Best family movie factual errors of all time

Please vote as you browse around to help the best rise to the top.

The Sound of Music picture

Factual error: The von Trapps are shown walking over the border to Switzerland after a short drive out of the centre of town...except Salzburg is about 200km east of Switzerland. If one walked across the border at Salzburg, you'd be entering Germany, which is where (I believe) the people they were trying to get away from lived. Take a look at a map.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Even though the von Trapps were 200km from the Swiss border, in the last 5 mins, they received a car from the sisters at the convent and the sisters disabled the cars of their pursuers.

Captain Von Trapp was clear, when they were about to hide, that they would drive into the mountains in Salzburg (which the movie did a close up on to show it was those mountains specifically) and walk over them on foot confirming the movie is pretending those are mountains into Switzerland. The director himself admitted this when the real Maria Von Trapp complained of this error. He said "In Hollywood you can make up your own geography."

More The Sound of Music factual errors
The Game Plan picture

Factual error: The restaurant Joe opens and his apartment at 1 Charles are actually less than a city block apart, so there is no need to drive across Boston to get there.

More The Game Plan factual errors
The Prince of Egypt picture

Factual error: During the plague when the fire and rocks are falling from the sky, they fall behind a statue of Rameses and are seen through its hollow eye holes. It makes for a great image, but that would mean that the statue's eyes were punched out like a mask, even though before they were just carved into the stone.

Krista

More The Prince of Egypt factual errors
Madagascar picture

Factual error: In the sequence where the animals get on the first subway, it says they are on the 59th St subway. But, there is no 59th St subway in NY. The only subway station close to 59 is the 57th St subway.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: While the other correction lists a 59th street, that's in Brooklyn. There is one in Manhattan though, 59th - Columbus Circle, which is also the south-west corner of Central Park.

Bishop73

Suggested correction: There is definitely a 59th street subway station: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/59th_Street_ (BMT_Fourth_Avenue_Line).

More Madagascar factual errors
The Borrowers picture

Factual error: Although cars are seen driving on the right-hand side of the road for most of the film, one overhead shot shows UK-style "give way" lines across the left-hand side of the road.

More The Borrowers factual errors
Thunderbirds picture

Factual error: As the Hood approaches central London in Thunderbird 2, they fly through Tower Bridge and over HMS Belfast, approaching from the East. However the onboard display in Thunderbird 1 shows TB2 approaching from the West, somewhere over Hammersmith.

More Thunderbirds factual errors
My Fair Lady picture

Factual error: In the Ascot racing scene, the actors' heads move from their left to right when the horses come to the winning line. From the stands at Ascot, the horses run clockwise around the track and would enter from right to left.

More My Fair Lady factual errors
The Country Bears picture

Factual error: After Berry and one of the Country Bears get in the bus to find the others, they show a scene with the bus going along a road and Berry leans out the window. Here you can see the side of the bus is spick 'n' span clean. Then, later, the bus is as dirty as it was when it left the shack, very noticeable at the start of the carwash scene.

More The Country Bears factual errors
The Lion King picture

Factual error: When Mufasa is showing Simba the kingdom from Pride Rock they are facing the sun, yet Pride Rock's shadow is visible below them. Also in the same position, you see that they have shadows behind them. Then a few seconds later when Simba sees the shadow area the shadows are in front of them while you can see part of the sun to their left side. They would be facing south when the sun is east. How are their shadows in front of them?

More The Lion King factual errors
The Little Mermaid picture

Factual error: At the end of the film, when Ursula has Triton's powers, she creates an enormous whirlpool that pulls wrecked ships off the ocean's floor. Prince Eric boards one of the ships that is being swept along with the whirlpool's currents, then turns the rudder hard to steer the ship into Ursula. Not possible - in order for the rudder to change the course of a ship the vessel must be moving faster than the current.

More The Little Mermaid factual errors
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie picture

Factual error: Various Sydney landmarks can be seen throughout the movie (although the Centrepoint Tower and the Monorail play major roles). There are also some cars that have right-hand steering wheels despite the story being set in California, and some Australian model traffic lights (foot-long black cover with a grey pole) can be seen when the Scorpion bot destroys a car in front of the Rangers. (01:06:00)

More Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie factual errors
Star Wars picture

Factual error: After the Death Star, when TIE fighters are attacking the Millennium Falcon, each time one explodes at high speed, the debris and the fire does not keep moving.

Dr Wilson

More Star Wars factual errors
The Incredibles picture

Factual error: When the plane is attacked by missiles, Helen punches a button on the cockpit console and a screen lights up that says "chaff". The next shot shows the rear of the plane with several burning items coming from it that are supposed to be chaff. However, chaff containers burst open into thousands of radar-reflective strips that are meant to confuse radar-guided missiles (see real chaff in the movie Air Force One). What actually comes out are flares that burn extremely hot to confuse heat-seeking missiles. While it might be suggested that we just never see the containers burst open, later in the missile chase we see the exact same items in view for a much longer time and they never burst open.

Guy

More The Incredibles factual errors
The Jungle Book 2 picture

Factual error: During the song where Mowgli and Balo are dancing together with other animals, there are several hippopotamus also dancing. This is impossible, as hippopotamus are native to Africa, and the movie is set in India.

More The Jungle Book 2 factual errors
Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London picture

Factual error: When Derek is calculating how much explosive Mentos to put in Cody's mouth to get the microchip out, he says to himself, "a thousand nanograms equals 1 microgram". While this measurement is correct, it is highly unlikely that any explosive would be of use in even milligram quantities. So 1/1000 of a milligram (a microgram) would be virtually useless, and measurements of 1/1,000,000 of a milligram (a nanogram) would be even less than useless. He couldn't have been calculating explosives in such small quantities. As well, Mentos mints are about 37.5 g (http://home.socal.rr.com/mentosfaq/candies.html), and he then cuts it into approximately 1/8 - micrograms would measure 1/250 of a mint, and nanograms would be 1/2500 of a mint. (01:12:30)

More Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London factual errors
Pokemon: The Movie 2000 picture

Factual error: In the opening short "Pikachu's Rescue Adventure," in the Bellossom song and dance shot, a Poliwhirl calls itself a Poliwrath. This is obviously a mistake because of the body differences between the Pokémon.

More Pokemon: The Movie 2000 factual errors
The Lion King 1½ picture

Factual error: This may have been considered before drawing it this way, but it's a mistake nonetheless: When Tinkerbell shows up at the end with all the other Disney characters to watch the movie, she is back lit and silhouetted just like everyone else, and so is the pixie dust she is trailing. This is done simply to resemble a dark theater full of patrons, not to play some sort of impromptu guessing game. Her pixie dust has always been luminescent so it should not appear as a shadow against the theater screen. It'd be impossible to be silhouetted to that degree if it gives off its own light.

Phixius

More The Lion King 1½ factual errors
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events picture

Factual error: When the children jump off the remains of Aunt Josephine's house, they jump further than they'd be able to. The slanting floor, at least, would reduce the distance, plus they didn't take enough of a run up to jump the gap.

More Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events factual errors
Monster House picture

Factual error: The house slides down the hill and breaks apart when Chowder pulls it down. It completely breaks apart. The furnace would have been destroyed, but the house rebuilds itself later on.

Paul M Leslie

More Monster House factual errors
Stuart Little picture

Factual error: When the police arrive at the Little house to take the "missing person" report, their car has a blue light on top. Police in New York display red lights.

More Stuart Little factual errors

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.