Spielberg, Steven Easter Egg - The Lucas-Spielberg Connection

George Lucas and Steven Spielberg are very good friends in real life, as well as collaborators on film. They are constantly working in sly references to each other's films in their own. The following are some examples:

1) In the Spielberg Directed CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE 3RD KIND when the mother ship first crests over Devil's Tower, there is a blinding light aimed directly at the camera. Look closely and next to the light you will see R2D2 upside down, affixed to the underside of the ship!

2) In the Spielberg Directed, Lucas produced RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, check out the hyroglyphics on the walls in the Well of Souls. There is a depiction of R2 and 3PO there.

3) In the Spielberg directed E.T. there are several obvious ones, including Elliot showing ET his collection of STAR WARS action figures, and later, ET's encounter with Yoda on Halloween.

4) In the Lucas written and produced RADIOLAND MURDERS, the opening shot is a rip on his own STAR WARS, with a metallic object zooming overhead and into camera range against a starfield. Instead of a spaceship, it's a radio broadcast antennae.

5) In the Spielberg produced THE FLINTSTONES, the opening (or is it closing) sequence when the family goes to the drive in movie there is a rock slab out front advertising "Coming soon, TAR WARS"

6) In the Spielberg directed, Lucas produced INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM when Indy, Willie and Short Round flee the club at the beginning of the movie, as the car zooms around a corner you catch the name of the establishment: Club Obi-Wan.

7) In the Spielberg produced MEN IN BLACK, both men make "cameo" appearances as visiting aliens on a monitor at MIB HQ.

8) In the Lucas directed STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE, during the senate council chamber sceen, just after Queen Amadalla has asked for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Velorum, there is a shot of the delegates chanting "Vote now!" One of the pods contains 3 ET's.

9) In the Spielberg directed 1941, the opening sequences spoofs his own JAWS as a blonde swimmer (the same girl from JAWS) is threatened by a Japanese Sub.

10) Spielberg introduced Lucas to John Williams, who has done music for nearly all their films. In the Speilberg directed CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, when the mother ship is trading "tonal vocabulary" with the humans at Devil's Tower, it briefly emulates the first few blasts of Williams' JAWS theme, another Spielberg directed film.

11) Listen closely to the end of John Williams' Anikan's Theme during the last credits of the Lucas' directed STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE and you'll hear the Imperial March, which Williams composed for Lucas' STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.

The friendship extends off screen as well. When STAR WARS beat out JAWS' box office gross, Speilberg took out a full page ad in Variety showing the R2 on the back of a boat with a fishing pole, reeling in a very big shark.
Lucas returned the congrats a few years later when ET came out and shattered STAR WARS records. His ad showed R2 placing a crown on ET's head, as in king of the box office.
In 1997 when STAR WARS was re-released and added to it's total gross, it re-took the top spot. Spielberg's response add was a long line of cartoon characitures lead by ET, with R2 zipping past them all to the head of the line.
Finally, when James Cameron's TITANIC came out and blew everyone away, Lucas included him in on the joke, with a full page add showing all the STAR WARS characters jumping off the sinking ship (complete with Han and Leia embracing Jack and Rose like on the ship's bow) and his congratulations.

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Contributed By: Shaun Collins on 03-28-2001
Reviewed By: Webmaster
Special Requirements: movies and a good eye
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Comments

To be fair (and a bit nitpicky), #4, 9, and 11 don't really address the Spielberg-Lucas connection. Cool info anyway! :)
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Uh, when the Star Wars special edition topped E.T. in the box office Speilberg had a picture of E.T. crowning R2 and not R2 zipping pass them. Also go here to see the picture of it. http://www.ludd.luth.se/users/kerberos/sci-fi/starwars/char/rebel/droids/R2/et-r2d2.jpg Go here to see SW:Titanic pic-http://www.cogeco.ca/~ryanvb/archive/lucasad.jpg
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billfaceuk writes:
In the Flinstones-ending credits it says: GORGE LUCAS- TAR WARS
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Mole writes:
In Poltergeist, which Steven Spielberg was an executive producer if I recall correctly, a lot of toys in the kid's bedroom are Starwars figures. The bed sheets also feature Starwars theme.
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JonGaynor writes:
Very comprehensive list of cross-references, but a few are off-topic (mainly the ones that merely correspond to other works by the same director). In number 11, the instance of The Imperial March at the end of Anikans Theme is not supposed to be there in reference to another movie, but in reference to the impending change in Anakins character (into vader). Its a bit of foreshadowing and can be seen throughout most Star Wars sound tracks. Williams brilliance lies in the fact that he can associate a melody with a person or thing (i.e. Luke, The force) and then reapply that same theme in other parts of the movie to intensify that character or things importance. My 2 cents!
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anne-girl writes:
Re #11: there's more to it than hints of the Imperial March. Williams has said in a number of interviews that Anakin's Theme was composed entirely with intervals he used in the March (can't remember whether he claimed the same thing regarding the rhythm)... in other words, he took the March apart and reassembled it as Anakin's Theme. Most of the time you can't tell because Williams only uses two consecutive notes from the March at a time. If you listen to the whole thing carefully, you will find more than just the very obvious hint at the end of the phrases. In any case, it does explain why Anakin's Theme ended up sounding so schmaltzy and romantic and completely unlike a six-year-old.
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Hey, i wanted to congratulate you on all those and add one. In #6 you talked about Indiana Jones: The Temple Of Doom, well not only were they at Club Obi-wan, but the plane they later travel on has the call sign THX1138, which was one of Lucas's earlier movies. It's all pretty cool stuff!
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zanzibar writes:
the indiana jones ones aren't really a connection since george and steven worked together on them. but great info, all i knew but still.
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Mr Miyagi writes:
In Raiders of the lost ark if you look at the plane at the begining on the bottom it says C3-PO just after he escapes.
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John Williams takes the character theme music beyond just the Star Wars saga or just one character by applying it to an actor. Harrison Ford gets his own theme when John Williams used parts of Han Solo's theme in the Music for Indiana Jones. Or should this be part of a John Williams egg thing?
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HepHep writes:
Also, in the computer game Grim Fandango (by LucasArts), if you look up at the ceiling in Domino's office, there is a creature skeleton on the ceiling that looks remarkably like ET.
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secretwitch writes:
Here's an extra egg: In the beginning of Jaws when the hippies are playing music on the sand, second flute is played by Speilberg himself. (He's not in the movie, but on the soundtrack).
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leke-boi writes:
To be totally honest, #11 and those like it are really Wagner eggs. Like Wagner, Williams assigns melodies to each character in Star Wars and the theme recurrs when that character reappears. Wagner invented this and it can be seen in The Ring Cycle and well as, in a minor way, in Tristan & Isolda, etc. This idea jibes quite well and is most certainly inspired by the idea that Star Wars is a "Space Opera"
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bobbe writes:
In Gremlins (directed by Spielberg), one of the Gremlins is playing the old Star Wars arcade game in the bar. Also in the beginning of the movie there is a quite obvious reference to Indiana Jones on the large billboard!
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clarky writes:
Indiana Jones is in the crowd of the pod race, as is warwick davis who played willow( written by george lucas) and is also an ewok in return of the jedi
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Masterchef writes:
Here's another one....the first time Chewy gets into the Falcon, he bumps his head on a pair of dice hanging from the ceiling, a homage to American Graffiti.
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Brad_The_Lad writes:
In Back to The Future, Marty say to Doc Brown 'You are my only hope' I think Princess Leia says this to R2D2 when sending a message to Obi-Wan.
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Something more: Lucas's THX1138 (even the debute) is part of Spielberg's phone number:)))) that time
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Pixicat writes:
Also in Gremlins when Billy is in the toy shop near the end Stripe is hiding behind an ET toy figure. There is also a reference to the Gremlins in Goonies, when Chunk calls the sherriff about the Fratellis, the cop complains as if he is making up the story like the time about the little monsters you cant feed after midnight. Love all this stuff
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