According to the Wikipedia website, "the film was a box office flop upon its original theatrical release, but a combination of the song winning an award and pay-TV service SelecTV picking it up eighteen months later for its evening line-up, allowed the film to develop a cult following which remains to this day."
The film made the following disclaimer during the closing credits: "All animal sequences were filmed under direct veterinary supervision. No animals were injured or destroyed".
The picture was made and released about nine years afters its source memoir auto-biography of the same name by Ben East and Olive Fredrickson had been first published in 1972.
Lead actress Ellen Burstyn said of her rugged lead role as Olive Fredrickson in this movie that it "could have been written for John Wayne".
The name of the river steamboat was "SLAVIE".