The lines, "I don't care that you and Binky found the world's biggest pine cone ever" and "First of all, it's not Binky, it's Bucky, and it wasn't a pine cone, it was a pine nut" said by Kenai (Joaquin Phoenix) and Koda (Jeremy Suarez) was an accidental improvisation because Phoenix messed up his line and Suarez corrected it when they were recording.
Most of the characters are named after actual places in Alaska, where the story is set. For example, Kenai is named after the Kenai Peninsula.
Disney/Pixar prepared a special trailer for the film to show before Finding Nemo (2003) during its initial theatrical release. Tuke and Rutt say, "If you see only one movie this year, see this one." Tuke then reminds Rutt that "for those who see only one movie this year, it's a little late now". Both moose then encourage everyone who is "only going to see one movie this year" to leave the theater. As the scene fades to black, Rutt says, "I see some of them leaving," and Tuke replies "Maybe they're going to go find that Nemo guy."
When Kenai is transformed into a bear the aspect ratio changes and widens from 1.75:1 to 2.35:1 representing the character's expanded perception of the world.
In the German version, Tuke and Rutt are called Benny and Björn, after the two male members of the Swedish pop group ABBA. In the weeks before the theatrical release in Germany, they appeared in short funny clips telling the audience to switch off cell phones during the movie.