Based on a Japanese expedition to the South Pole in 1958, in which the party was faced with extreme weather conditions.
Each dog had at least one stunt double. In all, over 30 dogs were used in this film, at least 5 of which also appeared in the movie Snow Dogs - Acht Helden auf vier Pfoten (2002).
Dogs have been banned from Antarctica by treaty since 1993 because of evidence that disease was spreading to seal wildlife.
Second unit filming in Greenland was referred to by crew members as the "Amundsen Expedition". This was a reference to second unit director/director of photography Mitchell Amundsen and to Roald Amundsen, the first man to reach the South Pole.
Somewhat sanitized retelling of a true event that was first brought to cinema in the movie Taro und Jiro in der Antarktis (1983) - which this movie honors in its end credits.