10 Movies That Subtly Homaged Other Movies

Alfonso Cuarón landed his first Oscar for 2013 space movie Gravity. We don't remember his acceptance speech verbatim but we're almost certain that he didn't mention Wall-E. The Pixar movie was released a few years prior with the loveable robot learning the ropes of space travel fast thanks to a penchant for improvisation.

Desperate times call for desperate measures and Gravity protagonist Dr. Ryan Stone (played by Sandra Bullock) needed to think outside the box in order to make it back to earth after her space shuttle is destroyed.

It's never specified whether a love for Pixar is an in-universe requirement for space travel but it seems as though Stone has seen Wall-E late on. After failing to dock with a nearby Chinese space station, Stone is running low on options and has to roll the dice. Ejecting herself from the Soyuz spacecraft she was on, Stone is holding a fire extinguisher when she is launched into space, using the force of its spray to guide her to the Tiangong.

This is extremely reminiscent of a scene in Wall-E in which the titular robot makes his way back to the Axiom starliner after the pod he's trapped in self-destructs. He uses a fire extinguisher to help him accomplish this and the iconic scene was given the ultimate homage by Cuaron in saving his leading character from doom.