6 Movie and TV Easter Eggs Hidden In The Real World

6

The Millennium Falcon And Yoda Are In A Nature Museum

The problem with museums is that they're all hung up on real history. Would it kill the Smithsonian to lie and claim that Indiana Jones blew up a bunch of Nazis in order to steal whatever boring artifact is on display? Thankfully, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science stepped up to the plate and inserted some movie characters into its otherwise historically accurate landscape paintings. But you have to really look for them. It started when artist Kent Pendleton started sneaking gnomes into the backdrops of exhibits -- like, say, riding a dinosaur:

Kent Pendleton/Denver Museum of Nature & Science

Kent Pendleton/Denver Museum of Nature & ScienceWhich, until someone can definitively prove otherwise, is how we will imagine the Cretaceous Period looked from now on.

The "private joke" was soon noticed and "developed a life of its own." Soon more creatures began popping up in background paintings, and like an exhibit on intellectual property theft, a little Millennium Falcon showed up:

Denver Museum of Nature & Science

There's even a teeny-tiny Yoda, presumably sitting atop an unseen teeny-tiny Frank Oz:

Denver Museum of Nature & Science"Inviting a lawsuit, I am."

And while you're enjoying Where's Waldo-ing random Star Wars characters, you might accidentally learn something about nature and/or science. Who knows!

5

There's An Exact Replica Of Michael Myers' House In The Middle Of North Carolina

We typically don't expect to randomly encounter the homes of famous movie slashers in everyday life. Like, it would be odd to stumble upon Camp Crystal Lake, or drive up to the Bates Motel, or be left alone in the home of adorable psychopath Kevin McCallister. But if you trek to the Middle of Nowhere, North Carolina, you might find yourself standing in front of the childhood home of Michael Myers, star of the increasingly bewildering Halloween franchise.

The Myers HouseA loving recreation whose biggest difference from the film is that someone seems to care about taking care of it.

4

Groot Lives In A Peruvian Nature Reserve

If there's one thing that sucks about nature, it's that it contains very few things from superhero media. Have you ever been in a real bat cave? There's no supercomputer or badass cars; just loads and loads of shit. Thankfully, one nature preserve has embraced its inner nerd. Once a literal dump, the newly revitalized Huasao wetland in Peru features more than boring old tree-shaped trees. It also has giant sculptures of characters such as Guardians Of The Galaxy's Groot.

3

You Can Ride The Hogwarts Express In Scotland

We've all dreamed of being accepted to Hogwarts, the prestigious wizarding school where staff members have been revealed to be murderous criminals multiple times and sporting events sometimes lead to violent deaths. Still, we all fantasize about taking that magical train ride to this wondrous castle.

Well, here's the crazy thing: You can, in fact, take that train ride if you head to Scotland and board the Jacobite, an old-timey steam train that looks an awful lot like the Hogwarts Express. Because it is the Hogwarts Express, having been used as the train in the film series.

Elaine WebberWe guess you can't understand both wands and diesel.

2

There Are Weird Simpsons Sculptures Scattered Around The Planet

A lot of Simpsons fans probably aren't able to schlep all the way out to Universal Studios (or even one of Spain's bootleg Krusty Burgers), but still want to pay tribute to their immortal jaundiced idols. Well good news: It turns out that there are monuments to the long-running series scattered throughout the globe. You just have to know where to look.

1

A Small Town In Iowa Randomly Decided To Be Captain Kirk's Birthplace

For Star Trek fanatics who are looking for a real-world connection to the iconic TV series but don't want to put in the arduous work of becoming an actual astronaut or pay Elon Musk to jettison them into the final frontier, we have a solution. You can visit Riverside, Iowa, the quaint little town where Mr. Kirk will give Mrs. Kirk all he's got roughly 200 years from now.

Why is Riverside the birthplace of Kirk? Well, it was never referenced in the TV show. Nor in the movies. It wasn't even emblazoned on the side of an Eggo waffle. Since Kirk mentioned he was from Iowa, Riverside publicly declared that they were Jim Kirk's hometown after being persuaded to by a local Trekkie. Creator Gene Roddenberry didn't give enough of a shit to say no, so now it's canon, dammit (Jim). Visiting Riverside, you can check out the specific spot where Kirk will one day be born, complete with a bench so you can spend hours soaking in all the future rugged masculine vibes.

City of Riverside, IowaWe hope they plan to build a hospital there sometime in the next two centuries -- though honestly, the site of the world arm wrestling championship seems equally appropriate.