Jada Pinkett Smith's daughter, Willow Smith, plays the young Gloria. Ben Stiller's son, Quinn Dempsey Stiller, plays the young Alex.
Series trademark: Twilight Zone. Most if not all entries in this series contain an homage to Rod Serling's original The Twilight Zone (1959). In this one, Mort mimics the airplane wing walker from Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (1963).
When Alex arrives in NYC as a cub in a crate, the World Trade Center Twin Towers are a visible part of the pre-9/11 NYC skyline.
Fergie: The hippopotamus who asks if Alex is dancing about a plane crash is voiced by a member of the same hip-hop-R&B group The Black Eyed Peas as Will.i.am who voices Moto Moto.
Jeffrey Katzenberg: the assistant CEO of DreamWorks does the voice of the boy knocked off the crescent moon by penguins when the DreamWorks logo comes up.