10 Movies That Subtly Homaged Other Movies

Pixar has made many of the best animated movies in cinematic history and put together one of cinema's best franchises, animated or otherwise, in the process. The Toy Story franchise is loved by film fans of all ages and it is because it caters to adults and children alike. Its primary target demographic initially being children, Pixar packs their movies with plenty of fun to amuse the rugrats. Yet there are jokes included that they know will fly over the heads of the kids in the audience.

These jokes are for the adults in attendance and they're usually in the form of a pop culture reference. There are many to choose from but we've selected Vertigo for this list.

A 1958 Alfred Hitchcock motion picture, Vertigo is, among other things, the story of a police officer forced into retirement due to an incident that led to him developing both vertigo and acrophobia, an extreme fear of heights. Starring James Stewart playing against type (paranoid and odd instead of warmhearted and sweet), it is regarded as one of the greatest movies of all time. One of the most famous sequences from Vertigo is when Stewart's Scottie has a nightmare that concludes with him freefalling before he wakes up in fright.

In Toy Story 2, Andy accidentally tears Woody's arm when playing with him early in the movie. He intends to get him fixed before playing with him again and Woody finds himself left on the shelf waiting. The shelf is high and the drop is long. During this time, Woody has a nightmare that Andy has come home and deemed him broken, discarding him with a careless drop that puts Woody in a freefall reminiscent of Scottie's. The animation of this scene is supposed to mirror Vertigo. It is a clever nod to another character who worries about being permanently broken.