Buddy Hackett auditioned to do the voice of Paulie but lost to Jay Mohr, who did an impression of Hackett. Buddy Hackett does appear in the film in a small role as Artie, the Pawn Broker, and during his scene Mohr also appears in person as Benny. Hackett also did the voice of the talking seagull Scuttle in The Little Mermaid (1989).
Animal stunt coordinator Boone Narr arranged seven separate bird casting calls, involving over 38 species. Blue-crown Conure parrots were deemed best, and fourteen of them were used in the production, different birds with different personalities fitting into different scenes. For scenes that were too dangerous for the live parrots, or needed complex facial expressions in close-ups, an animatronic Paulie created at the Stan Winston Studio was used.
This was Buddy Hackett's final appearance in a theatrical film.
Tia Texada plays Ruby; Benny's girlfriend. She also voices Lupe who is Paulie's girlfriend for a short time. Jay Mohr plays Benny and the voice of Paulie. So, the respective actors played two different couples.
Blue-crowned conures are popular pets, but they are not that often depicted in fiction. The film used 14 birds to play the role of Paulie and caused a surge in the popularity of Blue-crowned Conures as pets.