10 Star Wars Movie "Mistakes" That Were Totally Intentional
2. Disappeared Sebulba - Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
During The Phantom Menace's unforgettable pod racing sequence, it's been noted that there's a VFX mistake when Anakin (Jake Lloyd) is being closely pursued by his main rival Sebulba (Lewis MacLeod) near the end of the race.
During the shot where Sebulba's pod is tailing Anakin in the background, where the hell is Sebulba? He's not visible in his pod's cockpit at all, though reappears in the next shot as if by magic.
Even if you ignore the sensible-ish explanation that Sebulba simply ducked his head down underneath the dashboard for a second, visual effects supervisor John Knoll actually confirmed that this wasn't really a mistake on the movie's DVD commentary.
Knoll said, "I figured we could get away with it," confirming that the VFX team deliberately decided not to bother rendering Sebulba in this shot because, outside of the most attentive fan keen to pore over every last frame of the movie, it would go unnoticed by about 99.7% of viewers and save the VFX artists the hassle of rendering another character.
And indeed, have you ever noticed this yourself? Not likely - Sebulba's so far back in the frame that, unless you're watching the movie in 4K, it's a tough spot.