quote References to the Beatles

EarthBound: Encyclopedia II - EarthBound - Hidden references


EarthBound - Hidden references

EarthBound - The Beatles

It's interesting to note that the team that designed EarthBound are also open fans of the British pop and rock band, The Beatles. Throughout the game, there are countless examples of this:

* In the Japanese version of EarthBound, Mother 2, many of the extra alternate names for characters and such are that of Beatles band members. Among them are John (Ness), Yoko (Paula), Paul (Jeff), George (Poo), and Ringo (King). In this particular set, the main character's favorite food is "Honey Pie", and his favorite thing is "Love".
* A question is asked by a townsperson in Onett that relates to the band's song "Yesterday".
* In Fourside, the theme "I have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about" carries a very similar tune to "Doctor Robert" from the Beatles album 'Revolver.'
* There are two notable instances that actual Beatles songs were sampled for background music. The music used while inside the Brickroad dungeon is a sample of the beginning of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)". The music used in the Cave of the Past is a sample from the first few notes of "All You Need Is Love".
* The music that plays in every drugstore and department store sounds quite similar to When I'm Sixty-Four, including the famous refrain.
* The yellow submarine in the game is obviously a nod to their song and animated movie, Yellow Submarine.
* The tune played when Ness and his friends wake up after resting is called "Good Morning". It is a slower version of the chorus of the Sgt. Pepper's song "Good Morning Good Morning".
* A member of a band in the game called the Runaway Five references a song which The Beatles covered called "Money (That's What I Want)", originally by Barrett Strong.
* The music playing when Ness steps outside after the meteor crashes resembles the drums in the ending of "Strawberry Fields Forever".
* The music heard in the Saturn Valley area sounds a lot like "Wild Honey Pie", from the Beatles' White Album.
* The beginning of the song it plays when you ride Tessie across Lake Tess closely resembles the beginning of Strawberry Fields Forever from the Magical Mystery Tour album.

quote Misc.

EarthBound - Other references

* The music played when starting a new game and naming the characters contains a short musical sample from the theme song for the show Monty Python's Flying Circus, John Philip Sousa's Liberty Bell March.
* In Jackie's Cafe, the music contains a sample from the theme song for the Our Gang film series. Also heard is a sample of America's National Anthem.
* The background music for Moonside has a sample from the Ric Ocasek song, "Keep On Laughin".
* One of the weapons Ness can equip is called the Casey Bat. While it increases his Offense more than any other weapon he can equip, it misses three times out of four (all his other bats miss one time out of sixteen). Appropriate, since the bat's name is a reference to Casey at the Bat, the baseball poem by Ernest Thayer about a revered batter, the "mighty" Casey, who strikes out.
* One battle music track features music similar to the intro from "Johnny B. Goode" and several other Chuck Berry songs.
* The Runaway Five sharply resemble the Blues Brothers (especially the two lead singers). The original Japanese version had the band wearing black suits instead of the colored clothes of the American release, and were called the "Tonzura Brothers".
* A NPC in the Onett arcade calls Ness "a real Rambo type".
* Giant Step and Lilliput Steps are references to Gulliver's Travels.
* One of the non-player characters in the game looks almost exactly like Mr. T (though he is never referred to as such or says anything Mr. T might be thought to say). Fans of the game refer to him almost exclusively as such.
* Two enemies in the game share the names of famous David Bowie songs: "Starman" (the trademark Starmen enemies appear throughout the game) and "Diamond Dogs" (Diamond Dog is one of the major bosses in the game). The veiny machine from his "Ashes to Ashes" video also resembles the final boss of the game, Giygas.
* The Starmen characters appear to be based on the alien from the classic sci-fi film the Day the Earth Stood Still.
* During the battle with the Slimy Little Pile (one of Master Belch's minions) one can hear a sample of the Super Mario Bros. theme.
* Aloysius Minch, Pokey's father, is a clever opposite to Atticus Finch from the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
* In the Japanese release of EarthBound (Mother 2), there is a set of default names for the characters and items related to the Super Mario Bros. series. Ness, Paula, Jeff, and Poo become Mario, Peach, Luigi, and Toad, respectivly. The dog (King) becomes Yoshi, the player's favorite food becomes "mushroom", and the player's favorite thing becomes "goal".
* The arcade in Onett contains a couple of Donkey Kong arcade machines. There are no real titles on the machines, but the tell-tale red girder pattern of the first level shows on the first machine in front row, and on the second-to-last machine in the back row. Also, the main stage theme for Xevious can be heard in the background noise.
* One of the battle themes resembles the song Tequila by The Champs.
* A character in Onett will play a melody from Dvorak's Symphony No. 9, movement 2 on trumpet upon being spoken to.
* Shigesato Itoi has revealed in interviews that Giygas' dialogue was inspired by a traumatic childhood experience wherein he mistakenly walked into an adult movie theatre playing a rape scene.
* The Mr. Saturn's font is inspired by Shigesato Itoi's daughter's handwriting.
* There is a boss fight with a fire-breathing, snake-like sea monster called the Kraken. This is a reference to the sea-creature of legend.
* The second song played by the Runaway Five in the Chaos Theater strongly resembles the song The Changeling by The Doors.
* The second-weakest hat for Ness is the "Mr. Baseball Cap". This is a reference to the Tom Selleck movie Mr. Baseball about an American baseball player who played on a Japanese baseball team.