The debut film of Studio Ponoc.
Hiromasa Yonebayashi screened the film for his former colleagues at Studio Ghibli. Hayao Miyazaki gave Yonebayashi a congratulations but said he wouldn't see the film. Toshio Suzuki and Isao Takahata both gave the movie praise and congratulated Yonebayashi on his work.
In the early 1980s, Disney artist Mel Shaw pitched the idea of adapting Mary Stewart's book 'The Little Broomstick' as an animated movie, but the project never got beyond the planning stage and was shelved in favor of more ambitious projects.
The film made its American premiere through Fathom Events, who had a part in re-releasing several Studio Ghibli films the year leading up to the film's release.
Dr. Dee could be inspired by Dr. John Dee, an Anglo-Welsh mathematician, astronomer and alchemist who served as a court astronomer to Queen Elizabeth I.