History InformedSpecies / Film

** Poor Ducky. Sources can't decide if she's a ''Parasaurolophus'', an ''Edmontosaurus'', or a ''Saurolophus'' since she doesn't really look completely like one or the other.

** Despite being claimed by the creators to be a ''Baryonyx'', [[SuperPersistentPredator Rudy]], the {{Big Bad}} of the third film, doesn't look all that much like this genus. He exceeds ''Spinosaurus'' in size (in RealLife ''Baryonyx'' was only about 7 or 8 meters long, although Rudy may just be overgrown), and has several exaggeratedly crocodilian features such as bony scutes down his back and nostrils at the end of his snout.

** [[SeaMonster Cretaceous and Maelstrom]], the main villains of ''Ice Age 2: The Meltdown'' are apparently a ''Metriorhynchus'' and a mosasaur respectively, but neither look like the real animals. It gets even more confusing in that some sources refer to them as an ichthyosaur and a pliosaur respectively.

* ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020'': Sonic has never really resembled a hedgehog, but his film redesign looks even less-so like one than the games. He has realistic fur texture that doesn't resemble hedgehog fur. Hedgehogs also have minimal fur on their undersides, however Sonic is given blue-furred arms and a peach-furred muzzle and stomach. He more resembles a dog, cat or weasel than a hedgehog. Fortunately, his redesign resembles his Video Game counterpart much more closely.

* The art-style of ''Disney/TheAristocats'' makes it impossible to distinguish what breed Duchess and her kittens are. They're supposed to be Turkish Angoras.

* The title character of ''Disney/{{Bolt}}'' is supposed to be a white German Shepherd (also known as a "White Shepherd") and, from the looks of it, an adult as well. One of the most noticeable errors is he's way too small. He's barely larger than a cat. In fact, Bolt looks more a Hinks Bull Terrier and there is even some concept art of him with a slightly curved head. There's [[http://images.wikia.com/disney/images/a/a0/BoltMittensPF.jpg concept art]] of him looking much more accurate than in the final product, but the final film opted for an unusually small White Shepherd instead.

* ''Disney/{{Dinosaur}}'':

* The large theropod featured in the "Rite of Spring" segment of ''Disney/{{Fantasia}}'' is supposed to be a ''TyrannosaurusRex'', but it looks more like an ''Allosaurus'' instead, with a blocky head and three claws on each hand.[[labelnote:Note]]amusingly, it's shown fighting a ''Stegosaurus'', which lived millions of years before the ''T. rex'' but indeed coexisted with the ''Allosaurus'', so having simply made it an ''Allosaurus'' to begin with would have been more accurate.[[/labelnote]]

* Remember the fact that Ratigan from ''Disney/TheGreatMouseDetective'' actually hates being called a rat? WordOfGod confirms that he is indeed a mouse, but for some reason he looks like a rat.

* Baloo from ''Disney/TheJungleBook'' is supposed to be a sloth bear, but he doesn't even look like one at all! The only indication that he's a sloth bear are of course, the long, sharp claws unique to that animal.

* ''Disney/TheLionKing''

* Flounder in ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'' is portrayed as a large yellow fish with blue fins and stripes and nothing like actual flounders (which are large, flat brown fish whose eyes are both on one side of its face) at all. However, that could just be his name, not his species. A possible identity for him may be the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acanthurus_triostegus Manini]], a tropical fish also known as Convict Tang, but even then the ressemblance is vague at best. Also, many of the species described in the song "Under the Sea" look ''nothing'' like their real-life counterparts.

* ''Disney/{{Pinocchio}}'':

* Brutus and Nero from ''Disney/TheRescuers'' suffer from confusion over whether they're meant to be alligators or crocodiles. They're called alligators in the concept art and the movie's North American setting would seem to support this, but they look more like crocodiles and are referred to as such in the movie.

* The Aracuan Bird from ''Disney/TheThreeCaballeros'' is pink, unlike its real world counterpart the Plain Chachalaca, which is more of a dull brown. Even more so, plain chachalacas don't have red crests.
* ''Disney/{{Tarzan}}'':

* In a similar case to ''Disney/{{Fantasia}}'', the epononymous ''Allosaurus'' from ''Film/TheValleyOfGwangi'' looks more like a ''T. rex'' with three fingers.

** Rafiki is stated to be a mandrill, but he looks slimmer and more bluish gray than a real mandrill and has the tail of a baboon in an odd inversion of InexplicablyTailess. Gets odd when ''WesternAnimation/TheLionGuard'' introduces his apprentice Makini, who actually looks like a real mandrill.

** ''The Secret of Saurus Rock'' had an ''Allosaurus'' which looked more like a ''T. rex'', to the point of having two fingers instead of three (though it's sometimes shown with three fingers).

** Rafiki is stated to be a mandrill, but he looks slimmer and more bluish gray than a real mandrill and has the tail of a baboon. Gets odd when ''WesternAnimation/TheLionGuard'' introduces his apprentice Makini, who actually looks like a real mandrill.

* The Aracuan Bird from ''Disney/TheThreeCaballeros'' is pink, unlike its real world counterpart the Plain Chacalaca, which is more of a dull brown.

* Maurice from ''{{WesternAnimation/Madagascar}}'' is supposed to be an Aye-Aye, but he lacks the real animal's iconic long fingers, instead having generic primate hands.

* ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020'': Sonic has never really resembled a hedgehog, but his film redesign looks even less-so like one than the games. He has realistic fur texture that doesn't resemble hedgehog fur. Hedgehogs also have minimal fur on their undersides, however Sonic is given blue-furred arms and a peach-furred muzzle and stomach. He more resembles a dog or weasel than a hedgehog. Fortunately, his redesign resembles his Video Game counterpart much more closely.

** Mild Example: Pumbaa is supposed to be a warthog, but he looks a little more like a tanned domesticated pig with a mane and tusks than an actual warthog. Though he looked more like a warthog in early artwork.

** In ''WesternAnimation/BaltoIIWolfQuest'', it's repeatedly mentioned that Aleu looks and acts more like a wolf than her wolf-dog father, to the point where no one wants to adopt her. She has IcyBlueEyes and a brownish pelt. Neither of these attributes are associated with grey wolves.

** Sid the Sloth is supposedly a ground sloth of some kind. While identifiable as some form of sloth, Sid looks fairly different from any known species. He ''does'' look like a modern sloth, though, and WordOfGod says that he was based on one. Although his nose looks more like a dog's, and his head is bizarrely shaped like a hammerhead shark's.

** Jiminy Cricket is so heavily anthropomorphized that he looks more like a little green man with a rabbit nose and no ears. In fact, he seems to resemble Lowly Worm from the World of Richard Scarry. Animator Creator/WardKimball, who designed him, admitted that "he's a cricket because we ''say'' he's a cricket." And then the live-action adaptation actually had him as a tiny human.

** Steelee is a malamute with IcyBlueEyes. Malamutes can only have brown eyes, As a result, Steele looks more like a husky than a malamute.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BaltoIIWolfQuest'', it's repeatedly mentioned that Aleu looks and acts more like a wolf than her wolf-dog father, to the point where no one wants to adopt her. She has IcyBlueEyes and a brownish pelt. Neither of these attributes are associated with grey wolves.
* The title character of ''Disney/{{Bolt}}'' is supposed to be a white German Shepherd (also known as a "White Shepherd") and from the looks of it an adult. One of the most noticeable errors is he's way too small. He's barely larger than a cat. In fact, Bolt looks more a Hinks Bull Terrier and there is even some concept art of him with a slightly curved head. There's [[http://images.wikia.com/disney/images/a/a0/BoltMittensPF.jpg concept art]] of him looking much more accurate than in the final product, but the final film opted for an unusually small White Shepherd instead.

* ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020'': Sonic has never really resembled a hedgehog, but his film redesign looks even less-so like one than the games. He has realistic fur texture that doesn't resemble hedgehog fur. Hedgehogs also have minimal fur on their undersides, however Sonic is given blue-furred arms and a peach-furred muzzle and stomach. He more resembles a dog or weasel than a hedgehog.

** The ''Triceratops'' from the third film look more like ''Chasmosaurus'' or ''Torosaurus'' due to their large frills. Also, the ''Kentrosaurus'' look more like ''Miragaia'' and the ''Troodon'' look more like ''Compsognathus''.

** Sabor the leopard has larger, scarcer spots that make it look more like a jaguar instead, though[[AmbiguousGender it]] at least lacks the spots in its rosettes. It also has very massive canines similar to the clouded leopard, as well as slitted pupils (which are a trait of the small cats).

* ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog2019'': Sonic has never resembled a hedgehog but his film redesign looks even less-so like one than the games. He has realistic fur texture that doesn't resemble hedgehog fur. Hedgehogs also have minimal fur on their undersides, however Sonic is given blue-furred arms and a peach-furred muzzle and stomach. He more resembles a dog or weasel than a hedgehog.

*** And the worse part is, it seems that only Timon's colony looks like him. Other meerkats shown during the Circle of Life sequence look like actual meerkats.

** Jiminy Cricket is so heavily anthropomorphized that he looks more like a little green man with a rabbit nose and no ears. Animator Creator/WardKimball, who designed him, admitted that "he's a cricket because we ''say'' he's a cricket." And then the live-action adaptation actually had him as a tiny human.

** The ''Brachiosaurus'' more closely resemble ''Giraffatitan'' in that they have shorter tails and a high-crested skull. This is because ''Giraffatitan'' was initially believed to have been an African species of ''Brachiosaurus'', ''B. brancai''.

* ''Film/JurassicPark'':
** The ''Velociraptor'' are an infamous case of this, resembling the larger ''Deinonychus''. This is because the [[Literature/JurassicPark novel the film was based on]] described ''Deinonychus'' as being synonymous with ''Velociraptor'', a now-discredited hypothesis proposed by Gregory S. Paul, and also because Creator/MichaelCrichton though ''Velociraptor'' sounded [[RuleOfCool much cooler]] than ''Deinonychus''. And let's not get to the fact raptors should have feathers.
** The ''Dilophosaurus'' not only possess non-existent neck-frills (which wasn't even present in the novel) and venomous spit but also a skull shaped more like a carnosaur lacking the spinosaur-like notch in the toothrow.

** Even the ''TyrannosaurusRex'' isn't completely immune to this, having a skull too short and box-shaped.
* ''Film/TheLostWorldJurassicPark'':
** The ''Stegosaurus'' have become a mild case of this as of late. It is now known the real animal had a longer neck with throat armor, and the tip of the tail should be curving downwards.
** The ''Mamenchisaurus'' look more like ''Diplodocus'' or ''Barosaurus'' in that they don't have a hump or a tail club.
* ''Film/JurassicParkIII'':
** The ''Spinosaurus''. It's got a skull and teeth more similar to ''Suchomimus'' as well as two crests instead of one. And now discoveries in 2014 have made the film's depiction look ''even much less'' than its real-life counterpart.
** The ''Ceratosaurus'' looks more like a downsized ''T. rex'' with a nose-horn, scutes, and four-fingered hands.
** The ''Ankylosaurus'' has osteoderms much too spiky with non-existent long spines along its sides like a nodosaur, its armor is also depicted resembling a turtle-like carapace rather than being fused to the body (''Ankylosaurus'' means "''Fused'' Reptile"), and both its horns and tail club are wrongly shaped.
** The ''Pteranodon'' have hooked bills full of sharp teeth, in spite of the animal meaning "Wing ''Without Teeth''". And especially egregious in that the ''Pteranodon'' from the previous film had the proper toothless bill albeit also hooked, though ''Film/JurassicWorld'' would bring back the toothless bills which are this time correctly pointed. All versions possess grasping feet and leathery wings however. Both the ''JPIII'' and ''JW'' versions lack pycnofibres, while it's ambiguous whether the ''TLW'' version has them or not (the concept art and macquettes portrays it with such).
* ''Film/JurassicWorld'':
** The ''Apatosaurus'' have necks too thin (apatosaurines are known for their muscular necks), making them resemble ''Diplodocus'' more.
** The ''Gallimimus'' have broader skulls and beaks full of small teeth, which is jarring since the ones that appeared prior looked somewhat more like real ''Gallimimus''. They also should have feathers.
** The ''Dimorphodon'' have heads shaped more like a typical carnivorous theropod than the real animal. Perhaps this could be the reason why they are ferocious carnivores rather than inoffensive insectivores. They do have pycnofibres unlike the ''Pteranodon''; the problem is that they don't have ''enough''.
** There's a HandWave by Dr. Wu that all the dinosaurs were purposely modified to look "cooler" rather than historically accurate, as their purpose was to serve as theme park entertainment. This is true even in the books; it is explicitly explained that none of them are perfect replicas because of all the modifications and substitutions that had to be made.
* ''Film/JurassicWorldFallenKingdom'':
** The ''Baryonyx'' is a major offender. It has a considerably shorter and smaller skull than the real animal as well as atrophied forelimbs, both of which make it look more like a generic theropod than a spinosaurid. Especially jarring seeing as concept art for the [[Film/JurassicWorld previous film]] featured a ''Baryonyx'' design much closer to its RealLife counterpart.
** According to the script, the ceratopsian skull that the Indoraptor is impaled on is that of an ''Agujaceratops'', not a ''Triceratops'', as viewers commonly assume. The thing is, the skull's frill is clearly solid, a feature only ''Triceratops'' had. Interestingly, the junior novelization identifies it as a ''Triceratops horridus''.
** Likewise, the movie's ''Sinoceratops'' have holes in their frills. While real ''Sinoceratops''--and most other ceratopsians--did have these holes, in life they would have been covered by skin, not exposed like they are in the movie. The ''Sinoceratops'' also have a horn that is also much broader than the real animal's, and they also have small spikes on the center of the frill like a ''Pachyrhinosaurus''. Though the latter may be because they were originally going to be ''Pachyrhinosaurus'', which would have played this trope even straighter since ''Pachyrhinosaurus'' is famous for not having horns.
** The ''Stegosaurus'' now seem to be lacking a beak (unless if it's just blended into the skin), after the previous films ''got this right''.

** The ''Beipiaosaurus'' (Yellow Bellies) from ''The Wisdom Of Friends'' hardly look like the dinosaurs they're supposed to be either. And the ''Baryonyx'' from the same film don't remotely resemble the real animals.

** The hyenas are supposed to be spotted hyenas (they have the spots and the matriarchal social structure), and they are made such in [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing2019 the "live-action" remake]], but have coloration and other body traits which more closely resemble the striped hyena (and a FurryFemaleMane which matches neither).

** Sabor the leopard has larger, scarcer spots that make her look more like a jaguar instead, though she at least lacks the spots in her rosettes. She also has very massive canines similar to the clouded leopard, as well as slitted pupils (which are a trait of the small cats).
** Similarly, the lead baboon looks more like a mandrill.

* In the spanish animated film "El Bosque Animado" (''The Living Forest'') and it's sequel "Espiritu del Bosque" (Spirit of the forest), the main characters are suposed to be moles, but they hardly look like them. Instead, they have big black snouts, [[AmazingTechnicolorWildlife blue fur]], no visible claws, a rabbit-like tail, and apparently good eyesight. [[CartoonCreature They can't be identified with any other living creature either]].

** Ironically Godzilla himself , who was in fact supposed to be a mutated theropod of some variety, doesn't really look like any real dinosaur so much. Part of this is ScienceMarchesOn, since back in the 50s when Godzilla was created, the classic 'tripod' pose for theropods was still in vogue, but even taking that into account, his head is way too small to be a theropod.
*** May be the reason why in the 2014 reboot he is portrayed as a type of Permian reptile instead of a dinosaur.

** Likewise, Film/{{Rodan}} doesn't really look like a ''Pteranodon''. He's got a small head reminiscent of a bird of prey and bat wings.

** The hyenas are supposed to be spotted hyenas (they have the spots and the matriarchal social structure), and they are made such in [[Film/TheLionKing2019 the live-action remake]], but have coloration and other body traits which more closely resemble the striped hyena (and a FurryFemaleMane which matches neither).

** Mild Example: Pumbaa is supposed to be a warthog, but he looks a little more like a domesticated pig with a mane and tusks than an actual warthog. Though he looked more like a warthog in early artwork.

** Timon looks almost nothing like a meerkat either, having peach-colored fur (real meerkats are usually gray) bigger, downturned ears and a head full of red hair like a human would have. Plus, the walk on all fours and have black eyes.
*** And the worse part is, it seems that only Timon's colony looks like him. Other meerkats shown look more like actual meerkats.

** Timon really doesn't look like a real meerkat either, having peach-colored fur (real meerkats are usually gray) bigger, downturned ears and a head full of red hair like a human would have.

* While the WolfMan didn't look much like a wolf already (see far below), his animated design in ''WesternAnimation/AlvinAndTheChipmunksMeetTheWolfman'' looks even less so. He has a shorter muzzle and a mane around his head, making him more resemble a lion than a wolf. He also has only three toes on his feet, unlike in the original where he has four-toed feet like a wolf.