| "The Royal Tenenbaums" DVD Easter Eggs |
There are four features on Disc Two of the Criterion Collection "The
Royal Tenenbaums" DVD set that might be considered Easter eggs. However,
these features aren't hidden, and most viewers will find them simply by navigating
the disc. To refer to this kind of special feature, which I will describe in
detail below, I've coined the phrase "unhidden Easter egg."
The first unhidden Easter egg is accessed from the main menu of Disc Two, which has six labeled icons ("SCRAPBOOK," "THE PETER BRADLEY SHOW," etc.). Each time you press an arrow button on the remote, you'll change the location of a little arrow on the screen. This little arrow will typically point to one of the six icon labels, but if you play around with pressing arrow buttons on the remote, you'll notice that the little arrow on the screen can be positioned to point toward the word "THE" in the words "THE CRITERION COLLECTION." Whenever this happens, press the Enter (or Select) button on the remote, and you will see Ben Stiller welcome you to the DVD.
The other three unhidden Easter eggs are accessed from the Scrapbook menu, which is reached from the main menu by using the arrow buttons on the remote to position the little arrow on the screen to point to the words "SCRAPBOOK" and pressing the Enter button. You'll know you're at the Scrapbook menu when you see icons labeled "STILLS," "STORYBOARDS," "M.C.," "MURALS," "MARGOT," "COVERS," and "MAIN." A slightly unusual thing about the Scrapbook menu is that in addition to the labeled icons, it contains three unlabeled icons, and I'm calling each of the features accessed by the unlabeled icons an unhidden Easter egg. All ten of the icons on the Scrapbook menu—seven labeled and three unlabeled—can be navigated in the usual way, that is, by using the arrow keys on the remote. (By the way, the screen containing the Scrapbook menu also contains two graphics—the two masks at the upper right—that apparently don't provide access to anything.)
Now for a brief description of the three unhidden Easter eggs accessed from the Scrapbook menu. At the upper left of the Scrapbook menu is an unlabeled icon that depicts flames. Highlight this icon and press the Enter button to see an outtake where Anjelica Huston's hair catches on fire. Then use the arrow buttons on the remote to navigate to the mouse icon at the lower left of the screen and press Enter. You'll see Bill Murray kidding around with some of the crew. Then use the arrow buttons to navigate to the unlabeled icon depicting a person wearing white clothing. Press Enter, and you'll see cast member Kumar Pallana (Pagoda) performing a vaudeville-like act involving spinning plates.
The Easter eggs I've described above are very easy to find, and veteran Easter egg hunters may object to my calling these features Easter eggs. Such an objection is well taken since the term "Easter egg" is often used synonymously with the term "hidden feature," and there's nothing hidden about the four features discussed here. However, they are Easter eggs in the sense that the DVD distributor doesn't advertise their content and the navigation screens deliberately fail to indicate clearly how to access these features or what to expect when you do access them. That's why I dubbed these four features "unhidden Easter eggs."
This is the first Criterion Collection DVD I've seen that offers anything resembling Easter eggs. I suppose the folks at Criterion decided that including Easter eggs which viewers simply stumble across without much effort would be good marketing. It seems to me this decision might not sit well with two kinds of DVD buyers: (1) Those who think disc navigation should be made as clear as possible; and (2) those who think of themselves as high priests of the hidden features Easter egg cult. However, I presume most DVD buyers are simply looking for entertainment, and they may very well prefer unhidden Easter eggs over the traditional alternatives of no Easter eggs and hard-to-find Easter eggs.
From About.com Home Video/DVD - More DVD Easter Eggs!
"Vanilla
Sky" Easter Egg
The
"Vanilla Sky" DVD contains an entertaining Easter egg that is being
referred to as a "Gag Reel." Read this short feature and learn how
to find it!
"Moulin
Rouge" DVD Easter Eggs
The
"Moulin Rouge" DVD set contains at least 15 Easter eggs. I’ve
given my own set of detailed instructions for how to find the Easter eggs, but
since all DVD players don’t function exactly the same way, you might have
to tweak around a little.
"Cast
Away" DVD Easter Egg
Did
you know that in "Cast Away," Tom Hanks might have been able to get off the
island years earlier than he did? Find out how.
"Charlie’s
Angels" DVD Easter Eggs
Here
are some fun facts, trivia, DVD Easter eggs, and more that I’ve gathered
from watching the special edition DVD version of this film and from my never-ending
Web travels.
Still want to find even more DVD Easter
eggs? You can hunt down those ever-elusive Easter eggs with some of the Web’s
most useful destinations when you visit the About.com Home Video/DVD site's
resource pages for
DVD Easter eggs.
Have fun!
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