Continuity mistake: 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. (00:52:10)
Continuity mistake: 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. (00:46:30)
Continuity mistake: 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. (00:31:15)
Continuity mistake: 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. (00:50:50)
Continuity mistake: 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.
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. (00:23:50 - 00:32:35)
Continuity mistake: 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. (00:51:25)
Continuity mistake: 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. (00:21:55)
Continuity mistake: 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. (01:03:20)
Continuity mistake: 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. (00:10:00 - 00:18:20)
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. (00:03:05)
Continuity mistake: 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. (00:14:10)
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.
Continuity mistake: 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. (00:09:35)
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. (00:11:45)
Answer: He knew that if he impressed Ian, he and the Chipmunks would become rich and famous. When they froze, he looked like a lunatic who thought animals could talk, making him appear foolish in front of a man who already had little respect for him.
Brian Katcher