Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them goofs

Upon arriving in New York, Scamander has his passport taken by an immigration officer who turns it on its side to inspect it. The old blue British passport did not have pages printed in landscape orientation.

The customs officer says that Newt had recently travelled to Equatorial Guinea. It was known as Spanish Guinea until it gained independence in 1968.

While Senator Shaw is speaking at the dinner party, the United States flag to his right displays staggered stars, similar to the modern 50-star design. In 1924, the flag consisted of 48 stars arranged in even rows.

The Statue of Liberty’s torch is depicted in its current form as gold-covered copper; this version was fitted in 1985. The original torch, now on display in the museum, consisted of a copper framework with glass and was lit from within — a design that dates from a major reworking in 1919.

A theatre marquee promotes a production called TRIBECA FOLLIES. The term "Tribeca" — an acronym for "Triangle Below Canal (Street)" — did not come into use until the 1970s.

When Newt first visits the sisters' flat, a record of Ruth Etting performing "You're the Cream in My Coffee" can be heard. However, that song was not published until 1928, and Etting's recording did not occur until 1929 — while the film is set in 1926.

The light emitted by street lamps and motor-car headlamps appears as a uniform, bright white similar to that from modern LED or halogen lamps. In 1926, however, such lighting would have relied on incandescent lamps that produced a somewhat yellowish colour and whose brightness would have varied from one fitting to another.

When Scamander is attempting to catch the invisible creature in the department store, he is hiding behind a red Santa Claus figure. A red-clad Santa was not common at that time. The film is set in 1926, and Coca-Cola didn't begin using a red Santa in advertising until 1931. Although more recent research has revealed depictions of Santa in red and white between 1863 and 1886, he was predominantly shown wearing tan and green. Therefore, a red Santa would not have appeared in that department store.

When Tina arrests Newt Scamander and takes him to MACUSA headquarters, President Picquery addresses Tina as "Ms Goldstein" (according to the subtitles). Although the form "Ms" appeared in English as early as the 17th century, its use to denote an unmarried woman was virtually nonexistent until the latter half of the 20th century. It would therefore have been much more likely for President Picquery to use "Miss", although there could be linguistic or dialectal differences within the wizarding community.

The first time we see inside Newt's case, he shifts from wearing his jacket, waistcoat and tie, to just his waistcoat with a loosened tie, to only his shirt and loosened tie, and then back to his waistcoat and tie again within just a few shots.

Having ushered Jacob into his suitcase, Newt opens the shed door and beckons him to follow. In the next shot, Jacob opens the door again, even though it had not been heard closing.

When Graves reassures Credence, he places his hand on the back of Credence's head, then shifts it to the front. In the subsequent shot, the hand is once again on the back of his head.

When Jacob is showing the bank manager his suitcase of cakes, the cakes are at first a bit tumbled about, unsurprising given the case's rather rough handling up to that point, and are largely stacked on the viewer's right-hand side of the case. After a cut, the cakes' arrangement within the case changes — there are no more piles.

Newt ascends the gangplank to board the vessel, pauses at the "s" of "STAR" in "ROYAL STAR" and, in the following shot, is positioned over the "Y" of "ROYAL".

Manhattan didn't permit overhead wiring, so trams drew power from a conduit (an electrified third rail set in a slot between the tracks). Although the trams are accurately shown without trolley poles, the conduit is absent.

City Hall underground station sits on a turning loop and contains only a single track, not the two depicted.

Newt possesses a suitcase that contains various creatures, notably Dougal, who is constantly attempting to break free. The case has a concealed switch which, when activated, reveals clothing and other personal effects — a switch Newt never uses to stop Dougal escaping, save for an instance when he was passing through customs at the port.

When Newt pursues one of his creatures across Central Park, the grounds are blanketed in snow and people are skating on a frozen pond. At every other moment immediately before or after that sequence, and for the remainder of the film, there is no snow anywhere and people are dressed for mild weather.

Nearly every man in the film wears a hat when outside (the customary attire for 1926), with the sole exceptions of the three principal male characters — Newt Scamander, Jacob Kowalski and Percival Graves — who never do. Newt and Graves are wizards and so may follow different sartorial customs to Muggles; Jacob has no such excuse, though he is noticeably socially awkward.

When the Immigration Officer in New York demands to see the contents of Newt's case, Newt activates a "Muggle Worthy" mechanism that conceals the case's magical contents. When the officer opens the case, everything appears neatly arranged as if Newt had only just packed it—despite the fact that Newt had kept the case upright until he placed it on the inspection table. An Immigration Officer would be used to seeing loose items in a case that had been kept upright drop to the bottom (now the back) of the case—especially heavier objects such as a watch or a magnifying glass.

This is likely why the officer still seems rather puzzled by the contents of the case.

In the scene in which Tina interrupts Seraphina Picquery and the Aurors, a map is visible showing time zones and state borders; Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee are placed in the wrong time zone.

By the time the obliviating rain begins to fall, several newspapers are already in evidence describing the destruction Credence caused, even though the entire incident occurred only moments before. Newspapers are not printed and circulated that quickly.

According to the rules governing wand ownership that J.K. Rowling outlined in the original Harry Potter series, a wand may transfer its allegiance to a new owner if the previous owner has been disarmed. In the 1920's, Grindelwald was the Master of the Elder Wand. When Newt succeeded in capturing and securing "Graves", Tina disarmed him, which should have established her as the Master of the Elder Wand thereafter.

After the fight in the Underground, as US President Madame Picquery walks off with the Aurors, she looks back and asks, "Is that No-Maj still here?" in Carmen Ejogo's distinctive British accent.

In the MACUSA Assembly Hall there is an obvious CGI composite when Newt emerges from the case. Even in the following shot he is still shown coming out, despite the case not being visible, which suggests the shot was originally longer and its start was removed in editing — otherwise they would have filmed him on location.