"Barbie" Is Full of Easter Eggs, From "Wizard of Oz" Nods to a Tribute to Barbie's Inventor

"Barbie" made an undeniable impact on the world at large when it premiered in July. The film comes complete with a stacked cast and plenty of amazing fashion choices, but it's also notable because it's packed with Easter eggs that reference everything from cultural touchstones to hidden histories.

From the moment its first trailer dropped, the film immediately gave the internet a number of instantly iconic moments to admire, from Barbie (Margot Robbie)'s "Matrix"-esque choice between a high heel and a Birkenstock to Ken (Ryan Gosling)'s exuberant mug shot. The movie also features some less noticeable Easter eggs that show just how much its creative team — which includes the celebrated filmmaking duo Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach — paid attention to detail. Ahead, check out some of the most notable Easter eggs in the film.

"Barbie" references many other movies, and one of the main iconic features it seems to draw inspiration from is "The Wizard of Oz." The film is chock-full of references to the classic story, with movie posters of the 1939 film's characters frequently popping up in the background. It even plays in the background of one frame, and at one point, Robbie wears a checkered dress that's reminiscent of Dorothy's classic blue frock.

"Barbie"'s plot also clearly references "The Wizard of Oz," as it follows Barbie (and Ken) leaving Barbie Land for the real world. Barbie eventually meets with the creators of Barbie Land, and her disillusionment with them and the real world at large mirrors Dorothy's same disappointment when she learns who the Wizard really is.

"Barbie"'s opening scene also directly references another classic film. It parodies the opening of Stanley Kubrick's 1968 movie "2001: A Space Odyssey," except instead of featuring apes in front of a black monolith as "2001"'s first frames do, the "Barbie" trailer sees Barbie stepping out onto a barren landscape as young girls look on.

"2001: A Space Odyssey" is famously existential and allegorical, but it essentially tells a highly impressionistic story about the origins of humanity and the extraterrestrial forces who, in the film, seem to have led humans toward consciousness. While Kubrick always resisted definitive analyses of his sci-fi epic, in 1972, he told Rolling Stone that "on the deepest psychological level the movie's plot symbolizes the search for God, and it finally postulates what is little less than a scientific definition of God."

"Barbie" certainly also touches on similar religious themes, exploring Barbie's existential crisis about her identity as well as her relationship to the creators of her world. Gerwig also brought religious themes into a May conversation with Vogue. "Ken was invented after Barbie, to burnish Barbie's position in our eyes and in the world," Gerwig said. "That kind of creation myth is the opposite of the creation myth in Genesis."

"Barbie" is full of niche references to the history of Barbie dolls themselves. Most noticeably, it brings to life a number of actual discontinued dolls from the Barbie extended universe, such as Allan, memorably portrayed by Michael Cera, and Midge, a pregnant doll played by Emerald Fennell. When Barbie travels to Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon)'s mansion, she also runs into several particularly unusual discontinued dolls, including Video Girl Barbie, who had a video camera in her necklace. Some discontinued Ken dolls are also featured, including one called Sugar's Daddy Ken, whose name references the fact that he owns a toy dog named Sugar.

Additionally, most of the fashion, hair, and makeup looks featured in the movie are based on actual Barbie looks from the past, showing that the costume and styling teams definitely did their archival research.

The creator of Barbie, Ruth Handler (portrayed by Rhea Perlman), is also prominently featured in the movie. All of her appearances are layered with existential and religious significance, and the scene where Barbie first meets Ruth is even based on Michelangelo's "The Creation of Adam," which happens to be Robbie's favorite Easter egg in the film.

"Barbie" constantly blurs the line between reality and imagination, and it even adds a few cheeky references to the actual, non-cinematic world to further break the fourth wall. Near the end, Gloria's (America Ferrera) husband shows up — and he's played by none other than Ferrera's actual husband, Ryan Piers Williams, who shows off his nascent Spanish skills with the phrase "¡sí se puede!" and a reference to Duolingo.

Apparently, one of the main inspirations for Ken was Sylvester Stallone, who, of course, played Rocky Balboa in the film series based on his life. "Ryan Gosling also loves Sylvester Stallone," Gerwig said at a panel on Oct. 27, per People. "We had so long to think about it and talk about it, and he and I really did. His faux mink came from Sylvester Stallone's amazing outfits. When I think of adorned men, I think he's probably the best one," she added. "And I feel like Ken was nothing if not a man in search of adornment. So that was a really key moment where we were like, it is, it's Sly. And we talked about specific moments we really loved in his films."

These are just a few of the many Easter eggs that make "Barbie" so much fun to watch. Fortunately, "Barbie" is now available to rent online, meaning fans can continue to overanalyze dialogue, dress in Barbiecore fashion, make custom poster selfies, and bump all the artists on the "Barbie" soundtrack to their hearts' content.