MDWigs: This is an unconfirmed tidbit that Olivier Hague presented in some trivia questions he posted on japan.anime.evangelion years ago:
"The cut showing a young Ikari Gendou during the opening credits is based on a similar shot of Straker, the commander of SHADO, in the UFO TV series …"
I looked up some UFO pictures, but while some do look a little similar I couldn't find an exact match. (A capture of the two shots side by side would be cool.)
Sharp-kun: Note that this “sketch style” is often used when referring to things that happened to the characters in the past.
Reichu: And this particular image also prognosticates the future. Poor Shinji is going to look like this someday. Although hopefully he won't have Gendo's “hyperthyroid eyes”.
tv33: Shinji look like Gendo some day? I don't think he's that lucky.
