Goofs

At the beginning of the movie, the muses in the painting on the mural are detailed and fully rendered. Later, when Sonny is about to jump into the mural, the muses in the painting are sketchy and lack detail.

When Sonny borrows the moped to follow Kira, the weather is warm and the sky is clear. A few moments later on the pier, the weather has become misty and the sky overcast.

When Sonny first sees the auditorium that eventually becomes Xanadu, the letters on the roof of the building that spell out auditorium are missing the A and R. Later when Kira takes him to the auditorium, the T is missing. In the following scene, when Sonny and Danny arrive at the auditorium, the T is back. Finally, when Sonny and Kira are slow dancing in front of the auditorium before it transforms into the finished Xanadu exterior, the T is missing again.

In "The Fall" musical sequence, Sonny roller skates alone along a beach-side boardwalk. In the opening shot, heat waves shimmer up from the ground, and passersby are dressed in bathing suits and other warm-weather clothing. In subsequent shots the sky is grey and the people in the background are wearing heavy winter coats.

When Sonny first visits the painter's workshop, Richie is working on a painting, which is only partly done. When Richie turns to greet Sonny, the painting is almost compete.

When viewed from continental America, the sun can't rise out of the Pacific Ocean.

When Danny and Sonny meet, everyone around them is wearing warm weather clothing, like bikinis and short shorts. Danny and Sonny are both wearing long-sleeved coats, and cold-weather pants. Danny is wearing a wool scarf and a hat.

In the auditorium where Sonny and Kira first talk, Sonny says "You". Kira replies, "Me." Immediately after that line as Olivia Newton-John is skating out of frame at the bottom, she makes a silly face at the camera.

When Sonny chases after ONJ shouting "I don't have a very good reason.." he passes through shadows (to the right of the screen, his left) and light which don't land on him (you can see them through him).

In the opening shots of the "All Over the World" sequence, outside the entrance to the clothing boutique, the mannequin furthest from the camera shouts out counts to keep the dancers together. The only audio heard at that point is the prerecorded song, but his lips are very clearly moving.

When Sonny arrives at work, he chats with the security guards as they open the gates for him, but their mouths are closed.

When Danny and Sonny come to the auditorium, three female singers take the stage in the 1940's sequence. All three mouth the words, but Olivia Newton-John does all of the singing. One dark-haired singer occasionally forgets to move her lips.

During the rock and roll big band scene, the rock drummer's movements are out-of-sync with the drum sounds.

During "Whenever You're Away From Me," the tap dancer's movements are out of sync with the tapping sounds.

The camera crew is reflected in the big mirror during the ballroom dance scene.

Near the end of "Dancin'", when the two 80's dancers meet the two 40's dancers, a white scrim is behind them. Several pairs of white sneakers and blue jean-clad legs are visible behind it, at the bottom.

If Danny was on foot and Sonny was on a moped, how did Danny catch up to Sonny at the pier? How did Danny know where he was going?

When Sonny quits his job, the shadow of the boom mic is bobbing in the top left of the screen.

During the "Dancin'" scene, as the three singers start walking down the stairs, one of the Zoot Suit dancers is on his knees playing with his hat directly in front of them. When the camera pulls back for the next shot he is to the right with the sailor between him and the singers.