When a Pixar film is released, casual fans will enjoy the film (naturally), but, for the more eagle-eyed fans, they’ll also know to look for Easter Eggs – little hidden gems sprinkled throughout the film.
There is a standard trio that people know to search for – The Pixar Ball, A113 (the reference to the Cal Arts classroom number), and the Pizza Planet Truck. But, Pixar also hides a reference to their next film as well. In this case, people didn’t know what to look for in Luca that would reference Turning Red.
This is usually a much harder Easter Egg to spot because it usually takes a little knowledge of a future film. Well, a fan on Twitter spotted a similarity between a logo on Mei’s lanyard in the Turning Red poster and a music record in the background of Giulia’s bedroom in Luca.
The even trickier piece is that in Luca, the Italian logo says “4 (Star) Villaggi,” which translates to 4 (Star) Villages in English. That’s not the only switch, because Mei’s lanyard says “4 (Star) Town,” which, of course, a village is similar to a town.
That was a very sneaky one, but the continuity of the number 4 and 5-point star led to Luca Director, Enrico Casarosa, confirming the Easter Egg on Twitter – noting, “Wow! We have a winner!”
What else is fantastic, is that Pixar Post Forum user plantthe24 noticed that Disney had filed a trademark for 4 Townwith an included logo matching the one on Mei’s lanyard.
4-STAR TOWN or 4 TOWN?
We know from the Disney Investor Day which took place in December 2020 (via Pete Docter), that Mei Lee is highly devoted to a boy band – which we assume is 4 Town.
We think this name is a combination of the two boy bands, NSYNC and O-Town. NSYNC famously had a star at the beginning of their name (but, wasn’t pronounced). This is one of the reasons we feel that the name is pronounced 4 Town rather than 4-Star Town.
Additionally, the official Trademark filing is listed as 4 TOWN and includes the description, “The mark consists of from left to right the number 4, followed by a 5-pointed star, and in turn followed by the word TOWN.”
SYNOPSIS
Young actress Rosalie Chiang lends her voice to Mei Lee, a 13-year-old who suddenly “poofs” into a giant red panda when she gets too excited (which is practically ALWAYS). Sandra Oh (“The Chair,” “Killing Eve”) voices Mei Lee’s protective, if not slightly overbearing mother, Ming, who is never far from her daughter—an unfortunate reality for the teenager.
So, what do you think of the Turning Red Easter Egg in Luca? That was a tricky one, wasn’t it?
