DVD Easter Eggs - The Hidden Extras

The excitement that accompanies a DVD release not only concentrates on the film itself, but also includes extra entertaining "goodies" for viewers to enjoy. With additional footage, alternate endings, and cast interviews, there are a lot of features that make a DVD much more appealing. Today, an increasing amount of people is discovering the hidden messages, images, and clips placed in random locations within a DVD.

What are DVD Easter Eggs?

These fun additions inserted with your favorite movies are called DVD Easter eggs, which may or may have been an initial plan of management. As viewers "hunt" for these extra DVD perks, they participate in the amusement of unlocking anything ranging from never-before-seen trailers of upcoming movies to embarrassing outtakes. Many DVD Easter eggs are located within the right menu sequence, but are also uncovered in scene selections, bonus tracks, and other DVD menu features. Usually, the location of DVD Easter eggs are disclosed through word of mouth, dedicated websites, or simply found by accident.

Brief History

DVD Easter eggs are undocumented extras found by happening upon hidden links embedded within typical menu material. This concept of Easter eggs within software and hardware dates back to the mid-1980s when computer programs associated with the Macintosh operating system implemented what is considered the first of its kind. Back then, when holding down the Option key and clicking on the Apple menu, the first item changed to "About the Finder," where a basic black and white image of Silicon Valley appeared with a list of all of the names involved in the creation of the operating system.

Example of DVD Easter Eggs

Today, DVD Easter eggs have become quite a novelty, prompting viewers to seek out the hidden treats that await their curiosity. The concept of the Easter egg in DVDs has spread to include the latest movie releases, Disney cartoons, and even the entire seasons of television shows.

The popular "Rush Hour" DVDs both showcase their own hidden eggs. When watching "Rush Hour" (1998) on a DVD player that allows you to manually access titles, you can use your remote to navigate to Title 4, Chapter 3, where you will uncover what is called "Evil Luke Lee," a funny short film created by Brett Ratner during his younger days. The "Rush Hour 2" (2001) DVD Easter egg is accessed through the main menu (scene selection), where on the left column of Scenes 7-8, the image of a red dragon is found. When you select the dragon, a "Lord of the Rings" trailer appears.

The "Night at the Museum" (2006) reveals a hidden Easter egg when you play with the "Bonus Feature" menu and highlight the top listing. If you click the left button on your DVD control, you will gain access to the viewing of "T-Rex Torture." When searching the main menu for Disney's "Chicken Little" DVD, go to "Play" and press right on your DVD control, where a hexagon illuminates. Press "Enter" and you will uncover a "Foxy Loxy" short. Additionally, under "Bonus Features," you will find another short hidden in "Deleted Scenes."

Television shows on DVD are also quite popular with hidden goodies. For example, the complete second season of "Lost" DVD offers a Geronimo Jackson feature, which is assessable from the setup menu. If you hover over the left of the records positioned to the left of the setup button – after selecting the half moon shape – a Geronimo Jackson album cover appears. Afterwards, go to the bottom right of the album cover, selecting the bright piece of grass and you will uncover a 1:30 discussion of the production team speaking about the group and album.

Another interesting television-series DVD Easter egg is seen on the second disc of "Grey's Anatomy" (Season One), where under the "Bonus Features" menu, a hidden red plus sign can be highlighted to reveal an extra bonus clip regarding the story behind a prop that appears in every episode of the TV show.

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