There’s a whole lot going on in Brad Bird and Damon Lindelof’s Tomorrowland, which pays tribute to Disney’s imagineering and the forward-thinking mindset of Walt Disney himself. Eagle-eyed fans will likely notice some easter eggs from both Disney past and present, but there’s one little cameo surprise that Bird and Lindelof weren’t able to squeeze in: Stanley Kubrick.

In a new interview with Disney Insider, Bird reveals his original — and pretty awesome — plan to include the director of 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange and The Shining:

There was briefly a storyboarded moment where young Frank went to a part of the World’s Fair called ‘To the Moon and Beyond.’ It was a movie that was shot in 70 mm and projected in what they called Spacearium 360 by Cinerama. And he was there watching this, which was projected on the ceiling and then he leans back and sitting next to him was Stanley Kubrick, who was also at the World’s Fair and in seeing that film, tracked down Douglas Trumbull to do the effects for ‘2001.’ So we had that and we were going to find a guy who looked like young Kubrick, but that was one of those ideas where there wasn’t enough room for it. And it’s beside the point. But the ‘64 World’s Fair had a lot of those things in it and that’s why it was such a cool idea for me.

That sounds like it had potential to be a fairly great cameo, so to speak, and one that — as Bird notes — die hard cinephiles would have enjoyed. It’s the kind of reference movie fans love because we can smile and nod quietly to ourselves, taking comfort in knowing that we’re one of the few who noticed it at all.

Too bad they couldn’t make it work, but I’m sure you’ll spot a few other fun references when Tomorrowland arrives on May 21.

More From ScreenCrush