The color and pattern changing of the Boov is based on the remarkable camouflage skin of the cuttlefish.
The Jennifer Lopez title track "Feel The Light" opens with the five familiar notes used to communicate with the aliens in Die unheimliche Begegnung der 3. Art (1977).
The prehensile "ears" of the Boov are actually their noses. Not only do they regularly exhale/blow through them, but when Tip threatens to punch Oh in the nose, he covers them with his hands. He also uses one to sniff the Gorg super chip after pulling it from the wrecked drone. In the subsequent Home: Adventures with Tip & Oh (2016) these appendages are given the name "nostricles", which is a portmanteau of "nostrils" and "tentacles".
This movie is based on the book "The True Meaning of Smekday."