, and the camera lingers on the kids for a little
06:14too long. It's an odd moment, and one that likely left a lot of viewers feeling a little disorientated,
06:19but it did have purpose. The goofy movie moment was a wink and nod towards the ever-changing cast
06:24coming in to play Audrey and Rusty Griswold. By this point, the characters had been recast three
06:29times, with this lot being the fourth pair to take on the parts. As such, the movie played with
06:33the fourth wall subtly, by referencing how weird it was that the kids look so different to each
06:38iteration of the Griswold family vacations. 4. 30 Minutes Left, Fargo
06:43It turns out you don't need to be a Greek god to tell the audience how much time they've got
06:47left in the movie. The Coen Brothers' Fargo is quite possibly the holy grail of black comedies,
06:52as this twisted crime thriller pairs humour and murder together like strawberries and ice cream.
06:56It's an incredibly well-crafted film, and if you want more evidence of that, then listen on.
07:01Like Hades, this movie has a character who can break the fourth wall without you even knowing
07:05it. The dialogue deliverer in this film is Cole, as he says, 30 minutes, Jerry, we wrap things up.
07:10At the perfect time. This line of dialogue plays out when there are only 30 minutes left of the
07:15film, including credits. It's a reference so minor and obduced that no one will ever know
07:20it's there, lest they happen upon it by pure chaos or are told by someone else. You're welcome.
07:24The Coens are a clever pair of directors, and details like this help to make their movies feel
07:29so special. 3. The Twins' Literary Choices in Hot Fuzz
07:33The Connetto Trilogy, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World's End is a trio of films so
07:38jam-packed with nuanced jokes, they could fill up every space on this list. No matter how many
07:43times you watch them, you'll always find some new detail you never noticed before. Case in point,
07:48here's one that you almost certainly missed in Hot Fuzz. One of the funniest gags in this film
07:52revolves around the revelation that Bill Bailey's book reading, split personality seeming Sergeant
07:57Turner, was actually a set of twins the whole time. Each one was distinct, yet identical to
08:01the other, and one way the film joked about this was via the books they read. The first,
08:06and far more put-together twin, is seen reading The Crime Thiller Complicity by the author Ian
08:10Banks, whereas the scruffier twin reads two separate books by Ian M. Banks, the name the
08:15author uses to distinguish the more serious projects from his sci-fi novels. They're reading
08:19books by the same author that are somehow the same yet completely different. On top of that,
08:24one could argue that the first twin's choice of reading is an allusion to his complicity
08:28with Sanford's crimes. Edgar Wright, give us a break.
08:302. Vitamin D, The Truman Show The entire essence of The Truman Show
08:35revolves around hiding the truth within plain sight. You can't secretly film a man's entire
08:39life under his nose and broadcast it to the world without a couple of sleight-of-hand tricks,
08:44and that's something you can pick up on if you look really closely. For example,
08:48if you keep an eye out, you can hunt for hidden cameras placed in everyday objects
08:51and locations throughout the film. That's one example of this movie's relentless detail,
08:55but another hints at how much thought went into crafting this Big Brother-like world.
08:59One question that springs into mind is how Truman's health is so good, given that he is
09:04never exposed to sunlight. Those studio-controlled lighting rigs restrict his access to natural
09:08light, which surely lead to vitamin D deficiency. Well, the movie does indeed take this into
09:13account, as you can spot a big ol' bottle of vitamin D supplements next to Truman's coffee
09:18when he's grabbing some breakfast. It is nice to know that his overlords think about these
09:22kind of things. 1. The Political Reflection, Don't Look Up
09:26Adam McKay's apocalyptic comedy Don't Look Up is an inherently political movie that
09:31criticizes every part of the spectrum without telling you which. Republican, Democrat,
09:35right-wing, left-wing, liberal, conservative, they are all alluded to but never mentioned
09:39specifically. However, if you look down rather than up, you can catch at least one political
09:44leaning. The Daily Rip is a news channel so obsessed with keeping the news light that
09:48they completely gloss over the impending apocalypse in favour of pleasing their viewers. It's unclear
09:53what way they swing on the political spectrum, but if you spy a reflection, you can figure it out.
09:58On the glass table countertop where the interviews take place is a collection of mugs featuring the
10:03show's logo. They all read The Daily Rip in lowercase, which spells out an interesting
10:08word when you look at the reflection on the glass, Lib. This all but confirms that The Daily
10:12Rip is taken on liberal media. The decision not to capitalize the word Rip was clearly a deliberate
10:18choice by McKay to slide this cheeky reference in. So sneaky, we love it.