In 2009, Gergely Barki, an art researcher at Hungary's National Gallery, was watching the film with his daughter, and saw a painting on the wall in the background of the Little family's apartment. He recognized it as the long-lost work "Sleeping Lady with Black Vase" by Robert Bereny, which Barki had only ever seen as a black and white photograph from 1928. Barki hunted the painting through the studio, finding it had been purchased from an antique shop, by an assistant to the set designer for $500 to use in the film. She then purchased it from the studio once the production was completed. The painting was sold by the American owner to a collector. As of 2014, the painting was to be auctioned in Budapest, with a starting price of 110,000 euros (130,000 US dollars).
Almost all the scenes involving the Littles are shot with heavy amounts of blue and red in the shot, most noticeably in their clothing.
In Celebs Go Dating (2016), Jonathan Lipnicki revealed on an intimate date that the character Snowball was based on a cat that Rob Minkoff had growing up. He also revealed he took the cat home after shooting finished as he had formed such a bond with it.
M. Night Shyamalan wrote the screenplay for this movie.
This is Columbia's first live-action/animated hybrid film.