Goofs for
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) More at IMDbPro »

• Factual errors: The Smithsonian Institution does maintain storage for items not on display in the museums but they are located throughout the Washington D.C. suburbs, not in sub basements under the museums.
  
  
• Errors in geography: The quick cuts between scenes in the Air and Space museum, the White House, and the Lincoln memorial imply that they adjacent. However the White House is 1 mile away and the Lincoln Memorial is over 1.6 miles away.
  
  
• Continuity: The light on top of the Capitol is first shown as on when Larry and Amelia race to the Air & Space Museum. In later shots it is off. The light is supposed to be lit only on the rare occasion when the House or Senate are in session at night.
  
  

• Factual errors: The Archives is not part of the Smithsonian Institution. It is also the U.S. Archives, not the "Federal Archives."
  
  
• Continuity: When Larry first arrives at the Air & Space Museum he sees the twin seat, twin canopy Air Force jet with both aircrew in the cockpits looking at him. Shortly after the aircraft is shown facing the other direction (no aircrew are in the jet) and one is walking on the ground below the aircraft. Not enough time passed for the aircrew to get out of the plane nor for Larry to change his visual perspective of the jet.
  
  
• Continuity: In the first scene that General Custer (Bill Hader) is announcing his attack plans and asks if there's any questions, he tries to pronounce Sacajawea's name the first time, he is clearly standing on a crate above everyone else. The second time he tries, he is at the same level of everyone else. On his final attempt to pronounce her name, he's back on top of the crate.
  
  
• Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Although George Armstrong Custer is typically portrayed with long hair and referred to as General, he had been reduced to his permanent rank of Captain after the Civil War. He was a Lieutenant Colonel at the time of his death at Little Big Horn - and had also cut his hair short to protect himself against being scalped. However, it's apparent that here he's portrayed in his Civil War "glory days" - he has a major general's shoulder boards and his double-breasted frock coat has the correct number of buttons. Additionally, he has his trademark red scarf and pin he wore on it at the time. Finally, he's portrayed as the 20-something he was 12 years before his death in Montana.
  
  
• Factual errors: During the chaotic scene in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum when aircraft are flying around and rockets are preparing to launch, a US Navy aircraft carrier flight deck crew is seen preparing to launch an F-104 Starfighter. The Starfighter was a US Air Force fighter from the 1950s and 1960s, and was incapable of operating from aircraft carriers.
  
  
• Factual errors: There is no lettering on the outside of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum indicating the name of the museum.
  
  
• Continuity: When the Wright Flyer is flying in the National Air and Space Museum, the timing chain is moving. While outside the chain has stopped moving, although the propellers are still turning. There is nothing in the plot to indicate that they ran out of gas.
  
  
• Factual errors: Two of the paintings on the wall in the art gallery - Grant Wood's "American Gothic" and Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks" - are not part of any collection in Washington DC, but are part of the collection and on display at the Art Institute of Chicago.
  
  
• Factual errors: Larry and Amelia Earhart take off in the original 1903 Wright Flyer. The Flyer in the Smithsonian was donated to the Smithsonian by the estate or Orville Wright. The Flyer is also only capable of carrying one person.
  
  
• Factual errors: The Einsteins explain that the answer to the riddle is "pi", "exactly 3.141592654". Pi is an irrational number and has no exact expansion in any number of digits - the combination would literally go on forever.
  
  
• Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Napoléon Bonaparte is heard to have a Gallic accent. It is known that he never had one to speak of, always speaking French (a second language of his) with a Corsican accent, which sounds closer to an Italian accent.
  
  
• Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Custer is portrayed with a southern (perhaps Virginian) accent, but was born in Ohio and raised in Michigan, and was an officer of the Union army.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: When the giant octopus jumps into the reflecting pond in front of the Lincoln Memorial, it shows him jumping into a pool deep enough that he has to float up a bit to have most of his body above the surface. In actuality, the pool is only 30 inches deep at the very center of the pool. Also, the octopus would not be able to live in fresh water since they live in the oceans.
  
  
• Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In a scene with the monkeys, Ben Stiller's character mentions that the Able and Dexter are proud Capuchins when in fact, Able is a Rhesus monkey. (However, Larry is not a monkey expert.)
  
  
• Continuity: Larry Daley passes General Custer as he's walking through the archives. When Larry comes upon the crate, the 'frozen' Egyptians are outside of the crate with their spears. Larry looks inside and the camera shows General Custer already in the crate. Once everybody comes to life General Custer comes out of nowhere to rescue Daley riding a motorcycle with a side car.
  
  
• Factual errors: Custer introduces himself as "General Custer of the 7th U.S. Cavalry." He was a brevet major general only during the Civil War and, at that time, was in command of the 3rd Cavalry Division. After the war, when he commanded the 7th U.S. Cavalry, he was a lieutenant colonel.
  
  
• Anachronisms: On the shoulder of the Tuskegee Airmen, their 'American Flag' patch is seen having 50 stars. At the time of WWII, the US flag only had 48, and 48 would have been the number they'd wear.
  
  
• Factual errors: One location in the movie is the National Gallery of Art. While it is located on the National Mall, it is not part of the Smithsonian.
  
  
• Factual errors: Larry tells his son that the Smithsonian is actually a collection of 19 museums (true). He also says that they are located on the National Mall. Some are actually located in New York City, Chantilly VA and other parts of Washington D.C. The National Zoo is also part of the Smithsonian group of museums.
  
  
• Factual errors: Amelia Earhart's red Lockheed Vega carries no more than two people and would not reach New York City in a half an hour. They had only one hour until sunrise. The train takes three hours and a jet aircraft would take almost an hour. (Also the Smithsonian only preserves their exhibits and does not maintain their aircraft in flight ready condition.)
  
  
• Incorrectly regarded as goofs: In the first Night at the Museum film, it was explained that at sunrise, anything that gets left outside the museum after being brought to life turns to dust. In the second film, the statue of Abraham Lincoln sits outside, so technically at sunrise after being brought to life, the statue should turn to dust. However, as the statue of Lincoln was inside its enclosure at dawn, the statue would not turn to dust, as it was technically "inside".
  
  
• Factual errors: Larry and Amelia Earhart both fly the Wright Flyer using a stick control. It was actually controlled using a mechanism attached to the pilot's hips whereby he could turn the aircraft by shifting his body from side to side.
  
  
• Continuity: When Jedediah (Owen Wilson) is in the hour glass, he is in the lower chamber, and the area between is too small for him to go through. When the minions are returning to the portal, in a close up he is obviously in the top chamber, only to return to the bottom when Octavius (Steve Coogan) breaks him free. (Some might say that the hourglass could have been turned, but that would obviously have caused him to suffocate.)
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: Auguste Rodin's sculpture "The Thinker" is shown to be part of the Smithsonian collection. Although the original is housed in Musée Rodin in Paris, France, the National Gallery of Art (upon which the movie's "Washington Art Museum" is based) does posses one of the many duplicates. However, while the "The Thinker" housed as the Smithsonian is a duplicate, it is only about 28 inches tall - not the full-size statue as shown in the movie.
  
  
• Continuity: When Sacajawea is placed in her casket during the opening credits, she is laying in curly straw, with no white styrofoam surrounding her. The lid is then put on the casket, however when she bursts out of the casket white styrofoam is seen exploding out as she lifts the lid.
  
  
• Factual errors: During the credits a kid named Joey Motorola is scene reverse engineering a cell phone from Larry's phone. Although one of the founding brothers of Motorola was named Joseph (Paul was the other) their last name was Galvin, Motorola was the product name. Also, the Galvins were from Chicago, not New York as the film implies.
  
  
• Plot holes: Why would McPhee allow Larry to stay in the museum after he closes it? As Larry is no longer a night guard, he shouldn't be left behind.
  
  
• Plot holes: Larry needs Brandon's security pass so he can move around the Smithsonian, and is shown using it on several occasions, yet Kahmunrah and his gang are able to roam about freely.
  
  
• Plot holes: The film establishes that Amelia has been put into storage as obsolete, just like the New York Museum group. Why would she need to return to Washington? She could have stayed in the New York Museum with Larry.
  
  
• Factual errors: The Egyptians did not have any concept of PI until over 800 years after the pyramids were built and when they did their calculation was (incorrectly) 3.16. The reason why PI seems to pop up in certain ratios of measurements of the pyramids is most likely because they could have used wheels as measuring devices.
  
  

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