10 Most Iconic Movie Props In History

You thought we were going to bring up the snow globe, didn’t you? While the snow globe in Citizen Kane is truly an iconic movie prop in its own right, it’s what the snow globe reminded Charles Foster Kane of that made it so significant.

Kane’s beloved sled that he used to play in the snow with when he was right years old had the trade name Rosebud on the back of it, and it’s the big reveal at the end of Orson Welles’ first feature film. 

Charles Foster Kane was a composite character that was based on the likes of William Randolph Hearst, Joseph Pulitzer, Samuel Insull, and Harold McCormick.

The film chronicles the life of Kane through a series of flashbacks from different perspectives, and centers around the search for the meaning of his last word, “Rosebud.”

As we learn about Kane’s failed marriage and political career, as well as his career in yellow journalism, we also learn about how unhappy he was. And it’s revealed that he held on so dearly to the image of Rosebud in his mind’s eye because it reminded him of the last time he truly happy, carefree, and innocent.

Whether you like Star Wars or not, you’ve got to admit that the lightsabers are so so freakin’ cool. Not only do they make that awesome “whoosh” noise when swung around, and a thunderous clap when banged together, they are synonymous with the Force.

And these movie props are the perfect visual representation of good vs evil; the former typically bears a green or blue light, while the latter has a sinister shade of red.

If there’s one movie prop that’s been consistent throughout the entire Star Wars franchise, it’s the lightsaber, and for good reason. Not only are the one-on-one duels expertly choreographed, we know that Jedi masters only draw their trusty plasma blade when things are about to heat up. And we’ll never get sick of it.

Say it out loud so they can hear it in the back! “There’s no place like home.” We’re talking of course about The Wizard of Oz, and the ruby red slippers that Dorothy copped from the Wicked Witch of the East. This movie prop is so iconic, that six identical pairs were made for the production of the wondrously colorized film.

It’s worth noting that only four pairs were accounted for, so keep an eye out on Ebay if you’re into collecting movie props.

And these slippers are more than just a movie prop. They symbolize power, identity, home, and a central point of conflict in The Wizard of Oz. Why else would the Wicked Witch of the West immediately start scheming to kill Dorothy so she could reclaim her house-squashed sister’s footwear?

Sure, sequins are always an “in” look if you could pull it off, but there aren’t many yellow brick roads these days to flaunt them on.

Do you know what’s more iconic than Vin Diesel red-lining a nitro-infused 1970 Dodge Charger R/T in the Fast and Furious films? If you guessed Marty McFly driving a steady 88 mph to bend time and space, then we’re on the same wavelength.

This Back to the Future movie prop boasts a black interior, gull-wing doors, and of course, the flux capacitor, which allows it to time travel.

What’s there not to love about this beast of a machine? Leave it to Doc Brown to conjure up the concept of the flux capacitor after slipping off the toilet seat, and hitting his head on the sink. Sometimes the most brilliant of inventions are conceptualized in the bathroom, and the DeLorean Time Machine is proof of this sentiment.

Have you ever been so lonely, that you started talking to inanimate objects? Well, this was the case of Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) in 2000’s Cast Away.

When his FedEx Express plane makes a crash landing on Modriki Island, leaving him alone as the only survivor, one of the first things Noland did was gather his senses, and whatever packages floated to shore from the cargo hold. Inside one of the packages, was Wilson the volleyball.

Though probably the cheapest movie prop on the list, Wilson’s significance cannot be overstated in Cast Away.

Over the period of four years, Wilson was Noland’s best friend, and companion as he became a spear-throwing, raft-building survival expert.

There were arguments, reconciliations, and ultimately a final separation when Wilson fell off of Noland’s raft during his attempt to leave the island. If you found tears rolling down your cheeks when this movie prop met its demise, you’re not alone.

For you chocoholics out there, you better believe that we have to talk about the golden tickets from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. It’s with this golden ticket, of which there are five, that Charlie and Uncle Joe are able to gain access to the land of chocolate waterfalls, Oompa Loompas, and of course, the eccentric yet brilliant chocolatier, Willy Wonka. And this movie prop has had a massive cultural impact that’s still relevant to this day.

For you South Park fans out there, you may remember Eric Cartman singing “(I’ve got a) Golden Ticket” upon the realization that he could curse whenever he wanted to if he pretended to have Tourettes Syndrome.

And for you Primus fans out there, they released an album aptly titled Primus & the Chocolate Factory, which has its own twisted versions of songs from the original Willy Wonka film score. Primus even mimicked the movie prop in their own promotion of the album when they had five golden tickets of their own hidden inside the albums that would give the lucky fans who found them free concert tickets for life!

The Necronomicon is one of those Lovecraftian artifacts that you’ll truly have a bad time reading. And we’re so glad that this one is simply just a movie prop, because reading from this Sumerian version of the book of the dead has grave consequences.

And in the case of The Evil Dead, if you’re in the remote Tennessee wilderness after summoning demons with this book, evil forces will keep you from leaving alive.

Though the Necronomicon is most notably a movie prop and horror device, it’s said that five copies of the original Necronomicon are stored safely by five separate institutions, most of which are universities.

Let’s just hope for the sake of humanity that some curious college students don’t get the impulse to utter the incantations that are found within.

Quentin Tarantino is notorious for leaving symbolism for his audience to interpret. While the prevailing theory around this Pulp Fiction movie prop is that it contains Marcellus Wallace’s soul, the briefcase is actually what filmmakers call a “MacGuffin,” which is a plot device used to push a story forward.

In other words, we’re not supposed to know what’s inside the briefcase, and it’s up to our imaginations to figure it out. For the Pulp Fiction director, it’s the idea that every single viewer of his films will have their own interpretation of events that makes filmmaking so magical to him, and that’s what makes his style of storytelling so alluring.

Tarantino has also stated in interviews that the “audience doesn’t need to know.” So in this case, the briefcase is just a movie prop that’s used to tickle our minds, and keep us guessing.

Milton wanted to keep his Swingline stapler “because it didn’t bind up as much as the Boston stapler, and he kept the staples for the Swingline stapler, and it’s not okay because if they take his stapler then he’ll set the building on fire.”

But Bill Lumbergh took that stapler, and Milton kept good on his promise, burning down Initech by the end of the film.

Though this movie prop takes up only a few inches of real estate on Milton’s desk, it’s a driving force in the plot of Office Space in a way. The branch meetings, the restructuring of the office, the layoffs, and the bureaucratic hellscape of corporate culture are all points of discussion in the Mike Judge film, but the red Swingline Stapler is the catalyst that causes everything to fall apart at Initech.

If Lumbergh wasn’t such a stickler to the rules, then he probably could have continued to be one of Peter Gibbons’ eight bosses indefinitely. But he had to mess with Milton, and take his Swingline stapler.

The Golden Idol is the movie prop that sealed Indiana Jones‘ dynasty as one of the most charismatic archeologists, fictional or otherwise, in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

In the opening sequence, we see Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) attempting to swap out a bag of sand for the idol, but he miscalculated the weight and has to run for his life, escaping too many booby traps to count. The reason this scene is so iconic is that it quickly establishes Indiana Jones as a treasure hunter and adventurer, setting in motion one of the most memorable franchises of all time.

It’s always good to see this movie prop being referenced and parodied. We all remember when Bart Simpson tries stealing Homer’s change jar before bolting out of the house and onto the school bus. Though instead of running from a giant boulder, Bart finds himself running down the stairs as Homer tumbles behind him.