Goofs

The ropes held by the hand-maidens swinging the Princess back and forth in the swing have too much slack in them to really accomplish the task.

When Abu frees the genie from the bottle, he gets startled and falls on his back. But as the cuts go back and forth between long shots and close-ups, his position constantly changes with each successive shot, from being on his back to standing up to being on his stomach.

When the third wish is made and Ahmad disappears, the All-Seeing Eye which was in Abu's hands, disappears as he searches for Ahmad.

At the end, when Ahmad is fighting the palace guards, one of his sword blades is snapped off at the handle, and he stands there without a weapon. After a brief cut, he is running on upward toward the princess and has a good sword in hand again, even though he has neither picked one up off the ground or wrested one from another guard.

When the six-arm Silver Maid is doing her arm dance; the rear four arms are in front of the chair she is sitting on. But on the following cut when the Sultan of Basra goes into hug her; the four rear arms are now positioned behind the chair. In the next shot after she kills the Sultan; the rear arms changed position again and are back in front of the chair.

The chessboard incorrectly has dark squares at the bottom right of each player. These squares should be white.

Abu, who is a Muslim, is shown requesting and eating sausages, even though the consumption of pork is strictly forbidden in Islam. However, the sausage may not be made from pork.

The film does not explain why on the ship at the beginning, some faces of the Black servants are covered and some others are not.

However, it is not a "requirement" that filmmakers explain every detail of a movie. Some things may be left to the viewer's interpretation, especially in a fantasy.

In the Land of Legend, the Old King says that he will give two signs of kingship to Abu the thief. Abu is then given three items: a magic crossbow, a quiver, and a small, ornate box, like a jewelry box. No mention is made in the dialogue of this box, but it can be seen in Abu's right hand as he talks to the Old King and also on the flying carpet as Abu flies away to rescue his friends. Apparently the crossbow and quiver were only one, not two, of the Old King's signs of kingship, and the other sign was the mysterious box, whose magical powers and purpose were lost on the cutting room floor.

The wires used to suspend the flying carpet are visible in the last scene of Abu on the carpet. The film was originally shot in three strip Technicolor, with prints made using a dye transfer process that resulted in a slight reduction in overall resolution. This reduction in resolution hid the wires in original prints, making them invisible. Modern prints, especially on Hi-Def DVDs, have restored the resolution making the support wires plainly visible.

(at around 39 mins) When the Sultan is mounting the flying horse, its right rear hoof separates and crumbles, revealing an internal wooden strut.

When the giant Genie is talking directly to Abu, a couple of times he is looking away from Abu and at an empty spot.

Several close-ups of the Djinn clearly show Rex Ingram's bald cap.

At the beginning of the movie, when the ships are being loaded, you see the painted eyes on the side of the ship. The eyes' irises are blue. That would be expected if the ships were Viking or German, but Middle Eastern? Middle Eastern eyes are predominately hazel or amber.

As the Sultan of Basra flies over the city on his mechanical horse, power or telegraph lines are visible in the background.

Abu throws tomatoes at his pursuers as he flees though Baghdad. These would have been unknown in Arabia at this time as they originated in the Americas.

As Abu flies high in the sky on the Magic Flying Carpet, modern sailboats can be seen when he passes over the ocean.

Despite taking place in the ancient Middle East, several scenes show local people speaking in Hindi, which is spoken in India. (It was "Oriental" enough for a 1940s audience not to notice.)

The Sultan of Basra's palace has many decorations in the form of Hindu iconography, which would be found in India, but not in the ancient Middle East. (It was considered "Oriental" enough to pass by a 1940s audience but stands out to a modern audience.)

In Basra no one is allowed to see the face of the Princess, therefore, the villagers are forcefully evacuated from the market town by the soldiers when the Princess arrives. However, the Princess' face is uncovered as she passes by which makes no sense. If they don't want her face to be seen then they would have her wear a traditional veil in the same manner as Halima and other women in the earlier scene.

Almost all of the characters mispronounce "Allah". The first syllable rhymes with "dull" or "null", but in the film, most pronounce it as rhyming with "pal" or "gal".