A113

The door of Room A113 at the California Institute of Arts

A113 (sometimes A-113 or A1-13) is an inside joke, an Easter egg in animated films created by alumni of California Institute of the Arts, referring to the classroom used by graphic design and character animation students including John Lasseter and Brad Bird. Brad Bird first used it for a license plate number in the "Family Dog" episode of Amazing Stories. It has appeared in other Disney movies and every Pixar movie.

Bird said, "I put it into every single one of my films, including my Simpsons episodes—it's sort of my version of Hirschfeld's 'Nina.'"^[1]

Classroom A113 is currently the first year graphic design studio.

A113 appearances

Television animation

• American Dad! - Stan's neighbor's license plate when he pulls into church, in Season 1, Episode 7, "Deacon Stan, Jesus Man" at 1:40.^[2]
• American Dad! - The license plate of the yellow 'Hummer' car, in Season 8, Episode 1, "Love, American Dad Style" at 2:13.^[2]
• American Dad! - On a boxcar rode by a hobo former co-worker of Stan's, in the Season 9, Episode 18 "Permanent Record Wrecker" at 19:13.^[2]
• American Dad! - The number on the side of the second carriage of the miniature train, in Season 12, Episode 12, "The Shrink" at 15:31 and twice more at 18:54 and 19:28.
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force - Carl's prison number, in Season 11, episode 9, The Greatest Story Ever Told
• BoJack Horseman - Number of the classroom during BoJack's drug-fueled revelation during Season 1, Episode 11 "Downing Ending".
• The "Family Dog" episode of the Amazing Stories (TV series) series. It is on the license plate of the red van. It is also on the top of the clipboard the cop holds.^[3]
• Family Guy - In the crossover episode with The Simpsons, "The Simpsons Guy", A113 is a license plate number for the police cruiser of Chief Clancy Wiggum at the car wash held by Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin to find the Griffins' stolen car.
• Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law - In "Deadomutt Part 1", Birdman is moved to office 113-A (which is really a restroom).
• Rugrats - Season 1, Episode 4, the room number of the Home Economics class.^[4]
• The Powerpuff Girls - The number of the Stealth Fighter when Blossom flies as she reaches and touches the tail with her hand.
• The Simpsons - Krusty the Clown's prison uniform number, in episode 12 of Season 1, "Krusty Gets Busted", at 10:45.^[5]
• The Simpsons - Sideshow Bob's mugshot number, in episode 2 of Season 5, "Cape Feare", at 9:30.^[5]
• The Simpsons - Sideshow Bob's prison uniform number, in episode 9 of Season 7, "Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming", at 4:30.^[5]
• The Simpsons - Mug shot of Bart Simpson from "Do The Bartman."^[5][6]
• Tiny Toon Adventures - In Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation, when Plucky and Hamton arrive at Happy World Land, a license plate reads "A-113" on one of the cars in the parking lot.^[7]
• South Park - On the side of a helicopter in the episode "Prehistoric Ice Man", "A-113" is clearly visible.
• Bobby's World - In the episode "The Visit to Aunt Ruth's", the number on the card of Bobby's imaginary mugshot.^[8]
• The Adventures of McGee and Me! - In the episode "The Big Lie," A113 is seen as the license plate number for the paddy wagon that takes away a small child in an animated vignette.
• Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? - In the episode "Work", Robot Jones enters a Gym and matches the unit number of the spotter robot he is to help remove with the unit number on his checklist, "A113".

Other TV shows

• Doctor Who - In "Flatline", the ninth episode of Season 8, the first train carries the headcode A113.^[9]
• Firefly - In episode two, "The Train Job", the registry number of the train is A113.

Pixar films

• Toy Story trilogy - License plate number on Andy's mom's cars (a minivan in Toy Story and a Crossover in Toy Story 3).^[10] Airport announcement for "LassetAir Flight A113" (also a reference to director John Lasseter) in Toy Story 2.
• A Bug's Life - Code on cereal box as Flik enters the bug city.
• Monsters, Inc. - One of the pillars inside the company reads "A13", making the A and one 13.
• Finding Nemo - The model number of the camera used by the scuba diver.^[11]
• The Incredibles - The room number in Syndrome's lair (not seen but mentioned by Mirage).^[12][13] The prison level where Mr. Incredible is held is "Level A1" in Cell #13 (A1 & 13). The power level control room monitors "Level A1", section "13", which is where the rocket is located.
• Cars franchise - In the first film, it is the number on Trev Diesel, the freight train that Lightning McQueen outruns while he is first on his way to Radiator Springs. Trev Diesel was also made as a carrying case for the die-cast line and has A113 on it.^[14] It is Mater's license plate number in the related short film Mater and the Ghostlight, Cars Toons, and other Cars merchandise. The minor character Dexter Hoover's diecast version has license plate number "A113CA". And the beginning of the image file name for the leader of the lemon cars. In the second film, it is the number on Siddeley's tail (shown as A113), as well as on Mater's license plate again. On the tail of the plane in the airfield that Mater and McMissle escape on.^[15]
• Ratatouille - Git, the lab rat, has a tag on his left ear that reads "A113". Also, when Linguini is watching TV while sleeping, A113 also appears on a train behind the love couple.^[16]
• WALL-E - The code for the directive given to Auto to never return to Earth, the first (and currently, only) time A113 had any real significance to a Pixar film's plot. It also seems to spell out part of WALL-E's name, WA11-3 (partial Leet).^[17][18] Also, when Eve and WALL-E arrive on the Axiom, as they leave the docking bay, the doors are marked Deck A-224 - 1 added to each digit of the reference.^[19]
• Up - The number of the court room that Carl Fredricksen goes to after he hits a worker to protect his mailbox.^[20]
• Brave - written in Roman numerals (ACXIII) above the interior of the door to the witch's cottage.^[21]
• Monsters University - The lecture hall where Mike and Sulley have their first class has this number on the door.^[6]
• Inside Out - When Riley is walking up a street in San Francisco going towards the bus, she stops to see who is calling her. In the building in the background, "a113" is written in graffiti on the building. When Riley Andersen heads to her new school in San Francisco, she is put in room A113.^[22]
• The Good Dinosaur - When the bird chases Arlo out of his feeding area, "A113" is formed by sticks along the fence in the right side of the frame.

Other films

• Pier Pressure - When the character Jamie puts her 50p piece into the Mystical Maria coin slot, A113 is etched into the machine underneath.
• Neighbors - When Seth Rogen is fighting Zac Efron it is visible on the transmission box.
• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - At the bottom right corner of the monitor when President Snow is watching Katniss decide whether to kill someone in the arena.^[6]
• Alpha and Omega - On the back of Garn and Debbie's truck, seen when Humphrey is talking to Marcel and Paddy
• The Iron Giant - License plate on car partially eaten by the Giant; the 3 is bitten off. Also in Dean's house there is a painting which has A113 on it.^[6]
• Lilo & Stitch - License plate number on all vehicles, including Cobra Bubbles' rental car, Captain Gantu's spaceship, Nani's car, fire truck, tanker truck, and license plate in Lilo's room (used in Stitch's model of San Francisco). Also in direct-to-video film Leroy & Stitch.^[23]
• Bugs Bunny's Lunar Tunes- In the scene with the Key Witness, one of the videos the Witness shows is "Satellite View A-113."
• The Brave Little Toaster - The apartment number where "The Master" lives.^[24]
• Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers - The license plate number of the carriage that has Mickey held as captive.^[23]
• The Princess and the Frog - A trolley is labeled number A113.^[23]
• Big Hero 6 - Appears as a part number on the schematics for Wasabi's energy blades as Hiro builds it.^[25]
• Meet the Robinsons - The license plate of Cornelius 'Lewis' Robinson's adoptive parents.
• Terminator Salvation - Seen on the computer screen (as a login override code) during the assault on a Skynet base. Timeframe - 00:09:32
• Planet 51 - License plate on Lem's car is A113.
• DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story - Continuation rule for deathmatch is read as number 113 [sic]. This may or may not be coincidence because the A was forgotten.
• Terra Nova - In "Genesis (Part One)", the security camera showing Jim Shannon in unauthorized areas is labeled "CAM A113"
• Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol - Josh Holloway/Hanaway's weaponized "class ring" has A113 emblazoned on the side, and it is Tom Cruise/Ethan Hunt's extraction access code given over the phone and on the plate of a car in front of the Kremlin during the big explosion,^[26] time at which the bomb's deactivation button is pushed "1.13 seconds".
• The Avengers - A113 can be seen in the top left corner of all news clips near the end of the film, when the world reacts to the revelation of the Avengers. Also seen in the bottom right hand corner of the Nick Fury's Helicarrier Glass Screens.^[27]
• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - The virus that wipes out most of humanity is called ALZ-113.
• The Colony (2013 film) - Inside the storage area a box states A113 as its registration number.
• Saving Mr. Banks - Walt Disney looks at the travel itinerary of P.L.Travers as she flies from Los Angeles to London. Her flight number is BTA-113.

Video games

• In Prototype, the poison Bloodtox is officially written as Substance A-113A though pronounced A1-13 Variation A.
• In A Vampyre Story, it is the position of Mona's grave.
• In Back to the Future: The Game, it is a convention booth.
• In Beyond: Two Souls, it is the number of a room in the building Jodie grows up in.
• In Kinect Rush: A Disney-Pixar Adventure, it is on a license plate in the 'Day Care' part of the game.
• In Outlast, it is the name of a locked room in the earliest stage of the game.
• In Sunset Overdrive, it is seen while Walter is working on his glider during a cutscene.
• In Destiny (video game), it is the name of an unknown area on the Dead Orbit Ghost fragment Grimoire card.^[28]
• In Fallout 4, it can be seen on one of the gas station signs in the gameplay demo and in the Brotherhood of Steel Cambridge computer logs.

See also

• List of Pixar film references
• 19 - often seen in the works of Stephen King.
• 27 - often used in "Weird Al" Yankovic's videos and music.
• 37 - used several times in the movies of Kevin Smith.
• 42 - The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything, first used by Douglas Adams in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Seen in several productions.
• 47 - often repeated in many Star Trek and JJ Abrams productions.
• 83 - often used in the TV series How I Met Your Mother by Barney.
• 114 - appearing in two of Stanley Kubrick's films.
• 1138 - appearing in several George Lucas productions.
• AE-35—from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, often appears in science fiction films and television series.
• Marc Brown (author) hid the names of his two sons, Tolon and Eliot, in all but one of his Arthur books

References

1. Michael Sragow (1999-08-05). "Iron without irony". Salon Arts & Entertainment. Salon.com. Archived from the original on 1999-08-05. Retrieved 2007-04-27. A113 was our classroom number. On "Family Dog" I put it on the license plate of the thieves' car. And I put it into every single one of my films ...
2. "A-113 Easter Eggs in American Dad!". blog.bcdb.com, May 13, 2014
3. "A-113 Easter Eggs in Family Dog". blog.bcdb.com, May 13, 2014
4. "A-113 Easter Eggs in Rugrats". blog.bcdb.com, May 13, 2014
5. "A-113 Appearances in The Simpsons". blog.bcdb.com. Retrieved 29 June 2015. External link in |website= (help)
6. Koch, Dave (May 29, 2014). "Of A113, Pizza Trucks and Future Heroes: Pixar Easter Eggs". Big Cartoon News. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
7. "A-113 in Tiny Toon Adventures". blog.bcdb.com, June 26, 2015
8. "Bobby's World Has an A-113, too". blog.bcdb.com, June 26, 2015
9. Flatline: Fact File BBC One, retrieved 19 October 2014. Quote: "One of the train’s featured in Flatline is clearly numbered A113. This designation is often featured in films created by former students of California Institute of the Arts, referring to the classroom used by graphic design and character animation students. As such, A113 has appeared (with varying degrees of subtlety!) in TV shows such as The Simpsons and Family Guy plus movies including Toy Story, Monsters University and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire."
10. Jeff Goldsmith, Andrew Stanton (2008-12-16). Andrew Stanton: Wall-E Q&A podcast (MP3). Creative Screenwriting Magazine. Event occurs at 05:30. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
11. Finding Nemo (Motion Picture). Emeryville, CA: Pixar. 2003-05-30. Event occurs at 14:52.
12. Incredibles, The Easter Egg - Hidden Mickeys and a113 :D
13. the second post by the user "Nexas"
14. Cars (Motion Picture). Emeryville, CA: Pixar. 2006-06-09. Event occurs at 23:01.
15. Mater and the Ghost Light (Short). Emeryville,CA: Pixar. 2006-11-07. Event occurs at 4:58.
16. Ratatouille (Motion Picture). Emeryville, CA: Pixar. 2007-06-29. Event occurs at 1:11:##.
17. Peter Sciretta (2008-06-27). "Interview: Andrew Stanton". SlashFilm. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
18. WALL-E (Motion Picture). Emeryville, CA: Pixar. 2008-06-27. Event occurs at 1:08:48.
19. WALL-E (Motion Picture). Emeryville, CA: Pixar. 2008-06-27. Event occurs at 0:38:50.
20. "Easter Eggs in Pixar's UP". SlashFilm. 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
21. "More ‘Brave’ Easter Eggs – A113, The Late Joe Ranft". The Pixar Times. 2012-11-15. Retrieved 2013-07-13.
22. "Inside Out - Pixar Trivia, Easter Eggs and A-113". blog.bcdb.com, June 26, 2015
23. "A-113 Easter Egg in Disney Films". blog.bcdb.com, May 13, 2014
24. "A-113 Easter Egg in Brave Little Toaster". blog.bcdb.com, May 13, 2014
25. "Big Hero 6 - Walt Disney Studios Animated Features". findingmickey.com. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
26. "A-113 Easter Egg in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol". blog.bcdb.com, May 13, 2014
27. "Jayse Hansen Portfolio | Avengers Helicarrier Fury's Glass Screens | Jayse Hansen Portfolio". jayse.tv. Retrieved 29 June 2015. External link in |website= (help)
28. "Ghost Fragment: Dead Orbit - City Factions".