The creatures in this film were inspired by the stop-motion animation monsters done by Ray Harryhausen.
David Letterman appears as the "Old Salt in the Fishing Village", but the credits list him as "Earl Hofert". This is an inside joke for Letterman fans, as he also referred to himself as "Hofert" in some skits back at his old program Late Night with David Letterman (1982) on NBC. In real life, Hofert is an uncle of Letterman's on his mother's side.
Tim Burton designed the floating cupcake voiced by Jim Cummings.