History Main / TheGenieKnowsJackNicholson

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

One common method of doing this in ScienceFiction and {{fantasy}} is by having a non-human character or a magical creature of some sort appear to be in tune with the cultural Zeitgeist of the time period when the work was made, but [[OrphanedEtymology not the one the work is]] ''[[OrphanedEtymology actually set in]]'', adding an extra touch of spice to the AnachronismStew. Thus, [[Literature/SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish space aliens]] will watch ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'', Film/{{gremlins}} will cosplay as [[Film/FirstBlood Rambo]], and, yes, [[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} the Genie]] will impersonate Creator/JackNicholson. Logically, there does come a moment when you must ask, "This alien/gremlin/genie can do all of these insane things, but they can't violate causality?"

* Gizmo, and the eponymous creatures from ''Film/{{Gremlins}}'', are like this. In the first movie, this quality is restricted to their love of the movie ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'', but in [[Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch the sequel]] (a more humorous take on the first movie's premise), the gremlins are total pop culture junkies mere hours after having been spawned, going so far as to stage elaborate recreations of scenes from ''Film/Batman1989'', ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', and ''Franchise/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', among others, plus their enormous, balls-to-the-wall musical rendition of 'New York, New York'. It's somewhat more reasonable with Gizmo, since Billy taught him to watch television, and thus his infatuation with Franchise/{{Rambo}} makes some sort of sense. Especially since ''he was watching the film just before donning the costume''.

* Star-Lord from ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'' is constantly dropping pop culture references despite the fact that he was abducted by aliens in 1988 and hasn't had any contact with Earth since. Granted, [[DiscoDan most of his references are dated enough to escape the trope]], but he was a child when the abduction took place. So references to ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' and ''Literature/TheGivingTree'' are justified, but at the point that he references ''Film/PulpFiction'', ''Literature/TheMalteseFalcon'', and ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' in a single sentence, it gets a bit harder to believe.
** In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'', he calls Rocket a "trash panda", a memetic alternate name for raccoons. He should have absolutely no idea that Internet memes exist.
* Korg introduces himself in ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' with a RockPaperScissors joke, even though he's a [[RockMonster Kronan]] from Sakaar. There have been a few Earthlings on Sakaar, but there's no indication that he interacted with them. Though ''Film/ThorLoveAndThunder'' shows that rock-paper-scissors is indeed a concept that exists in the Kronan culture. In fact, it's a symbol of their god, Ninny of the Nonny.

* ''Literature/TheOnceAndFutureKing'' has Merlin make all kinds of references to 20th century events and culture in "The Sword in the Stone", to the point that this section is more of a satire and commentary on T. H. White's time than it is a retelling of Arthurian myth.

* Occurs frequently in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', explained by the characters being hit by cross-dimensional inspiration particles, morphic resonance between universes, and of course the TheoryOfNarrativeCausality. A common LampshadeHanging is for another character to question the line, only for the first character to suddenly realise ''they'' don't get the reference either, and have no idea why they said it.
* Played with in ''Literature/TheDeathGateCycle'', where EccentricMentor Zifnab regularly quotes and references ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', ''Franchise/StarWars'', ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', and others. As the series is set in a bizarre fantasy cosmology seemingly unrelated to our world, this appears to simply be an example of a CloudCuckooLander with FourthWallObserver tendencies. [[spoiler: It turns out that the story is set in a distant future following a magical apocalypse, and Zifnab, while most certainly insane, is also old enough to remember the old world.]]

* In ''Literature/AlienInASmallTown,'' odd bits of contemporary pop culture have survived into the future and show up as offhand references. The lyrics to Music/AlanisMorissette's "Ironic" are taught as poetry, Music/TheWho is remembered for creating the rock opera, and Music/TheRollingStones are apparently well enough remembered for a [[StarfishAliens Starfish Alien]] to be familiar with the lyrics to "Satisfaction."

--> '''Mummy:''' Raw rar rar rar rar?[[note]]You talkin' to me?[[/note]]

* Referenced somewhat cruelly in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'', with a Robin Williams-like genie appearing and performing shtick including an imitation of [[Creator/TheMarxBrothers Groucho Marx]], prompting Clara to exclaim "Wow! [[TakeThat You're a comic genius]]!"

* ''ComicBook/TheSandman'': Death's home as shown in ''The Sandman Special - The Song of Orpheus'' has several contemporary, late-20th century objects, while the story itself is set in [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Ancient Greece]]. Orpheus suffers a mild shock upon seeing it.

* ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends'': The quiz test sidequest in the second game has questions about real world events, rather than events in the Mega Man Legends world. Subjects ranged from history, pop culture, music, sports, even math questions, among others. GuideDangIt ensues, as ''no one'' will know ''all'' the answers to these questions without a lifetime of research on ''every'' subject, plenty of trial and error, or without [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps/197897-mega-man-legends-2/faqs/9385 consulting a guide.]]

* Colombia in ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'' has early 20th versions of songs such as ''Girls Just Want to Have Fun''. [[spoiler: This is because they've been making contact with alternate timelines and futures to acquire technology and pop culture]].