Though made for television the movie was theatrically released in quite a number of territories including Spain and Australia.
Filmed in July and August, the weather in Los Angeles was in the high 90's. The exterior of the New York Hotel was filmed on the North side entrance of the Bonaventure Hotel. The hotel's exterior sidewalk and building edge was banked with real snow fabricated by a Hollywood Ice company. The Bonaventure lobby area is divided into four quarters in plan. Only one quarter of the main lobby with the desk check in counter was decorated with a Christmas theme. Shop owners, not knowing a film was being shot in the hotel, questioned the decorator's swing gang crew about Christmas in August? The "gang" replied, answering "our company is trying to get the hotel Christmas holiday contract for this year. Please be sure to tell the hotel management to hire our company". The hotel penthouse suite and corridors were also filmed for the New York hotel interiors.
The Swiss Village was filmed on the Warner-Columbia Burbank Studio, Hollywood Way Boulevard, Back lot. The exterior buildings were colorful, decorated with painted scrolls, leafy twines of reeds with floral bouquets. The decorator spotted yellow "rented" umbrellas in an outdoor café setting. The "Cinzano" logo emblazoned on the fabric drop around the umbrella edges. Several weeks after filming, the decorator had to sign affidavits proclaiming no financial rewards nor kick-backs from the use of the commercial product's exposure was provided by "Cinzano".
Grandfather's exterior Switzerland cabin was built on a mountain at Snowmass, Colorado. Other areas of the mountain area, all located above Snowmass, represented trails where religious relics were scattered for walking scenes. Silk red poppies usually were spotted behind the actors on the green grass hillsides for the camera angles. The company spent one week filming in Colorado. The decorator used his five ton set dressing truck to ship furniture and the stacked cords of lumber to the location sight. After the cabin was filmed, all the set dressing was re-packed on the five ton, immediately returned to Culver City, where the matched cabin exterior and interior had been built on a sound stage. The production company returned to the studio stage, in Culver City, to finish filming with the cabin interiors.
The film was made and first released / broadcast about ninety-eight years after its source "Heidi" novel by Johanna Spyri had been first published in 1880. Publicity for the film approximated this to over one hundred years.