The father of the family was initially supposed to be a jet pilot, but the budget would only allow for a helicopter, which had to be rented out of Belgium as the Dutch army refused all cooperation. Likewise, as there was no money for jeeps and soldiers in camouflage, the crew had to make do with an old car that was painted green, filled with extras wearing sunglasses.
The original Dutch title 'Schatjes' is a term of endearment often used for young children, meaning something like 'honnies' or 'cuties'.
In 2013, a TV special was broadcast in The Netherlands, in which an attorney explained that, as stated by Dutch law, this movie can be considered child pornography, since actress Akkemay Elderenbos was only 14 years old when she did her nude and sex scenes. Consequently, distributing and owning this movie would officially be punishable by law. Furthermore, the producers, director and adult actors who worked on the sex scenes could technically be prosecuted for child molestation, had the time period for such an offense as defined in the statute of limitation not already been exceeded. In the same special, Akkemay herself asserted that she had read the script beforehand, and that she and the director had both reached an agreement on the way the nude scenes were shot.
Director Ruud van Hemert proved notoriously difficult to work with. He wasn't quickly satisfied by the acting performances of his actors, and went as far as provoking and picking fights with them to get the desired response. He also went to some extreme lengths to direct the young boys, slapping them or scaring them to get them to react correspondingly, despite the presence of the boys' father and a child psychologist on set. However, he always made up by buying them chocolate afterwards.
In 2022, Erik Koningsberger, the actor who stars with Akkemay Elderenbos in the controversial shower scene, was asked about the child pornography allegations related to this film. "I auditioned with Ruud van Hemert, the director, a notoriously difficult man. He wanted to see my legs, because I had to play a tennis instructor. Anyway, I got the role, and had to take a shower with Akkemay. She was 14, but I didn't know that at all. Later Gerard Spong called that scene child pornography. Well. I grabbed her breasts, that was it," Koningsberger said, adding, "I find today's prudishness shocking. The fact that boys at school no longer dare to shower naked is terrible, isn't it? What is wrong with the human body? Spong may have been legally right, but child pornography? Out of order."
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