Star Wars References in Pixar Productions

Star Wars is a movie franchise created by George Lucas.

References in Pixar

• In the 1995 film, Toy Story, Buzz tells Woody that Zurg is planning to build a weapon that can destroy entire planets, similar to the Death Star in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Also, when Sid asks Woody where his rebel friends are now, he parodies the scene in A New Hope when Grand Moff Tarkin demands that Princess Leia reveal the whereabouts of the rebels.
• In the 1999 film, Toy Story 2, (in which Zurg makes his debut) Zurg is based off Darth Vader, one of the main villains of the original Star Wars trilogy. Darth Vader's breathing is used for Video Game Buzz's breathing. When Buzz runs his hands through the battery hologram, the noise is identical to the noise of a lightsaber. Zurg (being Darth Vader of the Toy Story universe) greets both Video Game and Utility Belt Buzz with the same greeting that Darth Vader used on Obi-Wan in A New Hope, only with Obi-Wan's name replaced with Buzz's. In their climactic battle, Utility Belt Buzz accuses the robot-like Zurg of having killed his father, to which Zurg responds that he is his father, causing a horrified Utility Belt Buzz to yell, "NOOOO!!!" This is a parody of the famous scene in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, where Luke Skywalker learns that Darth Vader is his father. Also, the robot that pops out of a wall like a camera resembles the Perimeter Droid who pops out of the door to Jabba the Hutt's palace in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. Coincidentally, Toy Story 2 was released in theaters the same year as Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
• In an episode of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Buzz and Zurg parodied the infamous "I am your father!" scene again. They also parodied a Lightsaber battle.
• In the charades TV spot for Pixar's 2001 movie Monsters, Inc., Mike and Sulley are playing charades, and Sulley guesses that Mike is parodying Star Wars, much to Mike's disbelief. Coincidentally, the video and original 2-Disc DVD of Monsters, Inc. were released the same year Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones was released in theaters.
• In Pixar's 2003 movie Finding Nemo, while Marlin and Dory are escaping the Anglerfish, which swallows Marlin whole at one point while he is grabbing onto its dorsal light organ, the Lightsaber sound effect can be heard when the Anglerfish spits Marlin out, still grabbing onto its light. Also, Nigel's line "Well don't everybody fly off at once." mirrors Han's line "Well don't everybody thank me at once." in A New Hope.
• In Pixar's 2004 film The Incredibles, when Dash is outrunning the velocipods, the sound effects (and the overall sequence) are a reference to the speeder bike chase in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
• In Pixar's 2007 movie Ratatouille, the way Auguste Gusteau's ghost guides Remy mirrors the way Obi-Wan's force ghost guided Luke in the original Star Wars trilogy. Coincidentally, Ratatouille was released thirty years after A New Hope.
• In Pixar's 2009 movie Up, Charles F. Muntz's blimp The Spirit of Adventure mirrors the empire fleet ship from the original trilogy, and when his dogs are told to take down the house, they parody the Red-5 scene in A New Hope. Also, during the credits, there is a picture of Carl Fredricksen and Russell going to see a Star Wars movie.
• In Pixar's 2010 film Toy Story 3, the way that Big Baby turns on Lotso is similar to how Darth Vader turns on the Emperor in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. Also, the way Lotso brainwashed Buzz into joining his team might be a nod to how the Emperor turned Anakin to the dark side and transformed him into Darth Vader at the end of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Coincidentally, Revenge of the Sith was released the same year the first Toy Story movie celebrated its 10th anniversary.
• One of the scores of the 2013 Toy Story TV special Toy Story of Terror! is titled "I've got a bag feeling about this." This references the Star Wars catchphrase: "I've got a bad feeling about this," which is heard in every movie.
• In the 2014 Toy Story TV special Toy Story That Time Forgot, when Reptillus Maximus insists that Rex and Trixie should stay, The Cleric reluctantly agrees to let them and says, "I find their lack of armor disturbing." This is a reference to Darth Vader's line, "I find your lack of faith disturbing," in A New Hope.
• The characters of Pixar's 2015 movie Inside Out watched the trailer for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, the first chapter of the sequel trilogy, since both movies were released that year.
• In Pixar’s 2017 movie Cars 3, as Miss Fritter drives up to Cruz Ramirez, she remarks, “Your license plate will look mighty fine in my collection!” mirroring General Grievous’s line from Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith: "Your lightsabers will make a fine addition to my collection." Coincidentally, both Cars 3 and Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi were released the same year.
• In Pixar's 2019 film Toy Story 4, the opening message from every Star Wars film, "In a galaxy far far away," is used when Bunny is helping Ducky to kick Buzz in the head. Coincidentally, Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker was released the same year.

Trivia

• John Ratzenberger, who voices a character in every Pixar film, also played Major Bern Derlin in The Empire Strikes Back.
• Samuel L. Jackson, who voiced Lucius Best a.k.a. Frozone in Pixar's 2004 film The Incredibles, also played Mace Windu in the Star Wars prequel trilogy.
• Frank Oz, who voiced Fungus in Monsters, Inc. and a mind worker in Inside Out, also played Jedi Master Yoda in the Star Wars franchise.
• Michael Giacchino, the composer of many Pixar movies (starting with The Incredibles), also composed the 2016 film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.