Top 20 Funniest Things to Ever Happen in the Background of Movie Scenes

There's a lot going on back there! For this list, we’ll be looking at the best intentional jokes left by filmmakers in scene backgrounds, occurring independently from the immediate plot. Our countdown includes moments from "Fast Five", "The Lego Movie", "Avengers: Infinity War" and more! What hilarious hijinks have you noticed behind the main action? Let us know in the comments.
Check out these other funny videos:
Top 10 Funniest Moments Caught on Live TV: • Top 10 Funniest Moment...
Top 10 Funniest Forgot They Were on Live TV Moments: • Top 10 Funniest Forgot...
Top 20 Funniest Music Videos Ever: • Top 20 Funniest Music ...
Become a channel member to get access to special perks:
/ @watchmojo
Challenge friends and family on our multiplayer Trivia!
www.watchmojo.com/play
Have your idea become a video!
wmojo.com/suggest
Subscribe for more great content!
wmojo.com/watchmojo-subscribe
Visit our shop for awesome merch!
shop.watchmojo.com/
Your trusted authority for Top 10 lists, reviews, tips and tricks, biographies, origins, and entertainment news
#comedy #movies #background #funny #harrypotter #avengers #mcu #legomovie

[@WatchMojo]

What hilarious hijinks have you noticed behind the main action? Let us know in the comments. For more content like this, click here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jGPboIZmrNiVo7s Don't forget to play our Live Trivia (www.watchmojo.com/play) games at 3pm and 8pm EST for a chance to win cash! The faster you answer, the more points you get!

[@dutchbosoxfan8919]

Seriously? No Baseketball in this list? This list is a joke.

[@erzaender]

the touchdown background from the naked gun 3

[@Eddiedahomeless]

The movie “Rabbit Test” with Billy Crystal has a hilarious scene with him having a conversation with a woman in a diner and an elderly lady gets beaten up by the cook in the background because she won’t pay her bill.

[@dominictrujillo3323]

Usually almost all of them. If I don't catch the first time, I'll catch it the second or third time after that.

[@cherchikatilo3032]

The goose stepping kid in Eurotrip!

[@corkycobon1481]

To this very day, I use the line from Lloyd Bridges in Airplane! "I picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue". Never fails to stop someone short for those that have no clue where it comes from but I also get belly laughs from people that get the line completely. I remember using that line on my dad once when I got into trouble about something. I mumbled it under my breath and my dad made me repeat it clearly. He almost wet himself from laughing and I got out of punishment because of it. Good times!!!😂😂😂

[@michaelpopowich5095]

Here's all of them: Looks like I chose the wrong day to quit smoking, drinking, taking amphetamines, and sniffing glue (that should be all of them)

[@matthewmckever2312]

I do the over over,over, under, roger, under over, roger

[@mbrow]

We do too!! And I remember seeing a double feature at the theater of Airplane! and Caddyshack. Still love both those movies. :)

[@corkycobon1481]

@@mbrow I saw it as a double header with Popeye staring Robin Williams.

[@bluetucker0177]

I got my dad with something similar... I told my dad i had a friend in the hospital. he asked what is it? i replied immediately with its a big building with red cross... but that's not important right now. my dad almost crashed the car he was laughing so hard, it is still one my favorite memories

[@Tyranniod]

You could probably put the entire naked gun franchise on this list.

[@michaelclark7447]

It's one of the things I love about those great spoof movies like "The Naked Gun", "Hot Shots!" and "Flying High", all the things that could be going on in the background.

[@sabrinah.8141]

I loved all the Naked Gun movies as a kid. There was always so much stuff going on in the background 🤣🤣🤣

[@THANATOS-PRIME]

Alan Tudyk kicking the dead knight at the beginning of A Knight’s Tale always has me laughing.

[@graydanerasmussen4071]

I instantly thought of "Top Secret" too. The restaurant scene, where Nick Rivers is informed that "It is a jacket and tie affair" by the maitre `d, who calls over some underlings to measure Kilmer, then proceeds to sew a suit for him in the background, over a less than two minute conversation in the foreground. Love that movie!

[@joelellis7035]

There's another scene in Top Secret when Nick is at a pizza parlor and people are dealing with and extra cheesy pizza in the background.

[@graydanerasmussen4071]

@@joelellis7035 "straighten the rug" Yeah, I remember :D

[@jonothanthrace1530]

"I know a little German. He's right over there."

[@framesdaimaginacao]

"I am serious, and don't call me Shirley". LOL

[@bawintermage8351]

The Scotty gag, c'mon, James Doohan was the Best!

[@trinaq]

I never noticed the blackboard gag in "Hot Fuzz", and I've seen it roughly ten times. A testament to how skilled Edgar Wright is with foreshadowing and background gags.

[@edwinpaulhermo7650]

Also, the "Lack of leadership skills" part is in black ink instead of blue, implying it's the only thing that they got wrong. Which was proven true when they were storming the supermarket; Sgt. Fisher came up with what to do with the siege which even impressed Sgt. Angel.

[@lynnevetter]

No way!! :O

[@BeastyBill88]

@@edwinpaulhermo7650 What he said...

[@tyvulpintaur2732]

GoldenEye, pretty much the entire background of Q's lab while Bond and Q are talking. From a guy being flung out of his chair, to an unfortunate agent going to use a pay phone and an airbag filling the booth (and later being carted out still stuck in the booth and whining for help).

[@feralstorm]

A fave of mine comes from "Airplane II" - two main characters talk about how the shuttle is doomed, which causes one of two Japanese passengers listening in the background do a huge spit-take. The other guy is confused, as he doesn't understand English, then does a spit-take of his own after the first guy translates for him. 😅

[@BadWebDiver]

I love that scene!

[@titmusspaultpaul5]

Love both those movies. I was only about 10 when I saw the first movie and I'd never seen a movie with that sort of serious/ slapstick comedy before, and it had me in stitches. BTW, the movie is known as Flying High in most countries. The US changed name for some unknown reason.... maybe because of the word high.... cheers.

[@andrewmurray1550]

@@titmusspaultpaul5 well planes do fly....high so there you have it. But I agree, they seem to be on something especially since they're out of coffee.

[@thejackalope2757]

In Airplane!, the plane is a jet but you hear propellers.

[@zqxzqxzqx1]

In Team America, the sound of the Korean jets is a chainsaw.

[@koriw1701]

Some of my favorites include most films by Mel Brooks, especially 'High Anxiety,' which is a spoof of pretty much every movie ever done by Alfred Hitchcock. Some of my favorites are when he gets crapped on by a ton of pigeons to spoof the movies "The Birds," and the movie 'Young Frankenstein,' when the villagers begins gathering to get the monster, then there's 'Blazing Saddles with the townspeople getting into all kinds of trouble in the background. I could go on but in taking to too much room!

[@marcl9788]

Surprised that none of the Monty Python movies were mentioned as there is always funny things happening in the background

[@LucareonVee]

I personally love the Can-Can dancing in the background of Hot Shots. Should’ve been on this list.

[@TheBalogna7]

Honestly, you could make this entire list of scenes from the Naked Gun, Airplane!, Hot Shots, Mel Brooks movies, etc. and still have to leave out so many good scenes. Such a great style of comedy. The lab scene from Police Squad where the lab tech goes through the door, but Leslie Nielsen goes around the door still gets me every time.

[@chrismeulen8108]

one that gets overlooked way too much in Airplane! is that at the airport, there is a magazine stall in the background, which has small signs on it for all the types of magazines being displayed, the sign underneath the nude magazines reads "jerk off material"

[@timleber2257]

The two Storm Troopers turning around while Kylo Ren has a temper tantrum in Force Awakens. Just walking along and they see what is happening and just turn around.

[@tbecker97204]

*"Surely you can't be serious."* *"I AM serious. And don't call me 'Shirley'."*

[@derekstein6193]

It is one of my life's goals to one day fall into this bit organically, without preplanning.

[@benhill7216]

The blind guy trying to solve the Rubik's Cube in UHF is a classic. "Is this It?... Nope"

[@Craxin01]

I actually have a blind Rubik's Cube. It has different tactile shapes for each side. I can see, but I thought it was a fun addition to my collection.

[@1Holbytla]

😂 Yes! UHF is one of my all-time fav films. So many little silly, quirky things like that going on.

[@Deathstroke4200]

Loaded Weapon Part one is criminally underrated

[@BadWebDiver]

True!

[@ariyaahrary1656]

one of my fave movies

[@sapphirewingthefurrycritic985]

My favorite bit from the Lego movie is when Bad cop is throwing a chair around after Emmett and Wyld Style escape and he just long throws it and it hits a cop bot that was running away.

[@metarcee2483]

You could make an hour long video with *just* the Lego Movie.

[@jpendowski7503]

The background gag is truly for those watching a movie the second time. The first I’m absorbed in the plot. I saw those gags in movies I had seen, now I have a list of others to watch.

[@axelwulf6220]

Using the background as the main scene is always genuine

[@erictaylor5462]

I had to go to the ER once because of an issue with my bowels. I told the admitting nurse and she said "What is it." Without missing a beat I said, "It's a long tube in your belly where your food goes. But that's not important right now." The look on her face was a moment of disbelief followed by delight. It turned out that her boyfriend, who loved Airplane! had shown her the movie the night before. It was the first time she'd seen it. Later I heard her telling others what had happened then later, as I left the hospital I saw her on the phone talking to her boyfriend, telling him what had happened.

[@mkvv5687]

Surely you can't be serious!

[@REW24897]

@@mkvv5687 “I am serious and don’t call me Shirley.”😂

[@stevedixon921]

Airplane! had a LOT of background activity. The scene where the MC arrives at the airport in the beginning there is two audio recordings about the loading and unloading zones, one a male voice and one a female voice. They both give conflicting info and eventually they are having a quarrel over the PA like a married couple. Hope they worked it out.

[@brianartillery]

I can't remember if it's 'Airplane!' or 'Airplane 2', but Ted Striker escapes from a mental hospital in a truck. As he gets out of the back of it, you can see inside it is carrying those sinister duplicate pods from 'Invasion Of The Body Snatchers'.

[@emaarredondo-librarian]

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Everything in the background is a comedic story in itself. You need to watch that movie like 5 times to get it all.

[@donaldmcmillan5529]

Wow, back in the 80's I saw a movie called "Young Doctors in Love" based on the soap opera General Hospital. I can't tell you much about the movie but there was a scene where the main stars were having a serious conversation only to be out shadowed by what was happening in the background. One of the staff was a "Little Person" who just received a phone call. Once it was over he had to hang the phone up on the wall mounted base and he was trying to throw it, run and jump it back up and finally he pushes a wheeled stretcher along the wall and slam dunks the phone. You have no idea what the doctors were even talking about. Just look it up Young Doctors in Love phone clip!

[@juliusfrauenglass2411]

just did watch the guy on the left he seems to be reacting to the noises behind him.

[@joshuamohlman]

Seeing Will Smith get pulled around by that alien in the car in Men In Black was hilarious the first time I saw it

[@gamemasteranthony2756]

"Excuse me, miss!" That part always gets me.

[@joshuamohlman]

@@gamemasteranthony2756 same with me

[@cherrydragon3120]

And the second time, and third time. These movies are timeless

[@joshuamohlman]

@@cherrydragon3120 darn right

[@pantsenfuego9986]

Both hilarious and somber in 2023. WTC towers in the background.

[@Hilz28]

OJ Simpson saving a human life. That's hilarious.

[@Craxin01]

Remember, he was turned down for the role of The Terminator because he was too nice and no one would believe him as a killer.

[@Hilz28]

@@Craxin01 Unreal, right?!

[@raymondhopwood9393]

​@@Craxin01 Irony to the tenth power!

[@Craxin01]

@@raymondhopwood9393 Hindsight is 20/20, foresight is totally blind.

[@curtislindsey1736]

The nun in Dogma also played Lady Aberlin on Mister Rogers Neighborhood.

[@nickbrutanna9973]

You absolutely missed one of the best such scenes in all of movie history, in the first "Gremlins" movie. The premise is that the father is away at an Inventor's convention, leaving the son, along with the Mogwai. At one point, the father calls home from the convention, using a house phone (this being long before cell phones). The scene switches between the son at home and the father at the convention. As the scene flips back and forth, in the background of the father, we see: 1 -- A large device with a velvet rope around it. And a guy furtively walks up, looks both ways, and then hops over the rope and gets into the machine. 2 -- The device, with the guy in it, is surrounded by "sparkly effects". 3 -- The machine is gone, there is a puff of smoke where the machine was, and a security guard runs up and goes into the space where it was, like "What happened? Where did it go??" The joke is that the machine is recognizably the Time Machine from the 1960 movie of the same name.

[@1Holbytla]

🙂Nice! I didn’t remember or maybe ever notice that bit. I probably wouldn’t have gotten the subtle reference but still enjoyed it. Gremlins and Gremlins 2 had so many little funny and quirky things going on in them besides the main focus. I loved them a lot.

[@tinas_hotdog_sophie]

They don't make movies like Airplane anymore and it is a shame.

[@storyteller2882]

And the Untouchables scene was a reference to the Odessa Steps scene in Battleship Potemkin.

[@inversemedia]

Finally a film student!

[@AlyraMoondancer]

I was looking to see if someone else had noticed this. Glad someone did!

[@misaeljoelvera6631]

Gremlins, in the background there's a mockup of a time machine. A few frames later, it actually disappears, presumably traveling back in time

[@DickDiamond74]

Ironically, I popped this video on as I wait for my clothes to wash. Surely this is a coincidence.

[@AlyraMoondancer]

It's not a coincidence, and don't call me Shirley.

[@cherchikatilo3032]

The kid doing goose stepping in Eurotrip was dark & hilarious 😆

[@dragonrana88]

Top Secret! is so good and overlooked.

[@coreygeiger81]

My favorite unmentioned has to be Black Dynamite. In the shoot out scene, the driver pulls up to scene and pulls his gun out and starts popping, but forgets to put the car in park. The car lurches forward, he panics and reaches inside the car to pull parking break up as he leans out the car again and continues shooting. The FUNNIEST part about that scene is that the driver really forgot to put the car in park. The scene was so funny the director and Michael Jai White kept it in. I can’t remember which comic con they confirmed this in but it’s on KZbin somewhere

[@michellescott1211]

Harry potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, when the Fat Lady sees Sirius Black, have a look at the painting behind the kids! The knight in the painting is hilarious!

[@olvialee7221]

313: Bagel Time. Not just a hidden thing but also kinda funny that Bagel Man turned into the villain Spot

[@TOM2RN]

I was in a movie theater watching Anchorman and started laughing at the Escupimos in su alimento part. People looked at me like I had two heads. My wife wanted to crawl under her seat. Even with my rudimentary Spanish, I knew what it said. When I explained it to everyone, there was a collective ahhhhhhh. Sad part about the alien baby birth in the Men In Black scene are the twin towers in the background.

[@yamiryushi]

I know right? I always loved that MIB scene and this time I noticed the Twin Towers and I felt a bit sad.

[@jmsl_910]

indeed 9/11/2001--always remember...

[@user-tm7ku8jw9o]

That Star Trek nod was hilarious

[@johnanderson9765]

For me, #11 jumped immediately to mind. I've seen Dogma several times, but never noticed that background gag. In High School High, Jon Lovitz is talking to someone in the foreground, while in the background, kids are repeatedly falling trying to go up a staircase because their pants are too low.

[@cuddyfox6973]

What about the Police Academy series? There is plenty of background shenanigans happens.

[@jasminejohnston6393]

Not really a funny background moment, but my dad Ron Mathison was an extra for Rocky IV and Best In Show and I watched both scenes with him in the background. Both movies were filmed on the PNE grounds in Vancouver. Rocky IV’s big boxing scene between Rocky and Drago was filmed in the Agrodome while the dog show scenes for Best In Show were filmed in the Pacific Colosseum, a place that’s no stranger to real dog shows as the dog talent show Superdogs takes place in there

[@mandiemoore3272]

I'm 44 and still to this day I never go a full calendar year without watching Goofy Movie at least one and this is absolutely without a doubt my favorite scene. Nothing eases tention or relaxes a room like turning any random music and doing the little shoulder dance

[@TalkingHands308]

The scientist who got hit by the bagel will be forever different with the newly released movie, lol. 16:16

[@dreamguardian8320]

I'm glad the MIB scene got to be number 1, that scene was really funny. And the baby Alien was really cute.

[@lp-xl9ld]

The real payoff to the MEN IN BLACK scene is K's "Congratulations, Reg...it's a squid." My then girlfriend and I were on the floor.

[@lefantomer]

If you have never seen "Local Hero" give yourself a treat and go find it. The whole movie is wait, what? Also, it appears Matt Damon has played "Loki" more often than Tom Hiddleston.

[@raisedbyhumans]

Total agree, "Local Hero'" is a gem!

[@BlenderStudy]

Thank you for the update, WatchMojo..!! The first Naked Gun movie was a blast. 🤣

[@kevindondrea144]

I caught Clark putting dirty dishes away the first time.

[@RavinManiac]

The Abyss tsunami scene should be number 1, where a guy got his shorts pulled down by his buddy

[@EndGameEnt]

The flying baby scene goes back even further to a film about the Russian revolution. Love how smart some of these are while being ridiculous.

[@DBerkowitz4]

Battleship Potemkin ... a classic of the silent era.

[@EndGameEnt]

@@DBerkowitz4 Yes, that's it! Thank you for the follow-up. I'd like to watch that again. Are you of Russian descent? I am a doukhobor who was born because Tolstoy saved us.

[@reddragon8609]

Nothing beats the Airplane

[@mamacindyrogofsky495]

And don't call me Shirley has already been used in Rowan and Martin laughin.... 😂😂

[@mkvv5687]

I vaguely remember that.

[@a.KniteOwl]

lol the Spider-Verse bagel shot is hilarious. such an innocuous moment with no consequences

[@daryljosephsajulga4912]

It really hit the spot right there.

[@olvialee7221]

312: I definitely noticed Bigfoot Boogie in A Goofy Movie since I was a kid. Still makes me laugh

[@remd3]

OJ was definitely going to spike that baby

[@corbz273]

I was hoping for the restaurant scene between Daniel and his mom from Karate Kid to show up. It's always funny seeing those two having a conversation, while through the glass window we can see Johnny and his gang spying on him from the dojo and planning their next move. That was a pretty obvious pick to go with

[@nehemiahpouncey3607]

Saw that too. Don't forget kindergarten cop the Kids were doing funny things behind Arnold an the woman talking.

[@mikerasmusson8749]

Peasant banging the creek water with a stick in the background, Monty Python's Holy Grail. Two scenes, one shaded the foreground, one in background of a woman banging a carpet with a cat, again, Holy Grail.

[@olvialee7221]

314: Men In Black takes the number one spot. Too funny

[@mournblade1066]

I must have watched _National Lampoon's Vacation_ several dozens of of times since the early 1980s, and I have NEVER noticed Chevy putting dirty dishes back into the cupboard!

[@tripleb221]

There's a scene in the movie RUTHLESS PEOPLE (also made by the gang from AIRPLANE!) where a police officer in full uniform with jangling handcuffs and a bouncing night stick can be seen playing tennis in the background. Hilarious!

[@awetauhid]

Police academy should be on the list where the cops having coffee donut and their car is burned by goons

[@Unotch]

Frank Drebin: "Nothing to see here!"

[@lmr4403]

Not one Scary Movie background scene?!

[@anselmareich3549]

Aww! Cute tentacle alien baby! :D

[@HombreGermany]

0:36 ... if you ever wanted to know what Mike Ehrmantraut did before Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad.

[@thelunchlady8276]

Woah, I didn't even know it was him. Nice!

[@stubbysidwell]

I laughed my ass off in the theater when Bigfoot started dancing, watching A Goofy Movie

[@davidchism6081]

Loaded weapon 1... SCOTTY!?!? I'VE GIVEN EVERYTHING SHE'S GOT CAPTAIN!!!!

[@lesmartin9920]

One from Office Space - its a quick scene of his car driving into his apartment building. Seems simple until you see the name of the apartment complex. Like a lot of apartment names - some reference to wood - Tall Oaks / Redwood / Ravenwood -- in this movie "Morning Wood Apartments" = classic. I saw it the 1st time I watched it in the theater - I was the only one laughing.... but I caught it.

[@daryljosephsajulga4912]

16:18, that bagel hit the spot.

[@seanhuntley6722]

Holy crap! Jonathan Banks was in Airplane??????

[@user-kf7ek4xi9r]

Airplane, Top Secret and Blazing Saddles. Best Comedy trilogy, for me

[@shinerdrinker9249]

I truthfully just saw the selfie sneakers earlier in the evening while watching the Age of Ultron for the umpteenth time. I had never noticed them before!

[@precious_muse]

What about the random old woman hitting a cat against a wall in various scenes of Monty Python and the Holy Grail?

[@1Holbytla]

😂👍

[@JayJay-ib6cr]

That person who gets hit with the bagel is the one who becomes the the spot in across the spider verse lol

[@alexispaterson814]

I remember getting 4 free cinema tickets for Top Secret from the Scottish Sun newspaper. I had to take two papers to the Old ABC cinema in Sauchiehall Street.

[@foxhound13]

I can not believe no mention of Wet Hot American Summer. That movie has a ton of background gags that beats half of the things on this list.

[@HashimotoTheBand]

Aaaah - Good on 'ya for including the Local Hero scene ! It was the first thing that came to my mind !

[@vinikampferherzbarros27]

The MIB scene repeats itself in MIB 2, when J is fighting off Serleena.

[@onestopviewfiles]

5:11 love the star trek reference

[@Rhythmattica]

0:39 Thats why Mike gave up air traffic control , thus eventually meeting Heisenberg.

[@Tarathathe77wookiee]

Police Academy: big group of recruits doing a can can dance in the background of a scene.

[@charlesdailey1]

The original stroller down the stairs scene was from Battleship Potemkin from 1925. “The Untouchables” was a nod to “Battleship Potemkin”

[@JohnLee-ue6gy]

@1:15 - that air traffic controller looks like he could use a pimento cheese sandwich.

[@andrewmurray1550]

Curious moment - 6:48. the little girl in this clip is Madeline Zima, from "The Nanny" (as in Max Sheffield and Fran Fine "The Nanny").

[@moklok282]

And to think the Bagel toss in spiderman meant the origin of the next villain

[@helviojr]

The ZAZ movies are full of those. Terrific! Best of all (Airplane, Top Secret). The TV cut looses some background jokes

[@lesleeherschfus707]

The scene in Naked Gun is parodying The Untouchables which was a reference to the staircase scene in Potemkin. Film buffs would know that.

[@brianthomas2434]

You think the people here are familiar with movies earlier than 1970?

[@nehemiahpouncey3607]

Don't forget hot shots.😂 Where the soldiers are dancing in the background in the window.

[@moon7shinev150]

I remember this episode on the show Galavant when it quickly switched to King Richard was fighting children for a second and he punched a child in the face

[@JasonTate08]

This is so hilarius that Scotty from "Loaded Weapon 1" was really played by James Doohan.

[@jeronmortensen9160]

I first watched Anchorman after I was fluent in Spanish having learned it earlier in life. I was the only person in the group watching it who caught the restaurant gag. Everyone else was so confused when I stated laughing my ass off!

[@ericjanssen394]

How about the tap-dancing nuns filming a musical while Woody Allen has a relationship-discussion moment at a movie studio, in “Stardust Memories”? Or “Airplane II: the Sequel”, where, as our hero tells a crew member the plane is in trouble, a Chinese interpreter sprays his drink, and provides a translation for his client, who then sprays HIS drink?

[@Nocturne05]

Still remember the Bigfoot boogie moment the first time I saw the Googie Movie. LoL me and my brothers couldn't stop laughing, and we kept rewinding the vhs to see it again. Good times.