Easter Eggs, Trivia, and Secrets

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The Secret of Monkey IslandMonkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge
The Curse of Monkey IslandEscape from Monkey Island
Tales of Monkey IslandReturn to Monkey Island
The Burning Cemetery – Or, Rather, Henge
Trivia #0

Fake news! Return to Monkey Island is the first Monkey Island game since Secret not to feature a cemetery, although looking at the concept art, the plan was to have one. The red hues and burning tree suggest it could have been located on Terror Island.

As Dave Grossman points out, this is not a cemetery, but rather a circle of stones – i.e., a henge. We have, of course, written about there being a cemetery on Cogg Island, but are not sure if that really counts, seeing how a) the island is an easter egg, and b) the location is not marked as a cemetery.

Basically, let this be known as Cemeterygate.

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The Big Whoop Meat & Cheese Shop
Trivia #0

Deep in the concept art, you can find a depiction of what looks to be a meat and cheese shop. Was it to be located somewhere in Big Whoop? Note the digital register.

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The Big Whoop Transformation
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After Boybrush and Chuckie follow their “parents,” Big Whoop turns back from an amusement park to something “real.”

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Guybrush’s Head Turn
Trivia #0

Guybrush was originally supposed to turn to talk to Elaine in the final scene. This was cut because of disk space constraints, and Guybrush ended up just shifting his eyes. See the full animation over at The Video Game History Foundation.

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A Different SCUMM Bar
Trivia #0

Originally, the SCUMM Bar was one large, scrolling room where the kitchen was seen from a different perspective. Courtesy of The Video Game History Foundation.

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Different Mêlée Docks
Trivia #0

An early version of the Mêlée dock had a door where the poster would ultimately show up. Too, “SCUMM :) Bar” was known as “SCUM Bar,” meaning in some separate timeline, you’d be visiting scumbar.com. Courtesy of The Video Game History Foundation.

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The Sea Monkey’s View of Monkey Island
Trivia #0

You could originally see a lot—or a bit—more of Monkey Island from the Sea Monkey. The line shows where the cutoff is in the final game. Courtesy of The Video Game History Foundation.

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The Mansion Dollhouse
Trivia #0

An early version of the Governor’s Mansion was shown from a very different perspective. Courtesy of The Video Game History Foundation.

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The Collapsing Bridge
Trivia #0

An early concept for the “troll bridge” puzzle involved the bridge collapsing. Exactly what the puzzle would have entrailed is unknown, but the scene was fully animated. View it over at The Video Game History Foundation.

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“Rise of the Pirate God” and its Monkey Island 2 Influence
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In “Rise of the Pirate God,” co-director Jake Rodkin asked Michael Land to echo LeChuck’s Revenge’s underground theme:

I was nervous to ask Michael Land if the music in the Crossroads could allude to the music in the underground tunnels in 2 because I’m a lifelong Monkey 2 fanboy and it felt like asking to touch a live wire. He was happy to, of course!

Source: Bluesky

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Guybrush and Tim Schafer’s Distaste for Mushrooms
Trivia #0

Tim Schafer famously has a distaste for mushrooms and wrote the line, “I had a feeling that in hell there would be mushrooms,” specifically for when descending through the Monkey Head. Conversely, he added a callback to the line in Psychonauts 2. Source: I mean, it’s just commonly known, but you can witness it in PsychOdyssey if you don’t believe us. 🤷

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The Cook Reacts to the IOUs
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(And Otis does, too.) The Cook will have many thoughts about the IOUs that do not benefit him.

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A Dog Not Named After Walt Disney
Trivia #0

A common misconception is that the Phatt Island jail’s dog, Walt, is named after Walt Disney. Rather, he’s named after Steve Purcell’s dog. (Who at one point bit Dave Grossman. The dog did. Not Steve Purcell.)

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The Deleted LeChuck/Big Whoop Scene Voiced
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Strangely, voices were recorded for the deleted LeChuck/Largo scene in Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge Special Edition. The scene doesn’t appear in that version of the game, either, but through the magic of reconstruction, here’s what it would have sounded like. (Video taken from VGHF’s fireside chat video.)

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