Homer Simpson was a clone trooper?
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00:00In this day and age, moviegoers have never been more on the ball when it comes to picking up
00:04hidden messages, secrets or other references squirreled away in their favourite films.
00:09With the ability to pause, rewind and zoom in on scenes, movie detectives have all the tools
00:14required to uncover even the most subtle of hidden gags. With that in mind then,
00:19although the amount of hidden Star Wars secrets is too long to count at this point,
00:24these are the ones that took a surprisingly long time to be unearthed.
00:28I'm Josh from WhatCulture.com and this is Star Wars' 9 Obscure Movie Secrets That Took Years
00:34to Discover. Number 9. Confirming E.T.'s Link to the Star Wars Galaxy
00:38For many years, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg have hidden references
00:42to one another's movies in their own films. Indiana Jones is famed for its many nods to Star
00:48Wars, but when Spielberg released E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, fans of Star Wars became
00:53ecstatic with the implications of one particular scene. See, in a moment that saw E.T. seemingly
00:59recognising Yoda, actually just a kid dressed up, E.T. exclaims the word home. So, did this mean
01:07that E.T. was from the Star Wars Galaxy, or was it just a bit of fun? Well, in 1999, Lucas continued
01:13to fan the theory's flames. During the Senate scene in The Phantom Menace, he actually included
01:19a group of aliens that looked a little bit familiar. Now, in Legends, the alien senator
01:25that appeared in Coruscant was given the name Gribleeps, which if you spell out, is actually
01:30Spielberg spelled backwards. Again, this could just be another inside joke between two of cinema's
01:36greats, but the premise was expanded further when Holonet News was launched before the release of
01:41The Attack of the Clones. The website included a number of in-universe articles and press releases
01:47about the goings-on in the galaxy. Among them was a story that stated that the Azogians,
01:52E.T.'s species, had funded an expedition to go to another galaxy, thus explaining how E.T.
01:58ended up on Earth, confirming the link between the two films.
02:01Number 8. What was the Millennium Falcon doing in the prequels? The Millennium Falcon is the
02:06most iconic spaceship in all of cinema, no doubt. The scuffed-up hunk of Corellian junk might not
02:12look like much, but you better believe that it's one of the fastest ships in the galaxy,
02:16and can even time travel if Han Solo's Kessel Run boast is to be believed. Now,
02:21there were several nods to the Falcon during the prequels that were so brief it would take
02:25several rewatches to catch them, and eagle-eyed viewers to pick up on. Firstly, during The Attack
02:30of the Clones, two Corellian fighters of the same make as the Falcon can be spotted at the
02:35spaceport of Naboo when Anakin arrives with Padme. Now, neither of these were the actual Falcon,
02:40it's just that the freighter model was fairly common at the time. However, another appearance
02:45of the freighter in Revenge of the Sith can be spotted as well, gliding into a spaceport in
02:50Coruscant, and this time it was confirmed to be the ship that Solo would one day obtain.
02:56So what was it doing at this time, you ask? Well, in the expanded universe,
03:00it was revealed that during the Clone Wars, the ship was called the Stellar Envoy. It was used
03:05by the Republic Group, a covert organisation working against Palpatine, disguised as a holding
03:11company. 7. R2-D2 being a badass
03:15R2-D2 is surely the most popular droid in all of history. Sorry 3PO. And that's more impressive,
03:21because we never understand what he's saying. But the reaction that characters have to his
03:25series of bloops and bleeps have made him notorious as a lovable sassbot. We've seen him get our main
03:31protagonists out of a number of tough situations. Hell, whenever there's a garbage chute that needs
03:36unlocking or a difficult flight manoeuvre to perform, R2 is the one to save the day.
03:41During the prequels though, the animators had a lot of fun adding other character nuances to the
03:47R2 unit, many of which went unnoticed for quite some time. I mean, when you've got Ewan McGregor
03:52and Hayden Christensen going all Samurai on a bunch of droids, it's easy to not pay attention
03:57to the antics of a rather unassuming little robot. But if you do pay close attention to R2
04:03in Revenge of the Sith, he is one feisty little trash can. For instance, during the rescue of
04:08Palpatine, General Grievous escapes, leaving Obi-Wan and Anakin to dish out some lightsaber
04:13justice on the remaining droids. If you watch closely though, you can actually see R2-D2
04:18lending a hand by tripping up an unfortunate droid as he tries to flee.
04:236. Who was the bearded rebel on Endor?
04:26This is something of a controversial and hotly debated topic in the Star Wars fandom,
04:32and it relates to a much-loved character from the animated shows Clone Wars and Rebels.
04:36This whole thing started when Return of the Jedi came out back in 1983, and that's because
04:42included in Han Solo's strike team to disable the Death Star's shield was an older gentleman
04:47rebel fighter with a very distinctive white beard. Fans speculated over this character
04:52for a good while, and in 2002 he was officially given the name Nick Sant. But with the advent
04:58of Star Wars Rebels, which sees Captain Rex sporting a bushy white beard as well,
05:03many began speculating that the characters were one and the same. Even Rebels creator
05:07Dave Filoni believed that Rex and Nick Sant were likely to be connected. I mean,
05:12why else would a seemingly old man be included in an elite strike team?
05:16Hell, Filoni even toyed with the idea of making a canon. So when it came to wrapping up Rebels
05:21in 2018, Filoni did indeed confirm that Rex fought on Endor, but left the link between
05:27him and Sant more ambiguous. Maybe it was Rex, or maybe great big bushy beards just
05:32became a new fashion statement in the galaxy.
05:355. How did the Millennium Falcon end up in Blade Runner?
05:39Blade Runner changed the game when it came to special effects. CGI was still in its infancy
05:44when Ridley Scott made his 1982 cinematic exploration of a dystopian future, and therefore
05:49relied heavily on the use of practical effects. The film is really one of the most sophisticated
05:55and creative examples of in-camera trickery ever, combining matte paintings with live-action footage
06:01and highly detailed scale models. With all of these tools, Scott was able to create an aesthetic
06:06that became the gold standard for dystopian sci-fi. The director also famously went over
06:12budget making this movie and was forced to skimp wherever possible. The special effects department
06:17were forced to get highly creative then, which often meant taking props and models from other
06:22movies and utilising them to create a futuristic LA. So as well as several other models from
06:27close encounters of the third kind, the prop guys also raided the Star Wars set.
06:32When Dangerous Days Making Blade Runner came out in 2007, it shed light on the fascinating process
06:38of movie making, and it was revealed that a model of the Millennium Falcon wound up being altered
06:44to resemble a futuristic building. All they did was turn it front side up, add a bunch of extra
06:50antennas, and then shoved it into the background of a shot.
06:534. Richard Armitage Is In The Phantom Menace
06:56More than 10 years after the release of The Phantom Menace, Richard Armitage got his big break
07:01in the Hobbit trilogy, starring as the Dwarf King Thorin Oakenshield. It was around this time then
07:07that people started noticing a certain background extra from the Star Wars prequel trilogy. When
07:12The Phantom Menace was released in 1999, no one would have thought to notice the nondescript Naboo
07:18fighter pilot in the background of a scene. I mean after all, this was Armitage's first ever
07:23feature role. Even the actor himself said he had trouble spotting himself in the movie
07:27after apparently having his only line cut, and his part reduced significantly. But the point is,
07:34he is there. And his appearance at all is a little bit ironic in hindsight. As the guy who made a
07:39name for himself playing a dwarf, the actor actually claimed he was only hired here because
07:44he was quote, tall and lanky. So after the actor became something of a household name, he revealed
07:49that he had briefly appeared in Star Wars, and eagle-eyed fans began scouring the movie for him.
07:55He can be hard to spot, but his distinctive features can be spotted peering over the
07:59soldier of Padme's handmaiden during the Naboo-Gungan alliance talks.
08:043. The Ark of the Covenant Is Hidden On The Millennium Falcon
08:07We're well aware of the many Star Wars references in Indiana Jones. Temple of Doom opens up in a bar
08:13named Club Obi-Wan, and the plane at the start of Raiders of the Lost Ark is labelled OBCPO.
08:19As an added bonus as well, the sound it makes when taken off is also the sound the Millennium
08:23Falcon makes when the hyperdrive cuts out. But there are also a number of Indiana Jones
08:29callbacks in Star Wars. But bear with us for this one, because it does take some piecing together.
08:34So in Raiders of the Lost Ark, C-3PO and R2-D2 can be spotted in the Well of Souls as Hieroglyphs,
08:41where Indy finds the Ark of the Covenant. It was a fun little nod to this other movie,
08:46but it was only the start of the connection. As at the end of the film, the Ark is placed in a
08:51cargo box marked 9906753 and wheeled off into a giant storage container. In the book Star Wars
09:00The Force Awakens Incredible Cross Sections, a detailed plan of the Millennium Falcon is shown,
09:05with an annotation stating that Han and Chewie had never been able to open
09:10a particular cargo module. The module in question was stamped, you guessed it, 9906753.
09:17Seemingly, this confirmed that the Indy Star Wars references weren't just a bit of fun,
09:22but the universes were actually linked, and the Ark of the Covenant somehow
09:26came into the possession of Han Solo.
09:282. L337 is the Millennium Falcon
09:32This one is the most obvious at a glance. It's explained quite explicitly in Solo A Star Wars
09:36story, but it's heritage does go a little further back than that, so it's worth talking about here.
09:42So, sometimes a seemingly throwaway line of dialogue can allude to something far more
09:47significant. Way back in 1980 when The Empire Strikes Back first hit screens, everyone's
09:52favourite droid punching bag C-3PO made a remark about Han Solo's ship. As we all know,
09:583PO is fluent in over 6 million forms of communication. However, he was taken aback
10:03when trying to communicate with the onboard computer that runs through the Millennium
10:07Falcon. The line, Sir, I don't know what your ship learned to communicate, but it has
10:11the most peculiar dialect, has usually been interpreted by fans to mean that Solo's
10:17ship has so many modifications that even the onboard computer has a bizarre nature to it.
10:23However, roughly 40 years after that line was first heard, it was given an explanation.
10:28During Solo A Star Wars Story, the witty proponent of droid rights L337 was damaged,
10:35and her mind was uploaded into the Falcon as a way to preserve it. 3PO's bemusement in Empire
10:41then makes a lot more sense knowing that he was communicating with Lando Calrissian's
10:45robot companion.
10:49Macroning loves Star Wars. The amount of Star Wars references in The Simpsons is near
10:54uncountable. So when George Lucas returned the favour by plastering Homer Simpson in the prequel
11:00trilogy, no doubt the creator of Springfield was all too pleased. But it took a hell of a
11:06long time for Homer's cameo to even be noticed in the first place. After all, who would be looking
11:11for Springfield's most incompetent nuclear power plant employee in a galaxy far far away?
11:17Well, when Yoda arrives with the clone troopers at the end of Attack of the Clones,
11:21he's also apparently recruited the help of everyone's favourite duff beer enthusiast.
11:26And it seems that Homer made a better clone trooper than he did a safety inspector. While
11:31the remaining Jedi are being rescued, a clone dropship swoops in to provide covering fire.
11:36But the pilot of said dropship looks a little bit different to your average clone trooper.
11:41And when you see it, there's no mistaking the yellow bulbous head,
11:44complete with the signature brown stubble, for anyone but Homer Simpson.
11:49So that's our list. I want to know what you guys think down in the comments below. How many
11:52of these details did you pick up on already, and did any of them surprise you as much as they did
11:57me? Let us know and while you're down there as well could you please give us a like, share,
12:00subscribe and head over to whatculture.com for more lists and news like this every single day.
12:06Even if you don't though, I've been Josh, thanks so much for watching, and I'll see you soon.