Continuity mistake: When Carlotta brings the plates for the meal they all have a dome cover with a top handle, but when Sebastian runs across the table those handles have changed. (00:54:50)
Continuity mistake: At the start, when King Triton makes his appearance he's holding dolphin reins, and at first it's shown as two separate straps in Triton's hand as he tells Sebastian he's looking forward to the performance, but when Sebastian replies that it will be the finest concert he's ever conducted, Triton lets go of the rein and it's a single continuous strap. (00:04:15)
Continuity mistake: In the beginning when Ariel is watching the sailors dance on the ship the dog comes over and licks her face, but she wipes off the wrong cheek. (00:19:00)
Continuity mistake: When King Triton destroys the stone statue of Prince Eric, you can see that the statue's face explodes and breaks into pieces as well as the rest of the body. However, at the point a few minutes later when Ariel decides to meet the sea witch Ursula, she caresses the statue's face as a whole again. (00:35:30 - 00:37:55)
Continuity mistake: While Louis is preparing the stuffed crab and then while he tries to kill Sebastian, the gold buckles on the chef's shoes appear, disappear, and reappear randomly. It happens again at the end, when Louis goes after Sebastian on the ship the gold buckles suddenly appear on the chef's shoes after his teeth are knocked out. (00:52:15)
Continuity mistake: After Sebastian's "single most humiliating day" of his life, Ariel uses a dinglehopper with three prongs to comb her hair, but the fork has four prongs when she puts it down on the table, just before climbing into a bed for the first time. (00:55:45)
Continuity mistake: When Carlotta goes to check on Louis she shouts his name, and in the first shot of Louis note the buttons on his shirt are on the proper side, but in the chef's closeup as he apologizes to Carlotta, his buttons are now on the opposite side. (00:54:35)
Continuity mistake: The first time Ariel sees a fork it has 4 prongs. When she grabs it it has 3. (00:07:25)
Continuity mistake: After Eric's wedding, Ariel arrives at the ship without shoes, then she receives her voice back and just before they try to kiss, she's wearing shoes. (01:09:35)
Continuity mistake: When Grimsby is presenting the statue of Eric to the prince, one of the crew's shirts changes colour from white/dark blue stripes to light blue/dark blue stripes, within the same shot. (This can be seen in the "Limited Issue" DVD, but was corrected in the DVDs issued in 2006). (00:20:00)
Continuity mistake: At the table with Ariel and Eric, the stuff on Grimsby's dish changes positions in every single angle, and even disappears in the final angle.
Continuity mistake: When Ariel is in the Prince's guest bedroom, the covers suddenly appear over her. (00:56:00)
Continuity mistake: After Sebastian knocks over the bowl onto the chef's head, when Louis goes after Sebastian with the cleaver the style of the handle and the blade changes when Louis lifts the cleaver over his head and then chops the table. It happens again when the cleaver blade is rammed into the floor in front Sebastian, and in the next shot as Sebastian turns around the cleaver style has changed again. (00:54:10)
Audio problem: When Ariel's sisters are singing in the beginning of the movie the yellowish sister's mouth doesn't move when she says her name.
Continuity mistake: Ursula's lipstick disappears from her lips right before she applies it.
Continuity mistake: When Sebastian is in Ariel's cavern with all her treasures, he accidentally gets his legs caught in a thimble. You can see it from the front, but when they show a shot from the back, it is gone. In the following shot from the front, it is back on again. (00:17:30)
Continuity mistake: During the "Kiss the Girl" song a bunch of fish swim up underneath the boat, and the water is seen to be very deep. After the boat is knocked over however, Ariel and Eric are standing in the water which now appears to be only a few feet deep.
Continuity mistake: After Carlotta walks out of the kitchen with the dome covered dinner plates, when it cuts to the others in the dining room Grimsby has a plate in front of him, but in the next shot that plate has vanished just as Carlotta is about to place the dome covered plate in front of him. (00:54:45)
Continuity mistake: When Eric first washes up on the beach and Ariel is singing to him/stroking his face, she has no fingernails. In the next scene she does.
Continuity mistake: When Ariel and Eric are in the boat together before their attempt to kiss, Ariel's hair is down. But in their shadows on the water, her hair is in a ponytail.
Answer: Yet another Disney urban legend.
Jazetopher