Inspired by a real life incident from February 1948, where four pledges of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity at UCLA were ordered to kill a dog as part of their hazing. After his pledge brothers bludgeoned to death a puppy they'd procured from the pound, John Hallock, a 24-year-old former Air Force sergeant, walked out in disgust, resigned from the fraternity and reported the incident to the city attorney's office. The fraternity denied the incident and said the puppy was intended as a mascot but had run away.
The film's composer, Hoyt Curtin, is better known for his work with Hanna-Barbera Productions, giving us underscore and theme songs from shows such as The Flintstones (1960), The Jetsons (1962), and Jonny Quest (1964). This was his first feature-length film among the few films he scored.