When Tokyo Movie Sinsha decided to make this film, one of the candidates for the director was Hayao Miyazaki, who had directed "Rupan Sansei Kariosutoro No Shiro" for them. But he declined the offer by insisting that he would change the whole concept from the point of view of cat characters.
Although the first draft of the script was written by Giichi Fujimoto, director Isao Takahata chose not to use it, because he thought that the draft emphasized Fujimoto's his own color rather than the feel of the original comic strip.
As this film was made during the big boom of "manzai" (Japanese comic dialogue), most of the characters' voices were played by popular manzai acts from Osaka. For example, Tetsu and his friend Mitsuru were played by Norio Nishikawa and Yoshio Kamigata, and Tetsu's parents were played by Utako Kyô and Keisuke Otori.
Name pronounced Tchié, but French version changed or mistook as Kié.
Around 28 minutes in, when Chie walks down a busy street with her mother, anime versions of Miyazaki and Takahata can be seen talking in the background, distinguished by their glasses and cap respectively.