Clarence Brown insisted that his actors wear no make-up to achieve a naturalistic look. Claude Jarman Jr. had to wear a straw hat in between takes so that his fair skin didn't burn, while the pale Jane Wyman had to sit under a sun lamp for 15 minutes to make it look like she spent most of her time outdoors.
MGM had actually begun filming "The Yearling" in 1941 with Spencer Tracy, Anne Revere, and Atlanta native Gene Eckman (who never appeared in another film) in the starring roles, Roddy McDowall as Fodderwing, and Victor Fleming directing, but the production ran into numerous problems, including Eckman growing too quickly during filming, his thick local accent (which conflicted with Tracy's vocal quality), swarms of mosquitoes, and conflicts between Fleming and producer Sidney Franklin. After King Vidor agreed to take over directing but then dropped out, the project was canceled - at a loss of $500,000 - when the United States entered World War II, in December of 1941.
During the ten months of filming, 32 trained animals were used, including five fawns. The fawns needed to be replaced as they aged in order to conform to the description of the title animal. The fawn found by Jody, as he pulls back the foliage, was three days old and had been rescued from a forest fire. Other animals used in filming included 126 deer, 9 black bears, 37 dogs, 53 wild birds, 17 buzzards, 1 owl, 83 chickens, 36 pigs, 8 rattlesnakes, 18 squirrels, 4 horses & 17 raccoons. The quantity of "critters" total is 441.
This film has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 15 critic reviews.
Most of the "atmosphere" and outdoors animal scenes were shot five years previously, by a second-unit crew sent to Florida in 1941, when the project was first begun. The film was shut down soon after, but when it was restarted again in 1946, the 1941 footage was used.