Continuity mistake: In the scene in Central Park as Santa speaks with Michael, Santa's arm is either on the book of Christmas lists, or off it, as the scenes switch between looking over Michael's shoulder and over Santa's shoulder.
Continuity mistake: When Jovie kisses Buddy at the skating rink, her left hand is wrapped around Buddy's neck. The next shot of Jovie finishing her kiss has her hand in a different position.
Continuity mistake: When Walter is apologizing to Buddy in Central Park, the view over Walter's right shoulder shows he and Buddy looking at each other almost at eye-level. However, the scenes over Buddy's left shoulder shows him towering over Walter and Walter is also looking up at Buddy.
Continuity mistake: In the meeting scene with Miles Finch, Walter is speaking to Buddy. Behind Walter, Finch's right hand is resting on the edge of the table. The next shot shows Finch's same hand resting on his notebook.
Continuity mistake: When Buddy and Walter are on the landing of the stairwell at the police station, the view looking down on the duo shows Walter close to the wall and window, while the view of Walter's back shows both of them closer to the stairs and further from the window.
Continuity mistake: In the very beginning, when the nun puts the baby in the crib, she puts a blanket on him he pushes it down to his feet, then the camera goes to the nun walking out of the room, and when we see the baby again the blanket is covering him again. (00:04:25)
Continuity mistake: The scene in James Caan's publishing conference room when Buddy and Myles Finch are wrestling results in Buddy's foot hitting the far left picture of three pictures on the wall. The picture comes crashing down and you hear breaking glass. The next shot reveals the fallen picture back up on the wall unbroken. It is followed by the next shot showing the picture gone off the wall again.
Continuity mistake: After baby Buddy crawls out of Santa's bag at the North Pole workshop, he is partially sitting on the edge of the bag, grasping the leg of a teddy bear. The next shot and the baby is over a foot from the bag, and not holding on to the bear's leg, which is still in the bag.
Continuity mistake: When Myles Finch is talking to Walter Hobbs and the others, his black book alternates between the left and right side of the table between shots.
Continuity mistake: When Emily is eating spaghetti, you can see she is only using a fork and there is a knife next to the plate. In the next shot the knife is now on the plate despite the fact she only uses the fork to eat throughout the scene (also there is no sauce on the knife so very doubtful she used it to help her eat the spaghetti). In the following shot of her the knife is back by the side of her plate again. (00:44:55)
Continuity mistake: In the scene when Jovie is asking Buddy why he was in the girls locker room, the amount of people in the background changes each time it cuts back from Buddy to Jovie. It goes from originally five people to three, back to five and so on. This is obviously a mistake because the characters in the background are the same when it's five and the same when it's three. (00:35:00 - 00:36:20)
Continuity mistake: When Buddy eats dinner with his dad and "family", there is a piece of bread in front of the dad that has a bite taken out of it. Throughout the scene the bread changes positions. (00:43:30)
Continuity mistake: Buddy's left arm moves to support Baby Susie under her feet, but the next shot shows his left hand between Susie and his chest.
Continuity mistake: When Buddy has made breakfast for the family, Emily eats the spaghetti taking from the side of the plate and does not touch the top. When the camera goes back to the plate the spaghetti has been all stirred up with the sauce now mixed in, instead of just piled on top.
Continuity mistake: Right before Buddy drinks the bottle of soda pop, the bottle is across the table, next to Michael. The next shot shows Buddy drinking (quick grab). In the next few shots, the empty bottle appears and disappears next to Buddy while he's belching.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Buddy is singing along with Jovie (who is in the shower), it shows Jovie singing and her hair is obviously wet. However, when she stops singing because she hears Buddy, the shot cuts to Buddy on the counter, then back to her. Her hair is dry and stringy on the bottom. It is more obvious when she sticks her head out of the shower. (00:32:30)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Buddy's Dad is talking to his manager about the missing pages in the book, and how the manager thinks that the company will post a minus eight for the quarter and storms out of the room, Buddy's Dad's arm is resting on a piece of paper that is almost directly in the center of the table, and after it cuts to the manager and back to Buddy's Dad, the piece of paper is close to falling off the table. (00:51:10)
Continuity mistake: When Buddy chugs the soda, the bottle rotates in his hand depending on the shot. In views from two different angles, the Coke logo is always visible.
Continuity mistake: When Papa is showing Buddy the sled at the beginning of the film we see the Clausometer (the middle odometer)and the indicator is pointing to the left at around 15 (9pm position). As Papa gets in the indicator is now pointing at around 35-40 (10pm position). Later in the scene when it show a closeup of the meter it is back to 15 and then the last shot of it its 35-40 on the meter. The changes are instantaneous between shots and there is not enough time for them to move that much.
Continuity mistake: Watch the shoppers behind Buddy after the Gimbel's supervisor announces Santa's upcoming visit. Without enough time to have moved between shots, a guy with a yellow elf hat is standing where a lady with a black coat has been.
