LEGO Star Wars: Terrifying Tales is an animated, Halloween-themed special streaming on Disney Plus. It follows LEGO versions of Star Wars character Poe Dameron and beloved droid BB-8 as they crash land on the infamous, volcanic planet Mustafar.
Poe discovers that a castle previously owned by Darth Vader is being turned into a resort and an apprentice to Darth Vader still lurks within the castle. The apprentice recounts scary stories while manipulating Poe and others to his goals. Throughout the special, there are many easter eggs and references that most viewers may have missed as they watched that referenced other Star Wars films as well as other horror films.
10 Darth "Hideous"
At the beginning of LEGO Star Wars: Terrifying Tales, there is a flashback with Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine. In the flashback, Vaneé, the villain of the special, approaches Vader and becomes his apprentice.
As Vader and Palpatine are leaving, Palpatine refers to Vaneé as "Darth Hideous." This is a reference to the Emperor's own Sith name, Darth Sidious. For those that aren't aware, Darth Sidious was the first Sith Lord that came into power chronologically in the Star Wars films in Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
9 The Wookiee's Paw
The Twilight Zone is one of the most well-known horror tv shows of all time. Airing its first episode in 1959, The Twilight Zone is a show that combines social commentary with dystopian, science fiction, and horror elements to scare viewers of all ages.
In LEGO Star Wars: Terrifying Tales, each story that Vaneé tells is introduced with a title card. One of the stories that Vaneé tells to Poe, Dean, and the rest of the crew is called The Wookiee's Paw. This story is introduced with a title card that shares a similar graphic design to the title of The Twilight Zone.
8 Storm Trooper Head Blooper
In Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia are all trapped in the trash compactor. C-3PO and R2-D2 are at the control panel. A team of stormtroopers enters the room, and one of the troopers bangs his head on the door as he enters.
It has become one of the most iconic bloopers in the Star Wars franchise. LEGO Star Wars: Terrifying Tales pays homage to that blooper in the story, The Wookiee's Paw, where viewers see Luke Skywalker bang his head on the very same door while wearing a stormtrooper outfit.
7 Here's Johnny
Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is one of the most popular horror films of all time. There are many references to the 1980 cult classic made in various other forms of media. LEGO Star Wars: Terrifying Tales makes its own reference to the horror film when Graballa the Hut is hiding from the zombie droids.
An ax breaks through the door, leaving an opening for a droid to pop its head in and say, "Here's B14961138815." This is a reference to the historic scene where Jack Torrance breaks through a wooden door and says the line, "Here's Johnny."
6 Scooby-Doo Chase Scenes
While Scooby-Doo is not a particularly scary tv show, it does still possess a lot of Halloween themes in its episodes. There are a lot of things about Scooby-Doo that resonate with fans and are iconic even now. One example is the hallway and doors scenes.
There are many instances throughout Scooby-Doo's history where the Mystery gang runs back and forth from monsters through different doorways in a hallway. This classic scene is recreated in LEGO Star Wars: Terrifying Tales when Poe, Dean, BB-8, and Graballa and his assistants are running away from the zombie droids.
5 Clone Trooper Helmet
In LEGO Star Wars: Terrifying Tales, Poe and Graballa are walking through the main lobby of Castle Vader. In the main lobby, there are statues of multiple types of stormtroopers. However, there are no clone troopers in the main lobby.
When the group enter the room leading to the Sith artifacts, there are multiple shelves of documents and items. Some viewers will notice a couple of clone trooper helmets hiding on the shelves. The clone trooper helmets are references to the Star Wars prequel movies which is where the next short story in the special takes place.
4 Kiss For Luck
The Wookiee's Paw in LEGO Star Wars: Terrifying Tales shows an alternate version of the original trilogy in which Luke Skywalker joins the Empire instead of joining the Rebellion.
During this short story, Darth Vader takes Luke under his wing to join the dark side. During Luke's training, there is a scene in which Vader kisses Luke on the head and says, "For luck" before swinging across a chasm in the Deathstar. This is a reference to the same scene that played out in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. There is one obvious difference, however, instead of Darth Vader being the one that kisses Luke, it is Princess Leia that kisses him.
3 Training Montage
Remaining on the story, The Wookiee's Paw, there is a training montage in which Darth Vader is training Luke to join him on the dark side. Luke trains while Darth Vader is mounted on his shoulders, doing various exercises. Keen-eyed Star Wars fans may notice the familiarity of the training montage.
The training montage in this LEGO animated special is a recreation of the training that Luke went through in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. In that movie, Luke travels to the planet, Dagobah, to train with Jedi master Yoda to become a Jedi himself.
2 Nosferatu's Shadow
The credit for the first vampire movie goes to Nosferatu. One of the most well-known scenes from Nosferatu is the scene where the shadow of the titular vampire appears against the wall.
In LEGO Star Wars: Terrifying Tales, there is a scene where Graballa's assistants are exploring the dark caves of the castle. As they explore, a shadow that looks similar to the Nosferatu shadow appears from around the corner. The shadow quickly shrinks, revealing the source as a simple Empire droid. The nod to the iconic vampire film is still interesting.
1 Face In The Ceiling
LEGO Star Wars: Terrifying Tales also makes reference to a very famous horror movie series, A Nightmare on Elm Street. The animated special specifically makes reference to Freddy Krueger. In the original 1984 film, there is a scene where Freddy Krueger appears above one of the characters' beds and pushes through the wall, showing the outline of the villain's face.
In the story titled The Lost Boy in the LEGO special, Ben Solo is training with Luke Skywalker when he meets the Knights of Ren. After the encounter, Ben Solo dreams of the Knights of Ren leader, Ren. The dream shows Ren's face pushing through the ceiling similar to the scene from A Nightmare on Elm Street.
LEGO Star Wars: Terrifying Tales is now available on Disney+.