Star Wars has been full of references to other parts of pop culture since the very start. You can even say Star Wars itself is one giant reference, from everything from Flash Gordon to samurai films to about a hundred other things. Well, you can now add “theme park rides” to that list. In the second episode of Skeleton Crew on Disney+, the creators found a way to pay homage to the iconic Disneyland and Walt Disney World attraction, Pirates of the Caribbean. However, this Easter egg was an aural one, so you’ll have to listen carefully to catch it.
In episode two of Skeleton Crew, our main group of kids find themselves on a distant space pirate outpost. The kids are promptly thrown into a dingy prison cell. In the distance, we hear a very specific whistling sound. Fans of Disney theme parks recognize it as the sound of the imprisoned scoundrels from Pirates of the Caribbean attempting to get a key-holding dog to get them out of jail. If you haven’t been on Pirates of the Caribbean in a minute, it’s this scene in the video above.
This isn’t the only Disney theme park Easter egg in Skeleton Crew either. In the first episode, the kids have a droid bus driver that takes them to school. The model of that droid is the exact same one as the original Star Tours pilot, RX-24, nicknamed “Captain Rex.” The voice of the original Starspeeder 3000 pilot was none other than the late Paul Reubens, a.k.a. Pee-wee Herman. Although C-3PO replaced Rex, you can still find an RX model as the DJ in Oga’s Cantina in Galaxy’s Edge. Will we see (or hear) other Disney theme park homages in Skeleton Crew? We’re kind of hoping for the kids to go to Lightspeed past a space station that looks like Space Mountain.