Best family movie factual errors of all time

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Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone picture

Factual error: When Harry talks to the snake, the camera shows a close up of the snake, and it blinks. Snakes don't blink because they lack eyelids. (00:06:50)

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Bolt picture Bolt mistake picture

Factual error: Near the beginning of the film, Calico is sitting with a cat on his right shoulder. Their reflection is shown in the glasses of a man directly opposite. The reflection shows Calico and the cat in the same position instead of being reversed, as a reflection would be. (00:04:30)

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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.

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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."

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Hotel Transylvania picture

Factual error: Johnny shows Mavis the sunrise by keeping her back in the shadows. But if your whole body is in an object's shadow then you can't see the light source. The rising sun is reflected dead center in Mavis' eyes, which means the sunlight is touching her, which means she ought to be on fire.

Phixius

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Suggested correction: Not really though. You see you can stand in the shadows but still look at the sun. No one actually does but it is possible.

A shadow is caused by something blocking the sun. If you stand in the shadow (i.e. you are no longer casting your own shadow), you can not see the sun. Think of lying on the beach and someone stands over you in such a way their shadow is cast over your head. The sun would be blocked from your view. You obviously would still see all the scattered light, but the sun would not be reflected off your eyes.

Bishop73

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Rise of the Guardians picture

Factual error: In the beginning where Tooth is sending her fairies to various regions, she sends a few to Moscow, stating that there are "22 incisors and 18 premolars" that need collecting. Premolars are not baby teeth; they are permanent adult teeth. (00:06:10)

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Father of the Bride picture

Factual error: When the whole Banks family sits down to dinner, George asks 'Who wants to go to a Laker game on Thursday?' According to the timeline of the film, this is sometime in August, and the Lakers are in off-season.

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Suggested correction: When George goes to the grocery store, you can see Halloween decorations.

When they first meet with Franc, he says that the wedding is set for January 6 and that gives them five months. So it is definitely August at that point.

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Spy Kids picture

Factual error: When Gregorio and Ingrid are being chased by a helicopter during their wedding, the helicopter goes between two stone posts and the helicopter's blades break the post tops off. The problem is that both of the tops fall forward, which is wrong - one should fall forward, the other one should fall backwards. (00:05:50)

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Return to Oz picture

Factual error: When Dorothy runs away from the hospital she is chased by a nurse, who has a torch. Earlier in this film the doctor said they two months away from the 20th century which gives the year as 1899. Such a modern torch that the nurse had was not invented yet.

Hamster

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20,000 Leagues Under the Sea picture

Factual error: The giant squid's tentacles aren't shaped like ones in the real world are.

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Mr. Bean's Holiday picture

Factual error: When Mr Bean arrives in Paris from his Eurostar train, he arrives in Paris Nord train station. In reality, the Eurostar platforms are fenced off to prevent train-hoppers and are against the station wall, rather than the middle.

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The Rookie picture

Factual error: In the final inning of the district championship game, the Owls are ahead by one run and there are two outs when the opposing team's top hitter steps up to the plate. This is impossible because this batter was the final out in the previous inning when his team came to bat. That he bats at all in the final inning with two outs means his team would have batted around the order and scored at least 3 runs in that inning already and had the lead.

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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.

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Surf's Up picture

Factual error: In the final surfing scene, Cody and Z are surfing, presumably, off into the sunset. However, being on the north shore (given Z's remark a few moments before), that would mean the wave is rolling to the south which would put the sun toward the east not the west. (01:20:00)

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The Lizzie McGuire Movie picture

Factual error: In the scene where Ms. Ungermeyer returns to the hotel and takes the elevator upstairs, Sergei detains her in the elevator (to give Lizzie time to get into her room) while the classmates, including Kate, walk up the stairs. Since the rooms were on the first floor, Kate should have reached her and Lizzie's room before Ms. Ungermeyer; however, they enter the room at the same time.

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Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World picture

Factual error: During The "What A Day In London" sequence, William Shakespeare is seen reading his line "to be or not to be" from his play Hamlet. Pocahontas did sail to London in 1616, but Shakespeare died on April 23rd 1616, when Pocahontas arrived on June 12th 1616.

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The Next Karate Kid picture

Factual error: When Eric goes to help the guy who got hurt after bungee jumping at the dance, the guy's line is long enough to allow him to lay flat on the ground. If it was really that long he would have crashed into the floor and not gone back up.

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Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation picture

Factual error: When True Heart skydives down to Earth, she is wearing goggles with a wraparound strap. She takes these off and drops them in her backpack where Baby Swift Heart is hiding. When he pops up a split second later wearing the goggles, the strap is under his bonnet.

Kathy Tjarks

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Saving Mr. Banks picture

Factual error: In the scene where the young Helen Goff is traveling by train with her family, it's obvious that an American engine and coaches have been used, instead of a Queensland Rail locomotive of the era. None of the QR locomotives had flared smokestacks like on the one seen in the movie. The coaches are also incorrect - as far as I know, none of the Queensland Rail wood coaches had clerestory roofs with a set of windows in them like seen in the movie. When Helen looks out the back of the train, it's also obvious that the tracks are spaced at 'standard gauge' (4' 8.5"). They should be closer together, as railways in Queensland are built to 3'6" gauge instead. There is also no such company as the 'Queensland Victoria Railway Co', as marked on the coaches, as all railways in Australia are state owned.

Tbdanny

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Mulan II picture

Factual error: In the scene where the fireflies light the fireworks there is one problem: The chemical that creates light wouldn't ignite the wick on a firework.

Disney-Freak

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