This was the first film to pair Shirley Temple with Arthur Treacher; they would appear together in three more movies.
Madame Chiang, the First Lady of China, was such a fan of this film that she arranged for repeat private viewings.
Neither the play nor the novel is mentioned in the screen credits, but most reviewers at the time recognized the similarity, and there was an item in the Los Angeles Examiner in January, 1935, announcing that Shirley Temple was to star in a film based on "Daddy Long Legs." Fox owned the rights to both the novel and the play, having produced earlier versions for the screen.
In the scene where John Boles sings "It's All So New To Me," Shirley Temple appears in various paintings in the drawing room. According to Temple's autobiography, "Child Star," a scene was shot where she appeared nude, as Cupid, painted from head to toe in gilt paint. The scene had to be completed quickly before the paint clogged the pores of her skin. Apparently, the scene was cut before the film's theatrical release, and presumably no longer exists.
Upon its 1935 release, this film was banned in Denmark because of unspecified "controversy." It was also banned in Switzerland and Italy because Elizabeth's behavior was setting a bad example for children.