Paintings from the seventeenth century served as an inspiration for the design. In the beginning of this movie, when Klaartje (Pip Pellens), the family maid, pours milk, it is almost an exact replica of the famous painting "The Milkmaid" by Johannes Vermeer.
One of the classic ships used in production of this movie a an accurate replica of "De Batavia". This is in fact a cargo ship, which sunk of the coast of Australia 1629. The building of this replica took place at the "Bataviawerf" in Lelystad, The Netherlands and was finished in 1995. The next project was a replica of Michiel de Ruyters actual ship "De Zeven Provincien" but this build has stalled due the lack of funds.
A special island was created in a lake (Markermeer lake) for filming on real ships.
The British Union Jack flag flown by English ships in this movie may appear to be an anachronism, but is historically accurate. This is the version adopted in 1601 combining the flags of England and Scotland. The modern version of the flag, adopted in 1801, includes the thin red saltire ("x") of Northern Ireland, which was correctly omitted in this movie.
In order to make this movie accessible for school classes and families who want to see it in the theater, a 12+ version with a few cuts in the most explicit scenes was also released.