Disney is known for being a magical company that showcases a lot of fairy tales in its work. From romance and true love to acts of heroism, Disney knows how to cater to its audience. But unfortunately, like everything in this world, the movies Disney produces aren’t exactly perfect. After all, nothing in this world is perfect, right?
There’s plenty of flaws in a lot of Disney’s classic films, particularly those from the 2000s. I really can’t speak much on making films perfect, especially since I have no experience in animation whatsoever. But some of the mistakes I’m about to discuss are ones that are very noticeable. Some are minor mishaps, while others are mistakes that should have stayed consistent throughout an entire scene.
Now, let me be clear. Everyone makes mistakes, even big movie-making companies that scream magic and happiness at any bloke walking down the street. That being said, I don’t want this story to be taken as me strongly critiquing Disney or even discouraging people to stop watching their films. After all, I am an avid Disney fan myself, and I adore all things Disney. But this is just one of the many difficulties of being a writer. You have to be fair and just in your opinion, yet also realize that everything, even films you adore, can be critiqued.
So with that in mind, let’s focus in on ridiculous errors in 2000s Disney films, as well as what effect, if any, that said mistakes may have on the movie in general.
25 Travel Around The World With Monsters, Inc.
Monsters, Inc. is an adorable film about two monster buddies and a human child who end up revolutionizing the worlds they live in through their friendship. But there is one huge hiccup with this film. While Randall is pursuing Sulley and company, the chase goes through different doors in the main door room. However, the time of day is inconsistent in the different parts of the world. Because apparently, according to the world of monsters, it can somehow be daytime in both Paris and Tokyo.
24 Lilo And Stitch: More Than Aliens
There are more weird occurrences besides the appearance of aliens disturbing Hawaii in Lilo and Stitch. Lilo and Stitch first meet at an animal shelter. While in the process of adopting him, there is a landline phone that is visibly seen on the wall. However, in one frame, it’s missing completely. Who stole the phone? How is the animal shelter worker going to take in weird aliens now? Heck, how is the animal shelter lady going to report odd alien sightings? This was a time before cell phones and she’s been deprived of any immediate communication.
23 Jewelry Theft With Tiana
The Princess and the Frog is an adorable film that absolutely deserves more recognition and appreciation. But unfortunately, there’s a couple mistakes that any eagle-eyed viewers could immediately latch upon in the movie. During a scene at Lottie’s party, the beautiful Tiana is wearing a pair of golden earrings. However, in one shot, the earrings have disappeared. Who would dare steal earrings from the lovely Tiana? And besides that, how does one forget such large earrings in an animation shot?
22 The Incredibles’ Time Setting
This is a question that many Disney and Pixar fans will find themselves scratching their heads over time and time again. Some say that The Incredibles takes place in the 1960s.
This information is based on how the cars, outfits, and overall designs of the environment look.
But going off of that, when exactly does The Incredibles 2 take place? Because there’s a lot of new technology that should’ve taken years to develop, yet it almost seems like the film takes place immediately after its predecessor.
21 Baggies In Finding Nemo
Toward the end of Finding Nemo, the tank gang is seen floating along in baggies in the ocean after escaping from the dentist’s office. The main issue the fish end up struggling with is how they will escape from their prison. However, what I find myself struggling with is how the baggies the fish are in stay afloat as well as they do. Due to the density of some of the bags, particularly those with Gil and Bloat in them, the bags should sink. But hey, do you want floating bags? Here are floating bags.
20 Wall-E: Trash Compactor?
In Wall-E, the cute film with a very impactful message, Wall-E is the last robot on what’s left of the trashed and ruined planet Earth. He works as a trash compactor, collecting trash in his body and compacting it into cubes. However, what good does simply compacting the trash actually do? It’s not being disposed of; rather, it’s just being compacted while still remaining on the Earth’s surface. The entire atmosphere for the planet would be awful, to the point where humans wouldn’t have the ability to re-colonize it.
19 Boo’s Laughs
You know you’ve messed up the plot to a film when you immediately address the issue and say that you messed up. In Monsters, Inc., Boo is an adorable child who frequently giggles. It’s shown that her severe bouts of high-pitched laughter can affect the electricity; however, shouldn’t the smallest giggle also have the same effect? The film’s creators have even said that that should be the case. But this aspect isn’t even demonstrated in the movie when it very well should be.
18 Anton Ego And Chef Boyardee
Ratatouille is one of my all-time favorite Disney films because of its overall message and plot. Toward the beginning of the film, the audience learns that food critic Anton Ego destroyed Chef Gusteau’s career by comparing him to Chef Boyardee. In the film, this is a very demeaning comment; however, shouldn’t you view a worldwide-known name as an excellent compliment?
To me, it says a lot when you’re compared to someone that popular.
Or is it meant to be a snide comment about Boyardee’s never-ending ravioli and pasta?
17 Finding Nemo And An Anchor
Toward the beginning of Finding Nemo, Nemo approaches a human’s boat, only to be captured for the sake of a dentist’s aquarium. The boat then immediately takes off, even though its anchor is still deployed. The film never actually shows the audience the anchor being pulled up; so, how could the boat Nemo is on even take off? This is a minute mistake, but it’s still a mistake worth mentioning. That, and I still think Nemo’s capture wouldn’t have happened. Fish are very skittish and wary creatures.
16 No Band-Aids? Band-Aids!
Monsters, Inc. is a cute film about friendship and love. Toward the end of the film, Sulley says good-bye to Boo, a young child who accidentally ends up in Monstropolis. Mike ends up reconstructing Boo’s closet door piece by piece so that Sulley can end up seeing Boo again. In one scene, the audience can clearly see Mike’s hands, which are not covered in bandages. Then, suddenly, they are. We didn’t see you putting those bandages on, Mike! How is this possible?
15 Instrumental Mix-Up
At the beginning of Lilo and Stitch, two men at a hula lesson are in a corner tapping on ipus, which are gourds that are hollowed out. However, after Lilo tells her hula instructor about Pudge the fish, the film briefly cuts to the musicians. Suddenly, one of the men seems to be holding a normally shaped, red ipu. Either this guy decided to switch weapons very quickly, or there’s a continuity mistake here. And that’s a pretty big mistake to make.
14 Magical Television
There’s one scene of Ratatouille where the rats’ reflection isn’t properly shown on a television. This is toward the beginning of the film when Remy and his family’s home is accidentally stumbled upon by an old woman.
While doing my research for this story, I realized just how many continuity errors there are involving shadows and reflections.
I guess it’s kind of a hard aspect to remember to animate, but Disney forgets to do this rather frequently. At least, it seems to be very frequent.
13 Atlantis Map Scene
At the beginning of Atlantis: The Lost Empire, protagonist Milo Thatch practices a proposal next to a chalk drawing of a map. However, he accidentally rubs off part of it with his shirt, then proceeds to fill the space in by standing in the now empty part. But that image should have been rubbed off backward since Milo was facing the board when the transfer occurred. It’s a small mistake, but it’s definitely noticeable to anyone out there looking for continuity errors.
12 Epic Cakes Vanishing
In Lilo and Stitch, there’s a scene where Lilo and Stitch have pieces of cake. However, Stitch, being the glutton that he is, eats both slices provided. Lilo is angered by this, causing Stitch to regurgitate the second slice. There’s a continuity issue here as well. When Stitch leaves the table, the plate with the slice of regurgitated cake has mysteriously vanished. Please don’t tell me that Lilo ended up eating that cake. I think I’m going to be sick.
11 Where Did They Go?
The Emperor’s New Groove is known for its witty humor and clever twist on a film about two best friends. And I’m sure every Disney fan is familiar with the scene where Kronk is singing his own theme song while stealing Kuzco. However, two peasants walk by while all of this is occurring, but then they just immediately disappear due to a continuity error in animation. Did the two peasants just jump off a cliff? There is no way they could’ve ascended that flight of stairs so quickly.
10 Boom Mics And Bolt
In the film named after its titular character, Bolt is a dog who really believes that he has superpowers. The filmmakers set their studio up in a way to make Bolt think that he has a supersonic bark, among other abilities.
However, at the beginning of the film, there’s a boom mic that’s very present.
Wouldn’t Bolt see an object like this and immediately think it was a predator? Or wouldn’t that take him out of the illusion that he’s living?
9 Disappearing Hanky
Chicken Little was one of Disney’s weirdest experiments ever. It had romance, drama, and science fiction all meshed into one movie. What’s not to love when it’s a film that has something for everyone? Protagonist Chicken Little meets abandoned alien Kirby, providing the lifeform with a handkerchief. However, after the hanky is wiped off of Chicken Little’s hand into the grass, it mysteriously disappears in the next shot. Okay, so the aliens abducted the hanky but didn’t reclaim their child?
8 The Distance Between Us
Out of all the films in the Disney vault, I’d have to say Treasure Planet is the most under-appreciated film. It’s breathtakingly gorgeous and it has an action-packed, dramatic plot to boot. But it’s on the list for a reason. In one scene, when Dr. Doppler and Jim Hawkins first see their ship, Dr. Doppler is right next to Jim. But when the shot changes to a long shot, Doppler and Hawkins are no longer sitting next to one another.
7 Who’s Really The Narrator?
Brother Bear is a heartwarming film about brotherhood, friendship, and most importantly, love. Kenai, the main character, is taught important lessons while embarking on a trip to a salmon run with bear cub Koda. Sometimes, filmmakers don’t realize the importance of subtitles. The narrator throughout the entire film is Kenai’s brother, Denahi. However, the subtitles accidentally mistake the narrator as Sitka, Kenai’s eldest brother. Spoiler alert, but guess what? Sitka is gone. He can’t be the narrator of the story.
6 The Shadow Man?
Dr. Facilier is one of the coolest villains in the entire world of Disney. His sinister intentions aren’t fully explained, but hey, it’s okay to be a wild card. Toward the end of the film, Dr. Facilier has Tiana, in her frog form, pinned down with his staff. When Tiana uses her frog tongue to grab the talisman from Faciler and destroy it, the staff is suddenly nowhere to be seen. Did Dr. Facilier just decide to make his staff disappear with magic? Or is this yet again another continuity error on Disney’s part?
