Monsters vs. Aliens wouldn't be a DreamWorks movie without many references to pop culture, in a monstrosity way.
- Galaxhar's computer resembles Dexter's computer.
- General Monger's pin with the clouds on it on his upper left side is Shrek wearing an eyepatch.
- There is also a Shout-Out to Close Encounters of the Third Kind when the president attempts to communicate with the robot probe musically. (and he ends up playing Axel F, the Beverly Hills Cop theme song) Plus he gives the Vulcan salute from Star Trek.
- Link mentions that finding out that the Earth had gotten warmer in his absence would be a "very convenient truth", a reference to the film An Inconvenient Truth.
- Modesto, CA, Susan's hometown in the movie, was the hometown of George Lucas.
- General Monger: "This place is an X-File! Wrapped in cover-up and deep-fried in paranoid conspiracy."
- Ms. Ronson (the coffee lady who screams at the monsters' footage) resembles Dana Scully (or Annie Hughes).
- Gallaxhar's line, "Destroy all monsters!" is a reference to the Godzilla movie of the same name.
- The eventual fate of Insectosaurus is much like that of Mothra. If you're familiar with that particular monster, the supposed death of Insectosaurus isn't quite as traumatic.
- Also, "Oh, Spaceballs."
- That one convertible belonging to the jock that had racing stripes and a radio that shifted frequencies on its own. Interestingly, the capture of Susan and Bumblebee both involve helicopters and some similar equipment. They even start with roping one arm.
- The scene where Susan tosses the giant hypodermic needle, only to have it impale some poor soldier's foot, is a reference to The Amazing Colossal Man, where the results are a bit more lethal.
- Gallaxhar's speech to all of Earth sounds a lot like the Vogon's speech before they destroy Earth in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1978).
- Not only is the president an expy of Stephen Colbert, but his code name ("Papa Bear") is a Shout-Out to Colbert's nickname for Bill O'Reilly (one of the main inspirations for his over-the-top alter-ego.)
- The Robots' shields use the same effect as the aliens' in Independence Day.
- They got three in the space about three seconds: "Supernova. This is Red Dwarf! We actually have one! Code Nimoy!"
- When B.O.B. is in his cell throwing the rubber ball against the wall to pass time, that is an homage to a scene with Steve McQueen in the movie, The Great Escape.
- When the military attempts to defeat the robot probe, there is a shot of a missile with the words "E.T. Go Home!" Not only that, if you listen carefully, the theme from the movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is actually played for a second.
- A Gallaxhar clone getting thrown off the side of the walkway lets out the Wilhelm Scream.
- In a deleted scene
, B.O.B. charges into battle yelling "LEEEEEEROOOOOOOOOOOOOY JEEEEEEEEEEEEENKIIIIIIIIIIINS!!!!" The lines surrounding that are even roughly the same as the Leeroy Jenkins Video, namely the request for a "number crunch", the absurdedly low odds of survival being "better than usual", and the like. - At the beginning of the movie, we see a guy playing with a paddle-ball, as the ball is sent flying toward the audience before springing back. This is a riff on the paddle-ball scene from House of Wax (1953), one of the classic 3D movies.
- The shot of B.O.B.'s blue mass flowing out the doors of laboratory he was created in (in Monger's video of his origins) is exactly the same as shot of the Blob coming out of the front doors of the theater from The Blob (1958). He's also created from a tomato.
- Similarly, the shot of Susan's hand reaching into the news station to get Derek calls to mind a similar shot in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958).
- One of the trucks that nearly falls off the Golden Gate bridge has the letters "SKG" on its grill, in reference to Spielberg-Katzenburg-Geffen, the founders of DreamWorks SKG.
- Lastly, there's a shout out to Dr. Strangelove during The Stinger.
- In fact, there are several shout outs to that film, including the appearance of the war room and General Monger's "YYEEEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAHH!" as his plane goes down.
- The scene of the military attacking the alien robot with jets and artillery is a perfect copy of the scene in the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still, in which the US military attacks the automaton GORT.
- The closing credits play over silhouettes of Susan's doing Waif-Fu moves, along with the fighter jets and stuff, reminiscent of the James Bond films.
- When Gallaxhar gives his world destruction speech in Japan, other Dreamworks Animation movies can be seen on some of the background screens. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (top left) and Kung Fu Panda (top right).
