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The highly-anticipated Mean Girls movie musical has just hit theatres, with the remake featuring an array of references to the original film.

Similar to the 2004 movie, the new Mean Girls adaption follows international student Cady Heron – this time played by Angourie Rice – as she befriends three of the most popular girls at North Shore High, Regina George (played by Reneé Rapp), Gretchen Wieners (played by Bebe Wood), and Karen Smith (played by Avantika Vandanapu). However, as Cady gets close to the elite girl group, referred to as “The Plastics’’, she makes multiple attempts to bring Regina’s high school status down.

The 2024 film is an adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name, which was written by Tina Fey. In addition to writing the new movie, Fey plays math teacher Ms Norbury, just like she did in the original 2000s film.

Since its release, viewers have noticed that the new Mean Girls movie is all about nostalgia, as it incorporates some iconic lines and characters from the original film. In addition, there were multiple cameos from the actors who were in the first Mean Girls movie.

Here’s a roundup of the biggest easter eggs and nostalgic references in the new Mean Girls movie musical.

Warning: Spoilers for the new Mean Girls movie below.

Cameos from the cast of the original Mean Girls movie and Broadway show.

Within just the star-studded cast itself, there are multiple layers of nostalgia. Aside from Fey taking on her movie role as Ms Nobury, Tim Meadows also reprised his role as Mr Duvall, the principal of the high school, which he played in the original film.

The movie also featured a surprise appearance from Lindsay Lohan, who played the original Cady Heron in the 2004 film. In the new movie, Lohan plays a judge during the mathletes competition that Cady notably takes part in.

During a recent interview with People, Rice opened up about the cameo, and how it “meant so much to” her to have the chance to work with Lohan. “It is such a rare experience to really get in the head of a character and then meet someone who’s done the same thing,” she said. “Just to have that shared experience, it means a lot.”

There’s also a cameo from Ashley Park, who notably starred as Gretchen Wieners in the Mean Girls musical when it first came to Broadway. In the 2024 movie, Park plays a French teacher at the high school.

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The reenactment of signature movie lines.

Unsurprisingly, a plethora of lines from the original movies are incorporated into the script for the 2024 film. For example, when Cady’s crush Aaron Samuels, played by Christopher Briney, asked her what day it was, she responded: “It’s October 3rd,” just like Lohan did in the original movie.

However, there are some changes to how the lines are said. In the first film, Regina and her pals write in their Burn Book – which is later used to spread rumours about students – that Cady’s friend Damian Hubbard (played by Jaquel Spivey) was “almost too gay to function”. But, in the new movie, Damian’s friend, Janis Sarkisian (played by Auli’i Cravalho), is the one who tells Cady that he’s “almost too gay to function,” before he cheekily adds: “But I push through.”

The rules of “The Plastics” are once again incorporated in the new movie, with Karen saying one of the most popular lines from the original film: “On Wednesdays, we wear pink.”

The continuation of two teachers’ romance.

In the original Mean Girls movie, viewers see Ms Norbury and Mr Duvall have a budding romance, with a few flirty exchanges in between classes. Towards the end of the movie, the pair also have the opportunity to share a dance during the Spring Fling.

However, in the 2024 movie, Norbury and Duvall are already dating, as opposed to the Math teacher being single throughout most of the 2004 movie. In addition, the already-established couple also appeared to be married, as Duvall had a ring on her finger.

Fey later confirmed this assumption about the plot during a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, saying: “They just got married at some point.”

Regina and Cady’s iconic jewellery.

In the 2004 film, Regina has a specific sense of style, consisting of colourful skirts and shirts. She also had an iconic necklace with the letter “R” hanging off it, in honour of the first initial of her name. As Cady continued to become a part of “The Plastics,” she went on to dress like Regina and even got a necklace with the letter “C” hanging off of it.

The 2024 movie incorporated the jewellery on both Cady and Regina. But this time, half of the chains are gold and the other half are made out of peals. In addition, the letters “C” and “R” are gold, as opposed to silver as they were in the original movie.

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