10 Subtle Movie Homages You Definitely Missed

This one’s a director referencing his own movie, but considering how visually spectacular Tim Burton’s films tend to be, the fact this is just a subtle nod shows a surprising amount of nuance. It’s a minor background detail, but it’ll certainly bring a smile to your face once you notice it.

Jack Nicholson’s Joker has been somewhat overshone by recent iterations of the character, but he offered an iconic and unique take on the character nonetheless. Burton’s idiosyncratic direction played brilliantly off Nicholson’s over the top version of the famous villain.

Part of Joker’s plan in the Batman movie was to unleash a toxin on Gotham; fitting for this pantomime style portrayal of the Joker, the toxin was a laughing gas. The name of the toxin is Smilex, which comes up again in Charlie & The Chocolate Factory.

Charlie’s dad works in a toothpaste factory, screwing tops onto tubes of toothpaste. Whimsical and ridiculous, the idea is perfect for the story, but it also contains a little homage to Batman.

The name of the toothpaste is Smilex, just like Joker’s toxin. Though it’s clearly just a sight gag, putting the toxin in the toothpaste would be a diabolically clever way to infect people.