The film was the brainchild of cast-members Gary Gray and Terry McDermott. They formed the production company Avargo (derived from "have a go") with ABC TV film editor Fenton Rosewarne and accountant Rod Barnett. The actors raised the idea in August 1970 to combat the ABC's 'no salary' Christmas recording recess, and handled distribution and promotion for the movie themselves.
The film was shot on 16mm (blown up to 35mm for theatrical release) over four weeks and two days, during the traditional Christmas taping break for the parent series, in January 1971 on a budget of A$70,000.
A large draw for Bellbird (1967) fans seeing their favourite characters on the big screen was that the film is in colour (a fact heavily pushed in promotional material) - Australian TV would not switch over from monochrome to colour until 1975, two years before the series ended, so this was the first chance to do so.
Press ads for the movie noted that: "The stars of 'Country Town' fly Ansett and use an Avis Rent-a-Car and stay at Noah's Captain Cook".
Stars such as Gary Gray, Terry McDermott and Gerda Nicolson made special personal appearances accompanying the film. Pony and trap rides ran, and there was also the chance to catch that evening's episode of Bellbird (1967) being broadcast by ABC at venues such as Narrabundah's Sundown Drive-In on their TV.
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