Continuity mistake: When the family arrives at the Redondo Suites Hotel, they pull into the middle of the parking lot. When the funeral home van is there, the van is in an entirely different spot with bushes at the front bumper. Then, when they are leaving, the van is back in its original space. (01:14:00 - 01:19:00)
Continuity mistake: In the Little Miss Sunshine pageant there is a girl who, in the talent competition, does a dance in a cyan-colored uniform-type costume. Her act is before Olive's, which is the very last act, however after the girl's act, she can be seen in one shot being led towards the stage and in another having makeup put on, both times in the same costume. Neither of these should be happening if she has already done her act.
Continuity mistake: During the backstage pep talk, the clasp on the Mom's necklace changes position.
Continuity mistake: In the mad rush to get to the hotel, the family gets off on the exit and is trying to decide what to do. During this time, the camera angle changes several times. During this change, the traffic behind them disappears, and reappears between shots. Most noticeable is a semi that vanishes and reappears.
Continuity mistake: During the scene where the whole family is seated around the dinner table (before the road trip), the popsicle box in front of Steve Carell keeps changing angles.
Continuity mistake: During the dinner scene at the beginning of the movie, there is a round polystyrene pot on the table that moves between shots. In the long or close up shots, it is right in front of the Popsicle box, whereas in the side shots, it is in the centre of table, quite a distance from the box.
Continuity mistake: When Olive tests Dwayne to see if he is colorblind, she is holding the pamphlet, showing him the letter in the circle. In the next shot, Dwayne is holding the pamphlet, and in the shot after Olive is holding the pamphlet again.
Continuity mistake: When Olive approaches her brother as he sits in the field, his legs are crossed but then uncrossed when the camera angle changes.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Olive is giving her brother the color blindness test, he writes something on his note pad and gives it to Olive. In the next shot, the brother has the notepad and then the following shot, Olive has the notepad.
Continuity mistake: When Dwayne stands up in the fields to walk back to the VW with Olive, there is dirt and grass on his rear end. As they reach the top of the hill, there is no dirt at all.
Continuity mistake: When Dwayne has his outburst after discovering that he is color-blind, observe the wheels of the VW stopped at the edge of the highway. In close shots the tires are next to a raised curb, while in distance shots the full tire is visible, right down to the point where they touch the pavement, indicating no raised curb.
Continuity mistake: When Dwayne finds out he is colorblind and cannot become a fighter pilot, the family is driving on a busy freeway surrounded by other cars. When Dwayne runs out of the van and has a meltdown after they pull over, they are on a quiet road with no other cars surrounded by an open field and a residential area.
Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the pageant, the emcee asks the audience to give a hand to the twelve lovely contestants. However, only six come out in swimsuits. Later, as the MC sings "America the Beautiful," there are twelve contestants on stage.
