Only adult viewers likely noticed the true meaning and references behind these 10 moments in Minions spinoffs helped position the studio for success. While that franchise has remained integral to Illumination's plans for the present and future, they've also made waves with some other original properties.
In 2016, Illumination saw The Secret Life of Pets take the genius premise of what pets do when humans are away and run with it. Directed by Chris Renaud, the animated feature saw audiences show up and continue to show up for the adventure. The movie made $875 million worldwide, even after lukewarm reviews. That didn't matter much to kids, but could've meant that the adults who took them weren't as entertained.
Knowing that plenty of parents would be checking out the movie, The Secret Life of Pets follows in the footsteps of other animated films to include references for the older audience. While even kids may have noticed the Minions Easter eggs that the movie contains, they probably didn't catch the Aliens and Boyz in the Hood references like their parents may have. Screen Rant's latest video is dedicated to moments just like these in The Secret Life of Pets, so check out the video at the top of this post for a full list of moments only adults noticed.
The aforementioned Aliens reference is played for comedic effect in The Secret Life of Pets, which is certainly not how the Chestburster scenes are used in the sci-fi franchise. Younger viewers may laugh as the old lady is scared, but older audiences may their reaction to the first time they saw a Chestburster in action and get scared too. Thankfully this is the only callback to the sometimes terrifying franchise.
Outside of Aliens, the animated movie is filled with several other references for adults. They may connect the dots to Snowball's name and the leader of Animal Farm, know the true meaning behind the System of a Down song that is played, catch the verbal references to Boyz in the Hood and Some Like it Hot, and may catch what the pig's tattoos really stand for. All in all, there are a lot of references for adults to catch in The Secret Life of Pets, and there are surely even more in The Secret Life of Pets 2, which is now out in theaters.
