There are plently of in-jokes, easter eggs and references in Grim Fandango. If you know of any that aren't listed here, send them in!
Blam
Type in 'blam' at any time while playing Grim Fandango for a little surprise.
Source: Grim Fandango Network
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Captain
Captain Calavera has on a flame shirt. I guess Glottis's penchant for fire isn't limited to machinery.
Source: Elkian
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Cat Litter
When Manny is in the giant cat stable, he will look down at the turds in the litter box. If you try to pick one up, Manny will just laugh and laugh.
Source: April and Craig
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 Celso's Wife
When Manny revisits the LSA's headquarters in Year 4 the photo of Celso's wife can be seen stuck to the wall near the photo of the LSA agent.
Source: ClemsPaw
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Edge of the World
Domino has told Pugsey and Bibi that Manny has a bone saw. If you "use" the Bust-All near them, Manny says, "Hey, kids, wanna see my bone saw?" They will burst into tears and screams.
At the end of the world, if you enter Domino's office and take out the scythe or the Bust-All, he will pull out his own gun and say, "Please put that away." However, if you pull out Pugsley's miniature hammer, Domino laughs and says, "OK, you can take out the tiny hammer."
Source: April and Craig
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 Festival Crowd
In the festival behind the balloon twister's tent during Year 1, Olivia can be seen in the crowd. There is a screenshot attached to the right, but the easiest way to see for yourself is in-game.
Source: Angela Strickland
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 Glottis' Shack
The following background is not one of the backgrounds of the game, but can be found in the game's resource file using SCUMM Revisited.
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Mechanics
If you listen in on Glottis and Velasco near the end of Year One, you'll hear them mention glass packs. When in the casino in Year Two, Glottis will yell at some point, "Daddy needs a new pair of glass packs!"
Also, if you listen in on Glottis when he's screaming at the cats, he often says the same thing multiple times, with the normal and crazy face.
Source: Elkian
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Meche
When Manny is on the balcony, Meche can be seen leaving the Calavera Cafe at the beginning of Year 2.
Source: David, thanks to Guigo
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Pick-up Lines
There are several characters throughout the game that when you try to pick them up (p key), they will give some funny responses:
- Olivia - Manny will say "Not Hector's girl!"
- Velasco - Manny will say "Hey sailor!", in a sweet and tempting voice
- Naranja - Manny will say "No more picking up sailors for me."
- Carla - After the fight with Carla, Manny can pick her up, asking if she's forgiven him. "Still in the anger phase," she says.
- Lupe - Manny says "Not my employees"
- Beatniks at The Blue Casket - Manny says "It's not that kind of bar"
- Chowchilla Charlie - Manny will say "I could possibly do it, and toss him pretty far, too"
Source: April, Craig, Ruben and VampireNaomi
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Ship Captain
In the hallway of the DOD there is a picture of a boat. If you look at in Manny says "Not that I have a choice, but I wonder if I would be happier working on a ship. Then again I'm so competitive I wouldn't be able to rest until I was Captain." At the end of year two on the ship he is just the cleaner, and then a year later he is the captain.
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Smoking
If you stay inactive for a long time Manny starts smoking.
Source: Santiago C.
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 The Moon
The moon at the harbour where Velasco is has a face. Or, try to 'Use' the moon, and Manny and Velasco will recite a poem.
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The Rusty Anchor
When you get the coat from Lupe with the card Lola leaves behind, take the piece of paper out of the pocket (which says #36 The Rusty Anchor) and show it to Glottis.
Source: Barbe Bleue
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 Tim Schafer Cameo
When you install the game you will see a picture with the entire cast of the game (or if you missed it you can see it in our media section. At the front there is a skeleton with a human head. This is Tim Schafer, Grim Fandango's project leader. Incidentally, the suit he is wearing is Domino's from Year 1.
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Tongue
When you first get to Ruabcava, if you examine a shelf in the restaurant, Manny will ask what #22 is. Celso Will reply, "Lengua." Manny will make a remark about missing his tongue. (I didn't realize that too was a joke)
In Year Two, when you get the card from Lola's flowers, it's from Lupe's organizing system - she must have used the old restaurant cards - and he'll say it has a picture of a tongue, and says #22, Lengua
Source: Elkian
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Translations
Manny's surname "Calavera" is Spanish for Skull. Membrillo means quince. Lambada (as the ship is called) is a traditional dance from brazil and other latin america countries. Limones means Lemons. Puerto Zapato means "Shoe Port" or so. Ofrenda which is Olivia's last name in Grim Fandango is an altar that is used for the day of the dead. Copal is a kind of oil that is burned as incense during the Day of the Dead. Toto Santos is taken from 'Todos Santos' which is Spanish for 'All Saints', a holiday roughly parallel to the North American Halloween. Naranja is Spanish for 'Orange'.
Source: Jack, Struppo and Seraph
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 Full Throttle
In Toto's Parlour, next to the phone, there is a poster of tattoo designs including the Corley Motors logo from Full Throttle.
The music that plays when you look at Sanspoof's memorial has the same melody as the music that played at Malcolm Corley's funeral in Full Throttle.
When you knock down the neon sign in Year 4 you can see the Corley Motor's neon sign behind it.
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Monkey Island
If you try going into the tunnel with the crocodile, Manny will say "Wow! It's a tunnel that opens onto a system of catacombs!", which is the same line that Guybrush says in Monkey Island 1 when he looks down the tree stump in the woods. This scene also appears in Monkey Island 3 when Guybrush sticks his head into the crack in the wall in the Goodsoup Family Crypt.
Source: Grim Fandango Central / Steve
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 Monkey Island 2
In the Blue Casket, while on the microphone, say "Anyone know where I can find some tools", and some of the guests mention a 'monkey wrench', which is a refence to a certain part of Monkey Island 2.
At the end of Year 3, when you're sailing away from the island at the Edge of the World, Manny says a quote from Hal Barwood in Monkey Island 2: "Works like crazy! Full speed ahead!"
Source: Steve and Grim Fandango Central
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Movie References
Here are some film references, with thanks to SlipGun for collecting them together on the GFN forums:
- "I'd like you to handle this operation/interrogate him ... personally."(Batman)
- Terry's arrest is similar to that of Ugarte's (Casablanca)
- Terry's high-pitched speech is very similar to that of Everett Sloane/Mr. Bernstein (Citizen Kane)
- The little oval numbered lights of the casino control panel in Manny's office are very similar to the lights in the elevator in Double Indemnity.
- "Here kitty, kitty." (The Third Man)
- The roulette croupier, game rigging, "Les jeux sont faits" (Casablanca)
- The grim reaper, mural of the grim reaper on the casino wall (The Seventh Seal)
- Art of the Petrified Forest, the 'portal' down to it (Nightmare Before Christmas)
- Chowchilla Charlie as Peter Lorre/Ugarte (Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon)
- Maximino as Marlon Brando/Vito Corleone (The Godfather)
- Manny as an insurance salesman (Double Indemnity)
- Manny as a casino owner (Casablanca)
- Police Chief Bogen as Claude Rains/Captain Renault (Casablanca)
- Salvador Limones as Paul Henreid/Victor Lazlo (Casablanca)
- Hector LeMans as Sydney Greenstreet/"The Fat Man" (The Maltese Falcon)
- Blue Casket as the Blue Parrot (Casablanca)
- Hector's greenhouse (The Big Sleep)
- Sewers (The Third Man)
- Olivia and Nick "caught in the act" photograph, murder over a photograph (Chinatown)
- Double N Tickets as the letters of transit (Casablanca)
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Sam & Max
In Toto's Parlour, next to the phone, there is a poster of tattoo designs including Sam and Max.
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Secret Weapons of...
In year 2, when you cross the bridge under the Blimp, a short melody plays which is part of the opening theme to Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe... an older World War 2 flightsim from Lucasarts (or Lucasfilm Games as it was known back then)
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 Monkey Island 3
In the chicken shop in the Curse of Monkey Island sits a skeleton that looks like Manny Calavera. Next to him is a badge that says "Ask me about Grim Fandango".
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Monkey Island 4
In Act 2 of Monkey Island 4, when you twiddle the system controls in The Palace of Prostheses, one of the files that come up is Manuel L. Calavera's.
When you talk to the Drunken Sailor, at some point in the conversation he mutters the word "Lambada", which is the boat sailing to Puerto Zapato from Rubacava in Grim Fandango.
Source: Laura Kivioja
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 Star Wars: Episode 1
At the end of the pod racing sequence in 'Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace', when the crowd are shown cheering, Manny can be seen in the crowd.
Update - This easter egg has proven to be false by this quote from Star Wars Insider Issue 48: "Anybody from Indiana Jones to LucasArts game Designer Manny Calavera are not among the throngs in the Pod race Arena..."
Source: Grim Fandango Central / Steve
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The Longest Journey
In the PC adventure game 'The Longest Journey' there is a crossing in the city of Newport named Calavera Crossing.
Source: Per Myrsten
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If you know any that aren't listed, please send them in!
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