The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar: Return to Monkey Island Trivia

They may not have appeared IN the game, but the three pirates from Steve Purcell's The Secret of Monkey Island cover show up in Return to Monkey Island. Props to Rex Crowle and team for even including the semi-hidden Purcell signature.

Did you know Stan's theme and the SCUMM Bar theme in the Monkey Island games are based on pre-existing compositions? Witness Go Tell Aunt Rhody and O Good Ale Thou Art My Darling. One or more tune has appeared in every game.

The Sierra-mocking easter egg in The Secret of Monkey Island is referred to in Return to Monkey Island. Witness the change.

The goldfish from Zak—Sushi—makes a cameo in Return to Monkey Island.

Return to Monkey Island had lines recorded using Guybrush and LeChuck’s voices as opposed to Boybrush and Chuckie’s. This is what it would have sounded like.

You can save Wally, it just takes some ingenuity.

There is an oft-forgotten optional scene in “The Secret of Monkey Island,” which ties in with a discovery in “Return to Monkey Island.”

Remember the “Pirates of the Caribbean” scene that was suspiciously similar to “Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge?” It was then referenced in “Return to Monkey Island” — all a coincidence? Maybe...

The rules change after the Monkey Island quake, if only ever so slightly!

After the quake, things have changed on Monkey Island—this is a supercut of what to see and do.

There are a total of eleven possible endings/codas. This is a compilation of them all.

The underwater Cogg Island was cut from the final game but you CAN explore it. In Part 4, find the trivia card that asks Where is Cogg Island located? Click the answer that contains a coordinate—it’s random—sail to it, and dive down to see what was cut. Make sure to save first, as there is no way to return to the surface. Don’t want to go looking for yourself? Our save-game section includes a file and instructions on how to use it to get straight to the island.

Those who pre-ordered the game got one extra inventory item: the completely pointless Horse Armor. You can actually use it, just not in a meaningful fashion.

The Seckrit sign on Monkey Island is not a random typo, but a reference to Maniac Mansion.

According to his own diary, LeChuck’s birthday is on December 1st.

Every time you enter the Cod’s Wallop the lumpsucker will crawl closer to the exit. After 31 tries, it’ll exit.

Sort of! Bonus: “Lemonhead” is a classic 'merican candy.

Wally’s doormat is a map of the map shop.

A common question we get is if this scene was cut from the game. It was not, but you need to enable Writers’ Cut in the game’s preference to see it.

Pick up the skulls before rebuilding the Sea Monkey on Monkey Island, and they’ll come with you as ship decoration. Additionally, bringing Murray is optional.

Lon Chaney—also known as The Man of a Thousand Faces—was the master of makeup and a man of many faces in 1920s movies. Jon Laney shared many similarities.

From the “what does it all mean?!” file—the map to the secret either says it’s seven-ish o’clock, or the minute hand is missing and we see the second hand instead. Related to the Cogg Island puzzles?

“Where’s Waldo” is known as “Where’s Wally” in many parts of the world.

Guybrush can fully drown—run the clock out four times underwater, and you’ll get a less-than-cheerful ending.

Quoting standards in Monkey Island games is not a new thing, but for the Brrr Muda town hall, Peter McConnell fully reinterpreted the Norwegian folk song, “Per Spelmann.” Here is a comparison of the two.

While there undoubtedly was a lot of crossover, we can, thanks to the OST and various interviews, deduct which composer wrote what:

• Michael Land: Big Whoop (prologue and end), Mêlée, Monkey, Scurvy Ship, theme/menus/scrapbook.
• Peter McConnell: Terror, Brrr Muda, LeAnchor, Diving Theme, below Monkey.
• Clint Bajakian: LeShip, Voodoo Shop, Scurvy, Barebones.

An electrical plug can be spotted—if you look really closely-above one of the monkey statues. Very foreshadowing.

After Guybrush becomes Brrr Muda’s new queen, things change through town.

You can find a photo booth in the final location of the game. Click the right spot, and you’ll get a picture. Drag that onto the frame, and you can see it in a close-up.

The Secret… Secrets… of Monkey Island are revealed in the SCUMM Bar by two different patrons.

Carla’s election poster is switched out after the mop tree is chopped down.

You don’t have to pay for much in Return, but you can settle your accounts if you so choose.

The Scumm Bar chef has a long list of improvements for his establishment, some more achievable than others.

Not just a random advertisement scheme. Cobb was a character in Loom, sans disguise.

Wander the Mêlée Forest—seemingly in Casual Mode only—and you’ll meet a bespectacled creature hiding out. In code, it’s referenced as pineapple_person. Was it responsible for the death of the explorer found in The Secret of Monkey Island? We may never know.

After visiting Monkey Island, you can offer up some material for the Mêlée Island museum curator’s newsletter. Of interest: One line of dialogue shows in the game’s resource files that does not appear in the game regarding LeChuck’s diary: But I've been thinking about adding a room with stuff for kids to play with, it would go great in there.

Additionally, if you mention a manatee in your Chums story, Conrad will respond: Hm. I'm not sure about the manatee. Not very piratey.

In The Secret of Monkey Island, it’s fairly apparent that there is a picture of the Pillsbury Doughboy in the Scumm Bar kitchen. In Return to Monkey Island, you can steal the painting—of a rather bad boy-looking Doughboy—after you give the Chef the cookbook. Later, the Chef will tell you the picture is of his father. Which puts forth the question: Is the Chef actually Pillsbury Doughboy’s son?

“Youch,” or, if you investigate the informative plaque in The Curse of Monkey Island, “pappapisshu!” The exclamation makes its comeback in Return to Monkey Island. (It also appears in Tales: here is a screenshot.)

The voices of the skulls—Murray aside—are provided by Clint Bajakian, Michael Land, and Peter McConnell, the game’s musicians. Source: GDC Vault.

The mounted marlin is a promotional item gifted to the Cod’s Wollop by a yak butter fellow. It was established by the Scumm Bar cook earlier in the game that Marlon Marlin is the only yak butter peddler on Mêlée Island.

For a hot minute, Return to Monkey Island had a logo similar to the Tales-era version, at least sort of. While the classic logo was used in marketing, the website’s OG image (the preview image you see on links from Mastodon or Bluesky or whatever) was of a more tattered variety. It was quickly changed after a breaking story from Mojo. Source: Jack Rodford.

While a seemingly random set of characters, the “XYZZY” harkens back to the 1976 adventure game Colossal Cave Adventure. Typing in the key combination would allow the user to fast travel between two distant points. Wikipedia has more.

Early promo shots showed that the Mêlée alley would not initially be accessible in ReMI. This, of course, was changed in the final game.

So to speak—Chuckie’s cut-off jacket has the same crossbones emblem as the back of LeChuck’s coat.

If you keep double-ringing the LeShip bell, LeChuck will give a number of inspirational speeches. Enjoy them all here!

Have Boybrush read the sign above the sewer runoff in the Big Whoop outhouse and repeatedly interact with the water to make Chuckie do something rather gross.

The pirate swinging from the chandelier in The Secret of Monkey Island has met their untimely demise if the body outline in Return is anything to go by. Also, note the “welcome” mat—“avast” means “stop.” In other words, anything but welcoming.

After successfully getting his Monkey Island vote through, Guybrush has an arsenal of other topics to put up for consideration.

Lila’s dramatic spell at the Monkey Island alter translates to: “Who cares for the pain itself, because it is pain. Unless some of it is useful. Unless they are blinded by lust, they will not come out.” This according to Google Translate. Conversely, the lines are very similar to “lorem ipsum,” the text commonly used as placeholder text in publishing.

Oh, it’s just a figure of speech! For those who haven’t played “Casual” mode: It’s easy to get Locke’s key, and Guybrush is willing to trade a lot for it. Here’s a supercut. Credit: LGH.

The carved heart reveals a disturbing romantic profession. Luckily, you can stab it. Sort of.

Hand Madison her book—“Ship-to-Ship Combat Strategies”—from Carla’s collection, and she’ll sign a personalized inscription for Guybrush.

In both “The Secret of Monkey Island” and “Return to Monkey Island,” you can press the Escape or skip key to get an alternate “Loom” sales pitch from Cobb.

The former Pirate Leaders go with the classic mouth-to-mouth method. Guybrush, meanwhile, chooses mouth-to... well...

As revealed by Ron on Mastodon, the secret internal code name for Return to Monkey Island was WeirdCogs. That goes hand-in-hand with Cogg Island which incidentally only showed up as an easter egg.

Within Return to Monkey Island’s resource files, you can find unused voice assets, including some alternate takes from Murray. Here’ what they sound like.

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