History Main / TheGenieKnowsJackNicholson

** ''WesternAnimation/TheSwordInTheStone'' did it first, with Merlin lamenting the fact that he lives before indoor plumbing and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere going to 20th century Bermuda]] when the mood suits him. He even comes back in a Hawaiian tourist shirt. The gag is true to the original ''Literature/TheOnceAndFutureKing'', in which Merlin makes a number of anachronistic references to 20th century events due to [[MerlinSickness living through history in reverse]].

** In ''WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}'', Tamatoa is a supernatural entity whose scenes are filled with conspicuous pop-culture anachronisms that would look weird coming from a normal human (he sings a Music/DavidBowie-inspired GlamRock musical number, breaks the fourth wall, mentions things like the VaudevilleHook, pretends to use Moana as a microphone, and alludes to ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid.'') Maui also has a brief gag where he declares that [[ItMakesSenseInContext writing something with a bird]][[note]]Using Hei Hei's beak to scratch his signature into Moana's oar[[/note]] is called [[Website/{{Twitter}} "tweeting"]].

* It’s relatively minor, but in ''Anime/BakuganBattleBrawlers'', after unleashing Linehalt’s DangerousForbiddenTechnique and seeing it almost destroy everything, [[BigBad Emperor Barodius]] comments “Either I’ve opened PandorasBox, or I’ve tampered with a power I can’t control.”

* ''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.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', Discord does this on occasion. He does it a ''lot'' in "Three's a Crowd", where he visually references ''Film/{{Flashdance}}'', ''Literature/HarryPotter'', and ''Literature/FearAndLoathingInLasVegas'', among other things. Helped immensely in said episode that he’s also blue like the Genie. He's also pretending to have an illness that makes his powers go haywire, a real cold had that effect on Genie in the animated series.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' Discord does this on occasion. He does it a ''lot'' in "Three's a Crowd", where he visually references ''Film/{{Flashdance}}'', ''Literature/HarryPotter'', and ''Literature/FearAndLoathingInLasVegas'', among other things. Helped immensely in said episode that he’s also blue like The Genie. He's also pretending to have an illness that makes his powers go haywire, a real cold had that effect on Genie in the animated series.
* Chameleon of ''Westernanimation/MightyDucksTheAnimatedSeries'' is the PluckyComicRelief [[LaughablyEvil of the villains]], and much of his VoluntaryShapeshifting is used so he can imitations of Earth actors.

* 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 exlaim "Wow! [[TakeThat You're a comic genius]]!"

* Crow, Tom Servo, Gypsy and even ''Cambot'' from ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' drop pop culture references left and right when riffing or doing sketches, despite never having been to Earth and having limited communications to the planet. Joel might have programmed them with these references, but whatever. [[MST3KMantra It's just a show,]] as the theme song reminds us.

** Worth noting is that Aladdin {{lampshade|Hanging}}s the Genie's tendency to do this in the cartoon series. "What's the genie doing?" "Dreaming about references to some form of entertainment that hasn't been invented yet." It's occasionally mentioned that Genie sometimes time-travels in his spare time, which explains how he knows about pop culture icons from the future. There is one episode of the show that [[CutawayGag explictly shows him in another time, with Napoleon]].

** During their musical number, the gargoyles in ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'' are seen playing a piano centuries before it was invented, as well as throwing in references to Creator/MichelangeloBuonarroti's ''David'' (the film is set nearly a quarter-century before the statue's completion) and ''Film/{{Amadeus}}'' (an ActorAllusion; Tom Hulce, who plays Quasimodo, also played Mozart). And there's a huge shout-out to ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' when Laverne "sics" her birds on the enemy...

This can be justified in various ways. Perhaps the character is a time traveler, or spent a great deal of time on Earth at one point, or [[AliensStealCable has intercepted Earth's TV and radio transmissions and fallen in love with them.]] Or if the work is set in the future, maybe they just have ''really'' retro tastes.

This can be justified in various ways. Perhaps the character is a time traveler, or spent a great deal of time on Earth at one point, or [[AliensStealCable has intercepted Earth's TV and radio transmissions and fallen in love with them.]]

* Star-Lord from ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' 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 Series/TheJewsAreComing, prophet Ezekiel's drug-filled prophecies frequently result in this; for example, right after Jerusalem is sacked by the Babylonians, he laments the loss of his drug stash full of "stuff you can't get in Amsterdam".

* ''Theatre/TwistedTheUntoldStoryOfARoyalVizier'' [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructs this trope]]: Ja'far does not get the djinn's anachronistic pop culture references, and is annoyed when he refuses to stop [[SpeaksInShoutOuts speaking in shout-outs]]. And because he doesn't understand the Genie's quoting and takes him literally, he introduces the djinn as Johnny, then Turboman, but gives up altogether when the djinn says "I'm Batman!".

** In ''WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}'', Tamatoa is a supernatural entity whose scenes are filled with conspicuous pop-culture anachronisms that would look weird coming from a normal human (he sings a Music/DavidBowie-inspired GlamRock musical number, breaks the fourth wall, mentions things like the VaudevilleHook, pretends to use Moana as a microphone, and alludes to ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid.'')

* In TheJewsAreComing, prophet Ezekiel's drug-filled prophecies frequently result in this; for example, right after Jerusalem is sacked by the Babylonians, he laments the loss of his drug stash full of "stuff you can't get in Amsterdam".

* 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, its a symbol of their god, Nanoo the Ninny.

* 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.

* Belial (a half-angel, half-demon) from ''VideoGame/{{Painkiller}} Overdose''.

* Pretty much everyone in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', which largely runs on RuleOfFunny and MetaFiction.

* In ''[[ComicBook/LuckyLuke Tous à l'Ouest]]'', when Lucky Luke reunites with his pet [[DogsAreDumb Rantanplan]], the dog has a hard time remembering where he's seen this cowboy before. After racking his brain for a while he eventually comes to the wrong conclusion that Luke is Creator/ClintEastwood and asks for his autograph. Also counts as AchievementsInIgnorance.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The Doctor is a time traveller, and often references time periods that occur after their current time period. For example, the Tenth Doctor once [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E2TheShakespeareCode mentioned]] having read ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', when the episode aired months before the book was released.

** In ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'', Olaf does a humorous recap of the events of the previous movie. This scene proved so popular that Disney made a series of shorts with him doing similar 2-minute reenactments of other movies, including ''The Little Mermaid'', ''The Lion King'', ''Aladdin'', ''Moana'', and ''Tangled''.

* It’s relatively minor, but in Anime/BakuganBattleBrawlers, after unleashing Linehalt’s DangerousForbiddenTechnique and seeing it almost destroy everything, [[BigBad Emperor Barodius]] comments “Either I’ve opened PandorasBox, or I’ve tampered with a power I can’t control.”

* Played with in ''Literature/TheDeathGateCycle'', where EccentricMentor Zifnab regularly quotes and references ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', ''Franchise/StarWars'', 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.]]

* Played with in ''Literature/TheDeathGateCycle'', where EccentricMentor Zifnab regularly quotes and references TheLordOfTheRings, ''Franchise/StarWars'', 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.]]

* Played with in ''Literature/TheDeathGateCycle'', where EccentricMentor Zifnab regularly quotes and references LordOfTheRings, StarWars, 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.]]