Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007) - 57 mistakes

Continuity: In some scenes of the movie, Alvin plays guitar righty. Other times, he plays it lefty. You can see both scenes during the DVD main menu scene.

Continuity: Dave captures the chipmunks in a pot, but right before the pot touches the counter, the chipmunks are not under the pot. They are not animated in it.

Continuity: When the chipmunks start practicing for the first time with Ian, Ian gives Simon "cooler" glasses that he should use it from now on. However, in their tour shots he's still using his old glasses. Much later in the movie he is also seen rummaging through a desk cabinet for his his old glasses which he found to be already bent.

Continuity: Towards the beginning when Dave leaves the record label (after he steals the muffins), downstairs you can see a girl in a pink top, a delivery guy and a black guy in beige boots. The girl in the pink top passes Dave, then it cuts and you see her in front of Dave. Then it cuts again and you see her behind Dave and going around a corner. Also, the guy in the boots does the same thing a few times. And the delivery guy comes up close to the shot in the end, then they show him again just getting close.

Continuity: In the end, when Dave is chasing Ian, we see many headlights behind him. However, once the chipmunks hop up and Dave slams his brakes, we see no lights and no cars pass him. Also, the whole time they are talking, no cars pass again. When Alvin steers the car there are all kinds of cars again flowing both directions.

Continuity: When Dave leaves his house for work, there is a skateboard leaning up against the wall by the door and there is an umbrella stand with a lot of umbrellas in it. But when Dave gets back home from work the skateboard is now on the other side of the door in the corner and there are now fewer umbrellas in the stand.

Continuity: When the chipmunks are in the recording studio they are too exhausted to sing their song, so Ian comes in with plastic cups of coffee for them. Above the chipmunks heads is a large silver microphone – during this whole scene the microphone alternates from being just above their heads to being much further above their heads.

Factual error: When the Chipmunks are going on tour and all of the cities are listed, it says that they're going to "Phoenix - NV" however it's clear they are in Arizona not Nevada, so it should have said "Phoenix - AZ."

Visible crew/equipment: When Dave and the chipmunks are talking in the living room on Christmas morning, you can see a crew member reflected on the lamp shade.

Deliberate "mistake": In the housing block that Dave’s house is in, the house numbers do not match – because In one shot of Claire walking past Dave’s house, you can see that the house numbers are in the 1500’s – one homes number is clearly 1516. However Dave’s house number is 1958. However this is a deliberate mistake as the 1958 on Dave’s house is a reference to when the Chipmunk fever was born.

Continuity: After the chipmunks have performed ‘Witch Doctor’ at the Jett Records presentation, everyone starts to applaud and in one shot we see a huge net-load of balloons fall from the ceiling, onto the dance floor (which has been made to look like a huge vinyl record.) However seconds later we hear the DJ to tell everyone to start dancing and there is an overhead shot of everyone moving onto the same dance floor; only now there is not one single balloon in sight and there is no way they could have all disappeared off the dance floor.

Continuity: When Dave arrives at Jett Records and gives Ian his CD, we see Ian putting the disc into a Bose CD player with no speakers; and next to the CD player is a stack of CD cases. However in following shots, the CD player we see now has speakers that are actually attached to the player itself (and this is the same CD player Ian is using.) Additionally the stack of CD cases next to the player is much higher as well.

Visible crew/equipment: When Dave enters the kitchen and finds the bowl of cheese balls, the chipmunks run and hide themselves under some bowls on the other counter. Then Dave leaves the kitchen and the chipmunks start to move along the counter whilst still under the bowls. The first time the bowls come to a stop (and Dave turns to look, etc) in the close-up as the bowls are coming to a stop, you can actually see the white string that was being used to make them move along; if you look then you can see it more easily to the side of the red bowl.

Continuity: When the chipmunks are cooking toaster waffles, they finally pop out of the toaster and fly all the way across the counter. Simon runs after one but doesn’t catch it and it lands in front of him. In shots from the point of view of Dave, Simon is standing with the burnt waffle on the counter in front of him; and around him there are condiment shakers, food packages, utensils and a knife block. However during this scene there is a shot that has the camera behind the counter to show both Dave and Simon. However in these shots none of the aforementioned items surrounding Simon are there apart from the burnt toaster waffle.

Continuity: On top of the white cabinets / cupboards that run along the kitchen is a whole row of glass jars, vases, pots, etc. During the whole kitchen scene, the actual jars and pots that are on top of these cabinets move around and rearrange in different shots. In the close-up of Alvin pushing over the packet of Cheese Balls for instance; you can see that the jars and pots on the cupboard above are differently arranged than in other wide shots of the whole kitchen.

Continuity: In the scene inside the house that Uncle Ian gave the chipmunks, Alvin has foam darts on three air-pump launchers. He fires all three of the foam darts from the launchers; and we see him standing on the table with the three launchers and the three attached air-pumps, nothing else. But in the next shot suddenly all three of the launchers have a foam dart readily attached to them! And in addition a large pile of foam darts has appeared on the table, behind Alvin.

Continuity: When Dave gets back home from Jett Records, he throws the muffin basket that he stole into his garbage can. When he does this, as he throws it into the can it causes the clear plastic bin liner inside to come off from around the edge of the bin. But in the next shot the bin liner is perfectly sitting around the whole edge of the bin again.

Continuity: In the scene where the chipmunks are on the set of the Crunchy Nibbles advert, they are each standing in front of a bowl of the nibbles. But they are completely knackered, and Theodore falls forward into his bowl, causing nibbles to spill all over the table. However in the following shots the amount of nibbles around the bowl on the table is inconsistent.

Continuity: Once the chipmunks are inside the food cupboards, they begin to devour everything inside. Theodore is seen chewing off a corner of a box of Lucky Charms cereal and eating the cereal that pours from the hole. But a few shots later when the same box of cereal can be seen, the hole that Theodore gnawed from the corner of the box is gone and the corner is fully intact.

Continuity: Inside the house that Uncle Ian gave the chipmunks, the chipmunks are all playing with the new toys they have received. Simon and Theodore are on a trampoline and Alvin is playing around with foam darts. In one shot we see four foam darts shoot across the room in succession – however there are only three dart launchers.

Visible crew/equipment: After Dave has retrieved all of his musical equipment and instruments from the rain outside, there is a shot of his wiping his damp keyboard down with a towel. In this shot if you look in the glass door behind Dave, you can see the hands of a crewmember and the long boom microphone that he is holding, reflected in the glass hovering above Dave.

Continuity: When Dave gets back from Jett Records he enters his music study, removes his jacket and throws it into a blue plastic box. He then takes his keyboard and throws it outside. Then when he comes back into the study we can see the box again, but now his jacket is no longer inside it.

Continuity: When Uncle Ian arrives at Dave’s house on Christmas, he comes in with a huge pile of gifts as well as a huge Santa sack full of presents for the chipmunks. When he walks through the door with the sack the door swings to a shut behind him. But in the next shot more people from Jett Records walk through the same door with more gifts – only now the door is wide open for them.

Continuity: When Dave and Claire are having dinner together, the amount of white wine in Dave’s glass is inconsistent during the scene. In the opening shots the glass is almost full, but when he picks it up to drink from it the level is much lower. Then when he puts it back down and the scene continues, the level differs during all the shots of dialogue between the two.

Continuity: When Dave is lying on the couch watching television (before he starts hearing the chipmunks rummaging around in his kitchen) the cushions that are behind his back that he is resting on completely rearrange themselves between shots.

Continuity: When we see Dave making the shoebox house for the chipmunks and writing a letter to them, Dave pokes five messy airholes in the top of the box. However when he decides against the idea and puts the box up on a high shelf, now you can see that in the lid of the box there are now seven airholes and also the holes looks much neater than before.

Continuity: When Dave hears the chipmunks singing outside on the tree trunk, he goes and opens the window to hear them better. The window to the viewer’s right (from outside) has its slatted blinds down – and they are also closed. But after the chipmunks finish singing ‘Funky Town’, the same blinds aforementioned are now open.

Continuity: When the chipmunks are giving Dave the presents they got him, Theodore had made him a card out of a folded sheet of paper. On the front of the card he has written (and misspelt) “To Dav” – note this handwriting. From when the card is laying on the table to when Dave picks it the writing has changed. When it was on the table the T was crossed and the V was longer than the A. But when Dave picks it up the T is uncrossed and neat and the V is now the same size as the A.

Continuity: When Dave comes back home with the food that he has bought he discovers that the chipmunks have completely cleaned his entire house for his date. When he comes inside and stops to look at how clean the living room is, watch the slatted blind on the door behind him. In the first shot the slats are closed, but when Dave walks into the kitchen the slats are open.

Continuity: When Dave throws the muffin basket inside the garbage can there is a clothing item hanging down off of the kitchen seating area, right next to the bin. However a few shots later when we see the bin, the seating is completely clear with nothing on it. But when the chipmunks climb out the bin the item is back on the seat, hanging over the side of it.

Continuity: Alvin pushes over a packet of Cheese Balls and they fall from the cupboard and into a bowl that is on the kitchen counter. He then cannon-balls from the cupboard into the bowl of Cheese Balls which causes a lot of them to fall out of the bowl, spilling all over the counter. However when Dave walks into the kitchen and spots the bowl, the amount of cheese balls on the counter (around the bowl) is much less.

Continuity: When Uncle Ian is telling the chipmunks in the dressing room that they need to lip sync along to their song, there are alternating shots, and one of them is Ian and Alvin talking whilst being reflected in a large vanity mirror. However in the shot where Alvin turns around on the vanity table and tells Simon and Theodore they ‘have to lip sync’, Ian is not reflected in the large mirror, then in the next shot he has appeared back to where he was standing and is once again reflected in the mirror.

Continuity: When Dave gets back from work and is lying on the couch, on the counter behind him you can see two jars (one with a green lid and the other with a white lid.) But later when Dave notices the bowls moving across the same counter, the glass jar with the white lid has now vanished. Also the magnets and papers on the fridge differ as well.

Visible crew/equipment: When Dave first discovers that the chipmunks can sing, as they perform on the tree stump outside his window for him, after they sing ‘Funky Town’ there is a shot from outside looking through the window and to the right of Dave (through the window) you can see the long pole of the boom microphone; it is not seen in any other shots.

Plot hole: When the chipmunks finally release their first song, there is a montage showing the chipmunks rising musical success. In one shot we see a marquee promoting “The Chipmunks Premiere CD Release”, and on it is a picture of the chipmunks in the clothes Dave has made them (note Alvin in his ‘A’ jumper.) However, Dave doesn’t actually make the chipmunks these clothes until further on in the film.

Continuity: After Dave has caught Alvin from off his head and trapped him inside a woollen hat, the removal of the hat causes Dave’s hair to get messy and parts of hair have fallen down over his forehead. But in the following shot his hair is neat and brushed back to how it was before.

Continuity: Once Alvin has opened up two of the food cupboards in the kitchen and all three of the chipmunks are rummaging around inside of them, the items that are inside of the cupboards themselves move about and rearrange themselves without the chipmunks touching them; for instance the items of food next to Alvin as he pours out the packet of Cheese Balls.

Visible crew/equipment: When Dave wakes up from sleeping on his keyboard in the opening scene, as he straightens himself out and gets up to get himself ready for work, you can see the leg of a crewmember moving around in the glass door that is behind Dave.

Continuity: Dave throws the muffin basket that he stole from Jett Records into his garbage can; and when we see the front of the can there is a handle visible on the side. However when the film goes back to the garbage can (as the chipmunks climb out of it) the handle is no longer visible on the front part of the can that we see, meaning the can itself has somehow rotated.

Continuity: When Ian visits Dave’s house on Christmas, bringing over all the gifts and toys for the chipmunks, he hands Dave three large gift-wrapped boxes for them. He then mentions he got Dave a CD and places the wrapped CD on top of the three boxes that Dave is holding. Then when Ian is leaving, between a couple of shots the position of the wrapped CD on the top box differs.

Continuity: When Dave is in the supermarket with the chipmunks, the chipmunks are in the trolley. When Dave turns his back, the chipmunks overload the trolley with boxes of toaster waffles. In the following shots during the whole scene with Dave talking to the chipmunks and then discovering that the chipmunks’ song is on the radio, the amount of boxes of waffles in the trolley and the boxes’ positions change.

Factual error: When Dave hears the message on his voicemail from Claire, telling him that she will be round for dinner at 7 o’clock, he checks the clock and it is 6:30.p.m. However, bright sunlight is pouring through the windows. This film is set around the countdown to Christmas, so at 6:30p.m it should be pitch black outside, or at least slightly dark but definitely not bright sunshine.

Continuity: When Dave catches Alvin from off the top of his head and traps him inside a woollen hat, he quickly places the hat down on the table and holds the rim of the hat down to prevent him from escaping. However, as he is holding it down the position of the rim of the hat and the actual hat (in his hands) differs from shot to shot.

Continuity: In the shot when we see the chipmunks climbing out of the garbage can that Dave threw the muffin basket into, we can see an ironing board surface to the right of the screen, with just a few items on it. Later on in the kitchen scene where Dave is chasing the chipmunks through the cabinets with a spatula, a whole pile of paper sheets and addition items have appeared on the edge of the ironing board.

Continuity: When the Chipmunks are running through the lobby of Jett Records, trying to get inside Dave’s muffin basket, Alvin and Simon get in but Theodore is still running along trying to get in. As Alvin hangs over the edge to try and grab Theodore, he is alternatively standing on or off of the white material that drapes outside the muffin basket.

Continuity: When the chipmunks are in the kitchen, Alvin gets on top of the microwave and opens up two of the cupboards that are full of food. He opens them up and then stands at the ledge of the cupboard in awe, but in the next wider view of the open cupboards he isn’t visible at all and has vanished from the shot.

Continuity: When Claire walks over to the signing table that Dave and the chipmunks are sitting at (after their stage performance), she bends down to take a photo of them and Dave holds his hand up and forms a ‘peace’ sign with his fingers behind the chipmunks. But in the following reverse shot the chipmunks cannot be seen in front of the peace sign, when they should be visible.

Continuity: When the chipmunks are giving Dave their gifts to him on Christmas morning, after Dave has opened and read the card that Theodore made him, he puts it back down on the table. In the following shots the position of the card changes from straight to diagonal and back.

Continuity: When Dave awakens after being knocked unconscious by the jar in the kitchen, he stands up next to the sink and in the sink there are two coloured flannels hanging over the basin that are spaced far apart. But in close-ups of the sink they are touching. Also when the chipmunks are playing with the blender there is a tin of “Thai Tea” beside the appliances; but this is only there in close-ups. In wide shots the tin is not there.

Continuity: When Dave is in the living room, picking up the yellow surfboard, in the wide shot we can see all three chipmunks standing on the small coffee table; and leaning up against the far end of the coffee table is a large painting. But in the close-ups of the chipmunks standing on the edge of the table, talking to Dave, there is nothing leaning against the side of it. Also between wider views and closer shots the items on the table rearrange themselves and change.

Continuity: When the chipmunks are performing the song ‘Witch Doctor’ for the Jett Records premiere, they are performing on top of a giant sealed cauldron which has mist bubbling out from its rim. During the scene the amount of mist that is flowing from the cauldrons rim is not consistent; in one shot the mist might be coming out fast and thickly but in the next it is bubbling out in thin slow wisps.

Continuity: When Dave gets home from Jett Records he goes into his music study grabs all of his instruments and other equipment and throws it out into his front garden area, in a fit of anger. However a bit later in the film when he discovers the chipmunks (and their singing abilities) he goes back out to retrieve all the items; however now they are all in totally different places to where they were when he threw them out.

Continuity: When the chipmunks are hiding under bowls and slowly moving across the counter, the bowls keep changing location, whenever the chipmunks stop moving.

Continuity: When Dave chases the chipmunks along the kitchen counter, the mess on the counter keep changing arrangement between shots.

Continuity: The pumps of chocolate sauce in the chipmunks' coffee disappear too quickly for them to drink it all.

Plot hole: For a chipmunk who is so blind he cannot see a toaster waffle land right in front of him Simon, is really good about placing the bowl directly under the flow of cheese balls. He stops going back when the balls stop hitting his head, then looks up and precisely moves the bowl to catch the bulk of cheese balls coming down.

Plot hole: When Simon, Alvin and Theodore draw on Dave's graph board they drew Simon wearing glasses, but at that point in the movie he didn't wear glasses, he only got glasses after they drew him.