What do pastel-colored eggs have to do with Easter? And what exactly do Easter eggs have to do with DVDs? To answer the first question: I have no idea. Maybe it's just another greeting-card industry conspiracy. As for the second question: Easter eggs are bonus materials hidden deep within the menus of your favorite DVDs.

Easter egg extras can be trailers, interviews, outtakes, cut scenes, music videos, or any other wacky, supplemental content that will make movie fans squeal with glee. Or at the very least, cluck - like an egg-laying bunny rabbit. To the great unwashed, DVDs are just another way to watch movies, though with better sound and a sharper picture. My mother initially dismissed them as fancy VHS tapes (whatever those are). But for die-hard film buffs, DVDs have become a way of life.

DVD fans demand ever more extras to complement the films they love. And in case you didn't get the memo - fans love Easter eggs. They love the thrill of the hunt, the new dimension these bonuses add to a film, the few extra minutes they get to spend with extraordinary talent - basically, they love the extra bangs for their entertainment buck. See what you're missing out on?

Until recently, Easter eggs were a DVD lover's secret. But as word has spread, these hidden treats have become more and more popular. There are whole Web sites devoted to revealing their locations, and even the movie studios are getting in on the action by advertising "secret" Easter eggs on DVD packaging.
If you want to discover eggs on your own, stop reading now and pat yourself on the back for having "character." But if you want a little bit of help snooping about - read on.

Shell Games

Easter eggs began as bonus goodies that computer programmers buried deep within software applications. Harder to find than the ones on DVDs, software eggs can be elaborate - like the Spy Hunter-style game hidden in Microsoft's Excel 2000. Even with the instructions - which can be found online - getting to these software bonuses can still be maddening. (This confirms my belief that programmers aren't automatons lacking social skills, but average, run-of-the-mill guys who like to have fun - with binary code.)

DVDs, on the other hand, brim with Easter eggs for one purpose only: to make fans happy. "You should be able to stumble onto the Easter eggs as you explore the discs," says veteran DVD producer Jonathan Gaines, whose work includes the Superman and Some Like It Hot special editions. "They're a good way to get people to explore the menu, read it, and navigate it."

It's easy to forget that DVD, while an ideal format for films, is also an interactive medium that owes as much to CD-ROMs as to videotapes. Unlike linear laserdiscs, which require you to either jump ahead by chapter number or fast scan to find a specific scene or featurette, DVDs offer menu screens to help you get around. These screens are an art form unto themselves, and a massive amount of work goes into creating them. It's here where most Easter eggs are hidden.

Eggs Unscrambled

So what makes a good Easter egg? Filmmaker and DVD producer Mark Burnett, who worked on the DVD for The Usual Suspects and is helping to put together the up-coming, four-disc Lord of the Rings extravaganza, defines Easter eggs as simply "content related to a movie that had no place in the film itself." But he adds, "I think the most effective Easter egg is content that is only tangentially connected to the film."

As an example, Burnett cites the animated Disney film Dinosaurs. The Easter egg in that DVD is a hidden documentary from the 1960s featuring Walt Disney talking about dinosaurs. Even though it's not directly related to the film or its production, it helps sweeten your enjoyment of the movie.
Now, for the record - not all eggs are created equal. Some are just plain lame with a capital L-A-M-E. Some studios cynically plant stuff like dull trailers and phoned-in extras. But that's where we come in.

Here's a list of our 10 favorite DVD Easter eggs. Keep in mind that great eggs don't necessarily equal a great film, so this is not a list of the ten best DVDs. Hardly. You will find some fine films mentioned, but this is a list of DVDs whose producers have gone the extra mile to satiate the appetites of fans. So grab your basket (and don't worry - you can go ahead and put all your eggs in it), pop some popcorn, and slap fresh batteries in your remote control, because the hunt is on.

Gladiator
(DreamWorks)
Easter egg: Multiple eggs are offered,
but my favorite features test footage for a
fight scene between Russell Crowe and
a CGI (computer-generated image) rhino.
How to find it: Pop the bonus disc in your player, then go to the second page of "Special Features." Click "Original Storyboards," then "More," and then "Rhino Fight." Highlight the rhino in the second storyboard, press the enter button on your remote, then select "View Test Footage."
Final word: A brief glimpse of what could have been a fun sequence for this sword-and-sandal epic.

Final Fantasy
(Columbia TriStar)
Easter egg: The best egg shows the
CGI characters in this sci-fi yawner doing their own version of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" music video.
How to find it: From the bonus disc, select "Highlights Menu" and proceed to the second page of the menu. Press the up arrow on your remote and then the right arrow twice, and a small box with imagery will appear. Highlight that and press enter.
Final word: Brilliant, hilarious - infinitely more entertaining than the film itself.
Moulin Rouge
(20th Century Fox)
Easter egg: Of all the outtakes hidden in this expertly designed DVD, my favorite involves Ewan McGregor and the lovely Nicole Kidman hamming it up after Kidman proves unable to keep a straight face during a take.
How to find it: Go to "The Cutting Room" section on the bonus disc and highlight "Main Menu." Click the left arrow on your remote until a red windmill is highlighted, then click on that.
Final word: This massive DVD, bursting with features and extras, is a veritable minefield of Easter eggs.

Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace
(Lucasfilm/20th Century Fox)
Easter egg: A gigantic DVD, The Phantom Menace offers a bunch of eggs. The best has Watto, the flying, junk-selling thing, appearing out of nowhere to scold you for not hurrying up. Simple and well done.
How to find it: Go to "Animatics and Still Galleries" on the second disc. Wait too long, and Watto flies on and yells at you to buy something.
Final word: Sadly, there are no Easter eggs featuring the universally loathed Jar Jar Binks being garroted.

The Godfather DVD Collection
(Paramount)
Easter egg: Another robust DVD package (five discs!) with many eggs, it's a tie with Final Fantasy for having the best of the bunch. One egg has the cast from The Sopranos watching a Godfather bootleg.
How to find it: Go to "Galleries" on the bonus disc, click on "DVD Credits," and then hit "Next" four times.
Final word: Truly, this is a DVD you can't refuse.

Independence Day
(20th Century Fox)
Easter egg: This film hasn't aged well,
but someone cared about the DVD package. The best of the eggs are the
faux newscasts announcing the coming alien invasion, which were never fully
seen in the movie. It's a bit of a game to get to them, though.
How to find it: On the second disc, go to "Data Console" and click enter on your remote. Then highlight the "Main Menu" button, and click the right arrow on your remote. After the red "power" light on the desktop computer comes on, press enter. The computer will "turn on" and you'll briefly see a spaceship graphic. Board the spaceship by hitting 7 and then 4 on your remote, and then press enter. This gives you access to a hidden menu with four choices, including the news broadcasts.
Final word: Phew! Finding the Easter eggs on this disc was a truly interactive effort.

Planet of the Apes
(20th Century Fox)
Easter egg: It's sad, really - another DVD with more imagination poured into it than the film it serves. A hidden commentary spoken in "ape" is a treat well worth seeking out.
How to find it: On the first disc, go to "Special Features" and click on "Commentaries." Then press your remote's down arrow and highlight the "Back" button. Next, press the up arrow to highlight a red monkey and click enter.
Final word: Get your paws on these damn, dirty apes. This flick should have been more of an intentional comedy.

Shrek
(DreamWorks)
Easter egg: A fun DVD for a fun movie. The best egg in the basket features the animated characters doing karaoke.
How to find it: On the second disc's main menu, click on the graphic of a musical note. Once the donkey flies by, you'll hear all the characters sing.
Final word: Make sure you explore every menu screen on this DVD. Aside from other Easter eggs, each screen offers mini-animated bits that are very funny.

X-Men
(20th Century Fox)
Easter egg: The best egg features a surprise guest interrupting our intrepid gang of mutant do-gooders.
How to find it: In "Special Features," click on "Theatrical Trailers/TV Spots." You should see an icy rose pattern - click on that and watch the outtake.
Final word: This is a "For Nerds Only" experience, but worth unearthing.

T2: Judgment Day
(Artisan)
Easter egg: Even more Ah-nuld! The
DVD of James Cameron's epic features the original film, an extended version, and, as an Easter egg, the extended version with an alternate ending.
How to find it: Highlight the words "Play Special Edition" in the Special Edition menu. Then enter the numbers 82997 on your remote's keypad. When "Play Extended Special Edition" is highlighted, press enter.
Final word: The alternate ending isn't earth-shattering, but it's still a very cool extra.