• “Hot Frosty” features cameos from Lindsay Lohan and Jennifer Coolidge and a nod to “Mean Girls.”

• That’s because it’s part of Netflix’s Christmas cinematic universe.

• Here’s what you need to know about the universe and where “Hot Frosty” fits.

The The Netflix Christmas Cinematic Universe expands again with the streamer’s new movie “Hot Frosty.”

Starting with 2017’s The Christmas Legacy, Netflix has made some of them bigger. Christmas movies connect, from cameos of preset characters to scenes shown against the background of a different movie.

According to Netflix data, “Christmas Fall” is the most successful film in the universe, remaining in the streamer’s top ten most-watched films for six weeks in 2022 and returning to the list for an additional week in November 2023.

Other films lasted two to three weeks in the top ten, indicating that the cinematic universe has not yet made a splash like others. crossover franchises like Marvel and Star Wars.

Netflix’s latest Christmas offering, “Hot Frosty,” follows a woman (Lacey Chabert) who accidentally turns a snowman into a real man (Dustin Milligan) with the power of a magical Christmas scarf.

The film’s trailer, released last month, featured a clip that suggested Lindsay Lohan’s 2022 film “Falling For Christmas” would tie into “Hot Frosty.”

Here’s what you need to know about all the Easter eggs in “Hot Frosty.”

There are two references to “Mean Girls” in “Hot Frosty”.

Before we get to the Netflix Christmas connections, we must first address “Hot Frosty,” apparently making two references to 2004’s “Mean Girls.”

Chabert played high school gossip Gretchen Wieners in that film, while Lohan starred as Cady Heron, which is why “Hot Frosty” is connected to “Falling for Christmas.”

At the beginning of the film, Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” plays as Chabert’s character, Kathy, gets ready. “bad girls“Fans may remember Gretchen and Cady dancing to that song for their school’s Christmas talent show in the movie.

The second, more direct sign happens later, when Kathy explains to Jack, her living snowman, how to use the television.

When Kathy turns on the TV, the scene from “Falling for Christmas” in which Lohan’s character Sierra wakes up from her coma plays on the screen.

Kathy then says, “This is so funny. She looks like a girl I went to high school with.”

This is a throwaway joke, but it could mean that in this world Kathy somehow went to school with a version of Sierra.

‘Hot Frosty’ brings ‘Single All The Way’ to the Netflix Christmas cinematic universe.

of 2021″Single all the way” was one of the few popular holiday movies left out of Netflix’s Christmas crossover universe — but not anymore.

During a tense conversation in “Hot Frosty,” a television in the background shows a scene from “Single All The Way,” in which Jennifer Coolidge’s character, Aunt Sandy, stars in a nativity play.

This retroactive addition doesn’t change the story of “Single All The Way” but sets it up as a fictional film in the world of “Hot Frosty”.

“Hot Frosty” exists in a different world than “Falling for Christmas.”

“Hot Frosty” also references “NetflixThe Christmas Prince” when Kathy takes Jack to the doctor to figure out why he’s so cold.

The town doctor, Dottie (Katy Mixon), believes that Jack is a snowman who has been brought to life.

Kathy, in disbelief, says, “Sure. Correct. And I am the queen of Aldovia.”

Aldovia is a fictional country featured in the “Christmas Prince” franchise that has a royal family. In “Falling for Christmas” and some of the other Netflix Christmas movies, the characters watch “Christmas Prince” movies on their TV screens.

Other films such as “Hot Frosty” exist in the same world as the “Christmas Prince” franchise.

For this to make sense, “Hot Frosty” and “The Christmas Princefranchise should exist in a separate parallel world to “Falling for Christmas” in the Netflix Christmas universe. Alternatively, Netflix does not maintain a continuity in its universe and uses these scenes to promote other films.

“Hot Frosty” is available to stream Netflix.

Read the original article on Business Insider