PartySaurus Rex may have been released on September 14, 2012, but it continues to be one of our most beloved Toy Story Toons. Not only did we connect to the incredible technical feats (the amazing bubbles) and the incredible soundtrack by BT, but Rex continues to be one of our favorite Pixar characters due to his hilarious, nervous nature. If you have been a reader of our site you know that we love to create our own custom Pixar merchandise, and it all started with PartySaurus Rex.
We created our own custom PartySaurus Rex toy based on our excitement for the short and started using the Twitter hashtag #FollowRex to allow everyone to watch as we took Rex around Detroit (our hometown), Disneyland, and even to Pixar Animation Studios itself. Julie also loved the short so much, she created her very own custom PartySaurus Rex/Pixar Canada hooded sweatshirt.
In addition to the custom items we’ve made, we also both have a passion for finding the hidden easter eggs within Pixar films. It only seemed fit that we would compile a list of hidden items for one of our favorite shorts – the only question is, how many of these have you spotted?
Hidden Items and Easter Eggs
In Toy Story 3 or even Hawaiian Vacation, you may have noticed that Bonnie’s backpack had a familiar Pixar character embroidered on it – Wally B (from Andre and Wally B). That same backpack appears briefly at the beginning of Partysaurus Rex – but what you may not have noticed is that the pilot zipper pull, Captain Zip (voiced by Angus MacLane), who briefly made an appearance in Hawaiian Vacation also appears in the background of the tub scene.
Mark Walsh (Partysaurus Rex director), mentioned in a tweet near the end of production that his childhood bathroom was used as an inspiration for Bonnie’s bathroom.
In the bathroom, you may notice that there are foam letters stuck all over the wall – do the letters mean anything? You bet. At the beginning of the bath scene, you’ll notice the letters “VBC” on the wall – that ties to Vancouver, British Columbia where Pixar Canada was located. During one brief cut when the rave was in full swing, the letter rearrange themselves to say “YAY”, to symbolize the excitement of the party (but go back to their normal positions right after the scene cuts again).
Additionally, Pixar released a screenshot before the short was in theaters keying people into one hidden item – Bonnie’s toilet seat cover is patterned after Sulley’s fur.
During the creation of the short, the team found themselves continually hiding references to one of Disney’s most popular attractions through the 1990s, Captain EO. The 3D sci-fi film follows Michael Jackson and his crew of pseudo-misfits as they attempt to save the world from the evil Supreme Leader. If you need to brush up on your Captain EO references, you can watch the entire short film on YouTube.
Actor Tony Cox, not only voiced the hilarious character Chuck E. Duck but he too also has a connection to Captain EOas he played the clumsy elephant-like character, Hooter.
The musical robot that is located on the bathroom wall in Bonnie’s bathroom was also inspired by Captain EO. Look up Minor Domo clips from Captain EO and the musical robot from Partysaurus Rex mirror each other – be sure to listen closely at the sounds too as they have elements that match as well.
Gary Rydstrom (Former Pixarian who now works at Skywalker Sound), was the Sound Design Consultant on Partysaurus Rex also has a Captain EO connection – he voiced the character Furball.
In Partysaurus Rex when the water begins to go in the overflow drain – did you happen to recognize the menacing breathing sound? That sound happens to be a tweaked version of the actual recording of Darth Vader’s breathing from Star Wars.
Wrapping up a few of the Captain EO references, Partysaurus Rex Sound Mixer, Gary Summers, (who also works at Skywalker Sound) mixed the sound for Captain EO as well.
Pixarians often lend their voices to characters on the film as it’s in production – something that is known as “scratch voice”. In some cases, those scratch vocals ends up in the final cut of the film. During Partysaurus Rex, director Mark Walsh lent his voice to numerous characters throughout the film.
The first character is Drips, the whale water spout.
The second character is the elephant toy that pushes Rex into the tub towards the end of the short and yells “Yeah!”
Do you know who voiced the iconic “What up Fishes?!” line? If you guessed Mark Walsh as well, you’d be right. Fans of the phrase may also be interested to learn that line was created by Pixar sketch/concept artist, Jay Shuster during a brainstorm session for the short. We love the collaboration between all departments on the film which makes each Pixar film that much more incredible.
In the same scene, you may have also noticed that there are two toys that were plucked right from Finding Nemo – the dolphin and Mr. Ray characters.
When the toys begin to “cross the scum line” as the tub overflows, you can see a familiar toy from a previous Toy Story Toon, Small Fry – that toy would be T-Bone. While we did hear that DJ Blujay may also make a quick appearance we were unable to find him after searching frame by frame we still couldn’t spot him. If you happen to see him – be sure to let us know.
The AJAX Plumbing company that comes to Bonnie’s house at the end of the short was a nod to both Editor, Axel Geddes and Production Manager, A.J. Riebli III.
We have so many favorite moments in the film, but one of our favorites would definitely be the detail of the bubbles right as Rex runs to Drips (the whale) and stops the flow of the bath but accidentally starts the shower. We know that the bubbles were a technical challenge for the team and looking at the above screenshot you can’t deny that they certainly conquered the look of a real bubble bath.
The other element we love about that scene is Rex’s comedic animated timing – the way he runs through the bubbles with his head tilted back and arms flailing was just perfect.
Towards the end of the film when the bathtub rave is in full swing, we love the colors and the numbers of characters that are in the scene above. We wish we knew the amount of render time that a scene like this would have taken – there is just so much packed in there. Finally, the sense of movement that you get (even from the screenshot above) and the lighting is just superb and really drew us in.
Have you seen any other hidden items from Partysaurus Rex? If so, leave a comment below or send us an email and we’ll be sure to update our post.
Want to watch Partysaurus Rex, check it out on Disney+, now.
Finally, if you want to dance to the BT soundtrack inspired by Partysaurus Rex, be sure to check out our soundtrack review post.
Great post, I love Partysaurus Rex! In the \”What Up Fishes!\” picture, the tractor could be a Cars Easter Egg.
Hey Milan! Mark Walsh actually noted at one point that it's actually not from Cars although we even thought that upon the first few watches. It's kind of surprising that it's not…but alas, it's not one of the official Cars tractors.
Hey TJ! AWESOME post. You really are the \”eggperts\” : ) I didn't think I would ever find any more after this in depth post (and the fact that I've never found an easter egg I didn't read about somewhere) but I just watched Partysaurus Rex again and may have found one I didn't mentioned! When Bonnies mom comes into get Bonnie from the tub, she says \”how about dinner at Grandma's instead\” as she puts down the fishing pole toy. On the hook of the pole you briefly see Nemo (or Marlin) attached! : )
What's funny is that Julie thought the same thing when we were watching it, but as you go frame-by-frame you'll see that it's actually just the lobster (the guy that says \”till tomorrow my love\”. I included a screenshot so you can see him on the fishing pole.
dang it! I was hoping to delete my comment before you saw it lol I was just rewatching it over and over to see if I was mistaking and then realized. I came on here to delete it since I realized I was wrong, but I was too late, ha!
Ha! Nope, you'll never be speedier than us when it comes to Partysaurus news! 🙂 it's OK to have it there though. Since Julie thought it originally and then you mentioned it, I'm sure someone else would have spotted it though.
and I stand by never having found an easter egg still… haha! Maybe someday : ) I'm looking back on it and now that I know I see nothing but the lobster. Don't know how my eyes tricked me at first!
It's the speed at which the pole its moving, the lobster's claw looking like the tail fin of Nemo and the spaces in-between the claw with the white tub in the background making it look like a stripe…it tricks the eyes. Ha! We only spot them because we literally will go frame-by-frame on our TV and computer to watch. It's crazy, but I love the hunt!
The toilet seat cover is Sulley's hide!