Top 20 Mistakes That Were Left in Disney Movies

Looks like those magic 8-balls really are magic after all! Not only can they tell the future, but they can also appear at will whenever they’re needed! When Andy’s mom suggests Pizza Planet for dinner, Andy excitedly throws his toys onto the desk. Notice how there is absolutely nothing near them, aside from the lamp and pens on the other side of the desk. However, right after Woody pushes Buzz off him, an 8-ball magically appears right beside his arm. Yeah, there are no camera angle excuses or anything for this one. This was just a good old fashioned mistake.

In the 15-year-anticipated follow-up to “The Incredibles,” the issues between Supers and the rest of society are very much still real. However, Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, and Frozone find allies in the Deavors - well, one of them anyway. Winston and Evelyn’s father had been a big fan of superheroes back in the day; putting up a statue of Dina-Guy, and even making friends with some of them. Given that several of their own superpowered pals took a liking to the senior Deavor, wouldn’t our heroes have at least heard the name Deavor before, though? (xref) Additionally, Elastigirl’s look gets an upgrade - to Edna Mode’s dismay - as well as a new electric bike, but when it meets an unfortunate end, it explodes in a ball of fire, which wouldn’t happen to something, y’know, electric.

This is another minor mistake, but like others of its kind, there’s just no going back once you notice it. When she’s practicing driving, Vanellope crashes and spits out a tooth. She then smiles at Ralph, making her missing front tooth very obvious and clear to the audience. However, her teeth are completely fine and intact for the rest of the movie. You could argue that it was a video game and that her teeth were reprogrammed or something, but really, it was just a simple sight gag that the animators had no intention of continuing throughout the movie.

This mistake serves as another innocent sight gag, but it’s a little less forgivable than the last. When Kristoff, Anna, and Olaf are escaping from Marshmallow, Olaf gets thrown off the cliff right before Kristoff and Anna fall to the snow below. At the bottom, Kristoff emerges under a completely fresh and undisturbed mound of snow. Not only did Kristoff somehow end up underneath Olaf (who fell off the cliff first), but he also didn’t make any impact or scuff marks upon hitting the snow. Mistake made by the animators? Sight gag we weren’t supposed to take seriously? Or is Kristoff a ghost? Make your decision.

In the scene where Jasmine is chained up by Jafar, she is wearing a golden snake bracelet on her right arm. This can clearly be seen when she kisses Jafar and right before she tries to wrestle the staff away from him. However, once she is knocked to the ground, the bracelet is on her left arm. In the next shot, when she stands to get the lamp, it’s on her right arm again. It’s a simple continuity error, and it’s a real blink-and-you-miss it mistake, especially considering the hectic nature of the scene. But hey, it’s a mistake nonetheless.

“Frozen” has a spectacular climactic finish that leaves audience members at the edge of their seats, but that doesn’t mean it all makes sense. For example, we clearly see the villainous Hans approaching Elsa – totally unarmed, with not even a sheath to contain a sword. Yet we then hear a sword being unsheathed and then suddenly see a sword magically appear in Hans’ hands. And no, it’s not a really sharp icicle, it’s a legitimate sword. Kind of a big one, which makes you think Hans may be compensating for something – but that’s another story.

In “Monsters, Inc.,” it’s made very clear that Boo’s screams and laughs produce massive power spikes. Because, you know, the entire concept of the movie is that children’s screams and laughter power the monster’s city. However, there are numerous times throughout the movie when Boo’s vocalizations do absolutely nothing to the power. Examples include the scene when she is screaming in Randall’s scream extractor, or when she is giggling in the bathroom while playing hide and seek with Sully. On both occasions, the lights should be going haywire, yet nothing happens. Jeez, get your lore straight, Disney!

This has been a question on everyone’s minds since 1995: why does Buzz freeze when Andy enters the room? It’s established early on that the toys freeze around Andy, because, you know, they’re not supposed to be alive. But it’s also established that Buzz doesn’t believe himself to be a toy. If that’s the case, then why does he freeze like the rest of them? It could be that a toy’s involuntary response is to freeze around humans. It could also be a defense mechanism due to Andy’s alien nature. Or maybe he wanted to wait and study the hostile species. While this plot hole doesn’t ruin the movie, it certainly brings up some questions.

“Beauty and the Beast” is undoubtedly one of Disney’s all-time classics, but that doesn’t mean that it’s without its goofs. In the prologue, the Beast dramatically tears at his human portrait, and the scratches go in a downwards left-to-right direction. One scratch even begins at his right eye and goes across his nose and off his cheek. However, when Belle later discovers the same portrait, the scratches travel in an upwards direction, and the scratch beginning on his right eye is completely gone. For such a serious and important scene, you’d think they’d have reviewed the earlier scene.

In this Disney classic, strong-willed Princess Jasmine know what she wants – and what she wants is NOT the obnoxious Prince Achmed. Jasmine’s tiger, Rajah, is on the same page and he dispenses with this unwanted suitor by taking a bite out of his purple pants. Insulted, the prince flees, his heart-pattern underwear clearly showing through a hole in his pants. Yet when we get a close-up of Rajah, the fabric in his mouth clearly matches Achmed’s underwear. Guess we’re all just thankful he wasn’t going commando that day.

Poor Vanellope von Schweetz was dealt a crappy hand in “Wreck-It Ralph,” what with her video game-based kingdom having been taken away from her by the evil King Candy ‘n’ all. All traces of Vanellope’s rightful place as Princess have been wiped away. King Candy has plastered his name and logo all over everything like a pixelated Donald Trump. So when Vanellope and Ralph win and everything is reset the way it’s supposed to be – why can we still see King Candy’s name and logo on one of the buildings? Guess Ralph was too busy celebrating to wreck it to pieces.

Part of the appeal of Mr. Potato Head is how easy it is to change his appearance – and even his personality – with a little accessorizing. But can we have a little consistency, please? In this scene, Andy is pretending Mr. Potato Head is the evil One-Eyed Bart, and yes, he has one eye. But when Andy’s Mom comes into the room with a video camera, and Andy gives her a close-up look at his toys, the potato fiend suddenly has two eyes. Either that’s a mistake or that video camera comes with some serious CGI capability.

Sure, we know Rapunzel and Flynn Rider are just cartoon characters, but their relationship is so beautifully realized that it’s sometimes easy to forget this fact. Maybe that’s why when a little bit of unreality interrupts Flynn’s big death scene, it’s so jarring. Our hero is dying, and clearly shackled so no escape is possible. Rapunzel has just agreed to sacrifice her freedom and happiness so he can live, and Flynn raises his shackled hand to stroke her face. Only that shackle has somehow disappeared. And it’s somehow back moments later, when he cuts off her hair, dooming himself but ensuring Rapunzel will be free. Spoiler: It all ends happily, though.

Eyes and shackles aren’t the only things that can appear and disappear at random in a Disney film. We won’t blame you if you didn’t notice this scene in “Inside Out,” though; after all, heroine Riley is a distractingly cute little baby. At first, the audience is looking at the baby over the shoulders of her mother and father – and her mom is clearly wearing glasses. But in the next cut, the audience is looking up at the parents from baby Riley’s point of view. Guess what? No glasses. Yes, maybe she decided contacts were a better choice, but when did she have time to put them in?

The incredibly adorable Lilo very definitely marches to the beat of a different drum – but this is taking that saying a little too literally. When we’re first introduced to the adorable leading lady, Lilo has her mind on pretty much anything else than being on time for her hula class. At the class, two men are providing musical accompaniment for the dancers, each playing a drum that is kind of gourd-shaped. Yet when we see these men after Lilo’s comment about Pudge the fish, one of those drums is now a more traditional drum shape. Maybe Pudge also has power over musical instruments?

The love story of Pocahontas and John Smith creates a kind of magic onscreen, but that doesn’t give the filmmakers an excuse to bend the laws of Nature. In the scene where Nakoma comes to fetch Pocahontas and take her to see the captured John Smith, the two women walk back to the camp holding hands. Yet as they approach the camp, their shadows clearly are not holding hands. That’s just not possible, unless the shadows have a mind of their own like in “Peter Pan.” Maybe those shadows are a little shy about expressing affection, but come on, we’re all friends here!

Vampires are well-known for not casting a reflection, but as far as we know, the characters in “Toy Story 2” are not blood suckers… unless there’s something Hamm and Rex are not telling us. Why do we wonder? Because when Hamm turns off the TV, the screen goes black, and we can see the room reflected in the blank screen – but we can’t see either Hamm or Rex, who are standing right in front of it. Maybe their shy reflections should go on a date with Pocahontas and Nakoma’s shadows.

It seems Monsters Inc. might have some issues with quality control. The entire concept of “Monsters University” is that Mike and Sully meet and befriend each other while studying at the titular school. However, it was established in the first movie that Mike and Sully have been friends for much longer than that, as Mike says to Sully, “You’ve been jealous of my good looks since the fourth grade, pal.” However, the director has acknowledged this error. According to him, the team decided to forego the established character backgrounds for story and thematic purposes. We can respect that, but we’re still going to point it out.

This goof has become quite popular on the internet in the mid-2010s thanks to a particularly eagle-eyed viewer. Sadly, the person who discovered it was probably some kid’s poor parent who had to watch the movie for the thousandth time that month. During “Let It Go,” Elsa’s hair fuses through her left shoulder once she lets it down. While this is hardly noticeable at normal speed, it’s quite clear upon viewing the scene in slow motion, or when scrutinizing it frame-by-frame. Then again, maybe we should just let it go, because, apart from that... the scene is amazing.

Before we get to our top pick, here are some honorable mentions:

The Alligator Poster
“Finding Nemo” (2003)

Judy Is Wearing the Wrong Shirt
“Zootopia” (2016)

Mr. Litwak’s Name Changes
“Wreck-It Ralph” (2012) & “Ralph Breaks the Internet” (2018)

Kristoff’s Instrument is Missing a Peg
“Frozen” (2013)

Newspaper Headline is from 40 Years in the Future
“The Incredibles” (2004)

On one level, “Cinderella” is all about the wardrobe, right? After all, her animal friends help her make a gorgeous gown that her jealous stepsisters rip to shreds. Then that handy fairy godmother gives her the ball gown to end all ball gowns and iconic glass slippers to match. Everything ends happily ever after, with Cinderella marrying her prince in yet another stunning outfit. One with very long sleeves. Except, when she’s riding away in her carriage, we see her again through the rear window – and girl, what happened to those sleeves? Maybe her fairy godmother wasn’t feeling her first look.