This film was one of a number of movies that were in competition at the 2012 Academy Awards that was related to France and French culture in some way. The films included The Artist (2011), Hugo (2011), Midnight in Paris (2011), The Adventures of Tintin (2011), Puss in Boots (2011) from the French fairy-tale by Charles Perrault, Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) based on the novel by Pierre Boulle and A Cat in Paris (2010). Interestingly though, there was no French film nominated for the Best Foreign Film Academy Award (Oscar) in 2012.
When code names are assigned, one of the men is called 'Monsieur Hulot' (or 'M. Hulot'). This is a reference to the character created by Jacques Tati.
In a 2012 interview with Animation World Network, Alain Gagnol spoke about the importance of a hand-drawn animation technique for the film: "The animation is hand-made, on paper, with erasers and pencils. I'm afraid that we are some kind of dinosaurs of animated movies. Hand-drawn animation is kind of a tradition at Folimage. We use computers for the line-tests, the coloring process, the editing, etc. But, until now, we keep on drawing on paper. Even the lights on the characters are hand-drawn, which is demanding a great amount of time and work from the coloring team. It is also an artistic choice. We are very fond of the sensitivity of the hand work. We even enjoy some of the flaws, as long as we can feel that there's is someone behind the drawing on the screen. Life is not perfect, unlike the computers."
Voices in Brazilian dubbing: Denise Reis (Jeanne), Arlete Montenegro (Claudine), César Marchetti (Nico), Flora Paulita (Zoé).