The precision tap dance performed by Jack Haley, Alice Faye and Shirley Temple required endless takes. Although Haley, Faye and Temple were all excellent tap dancers, they found it extremely difficult to stay in sync for such a long and complicated number.
While her mother Gertrude Temple was being interviewed on the set of this movie, Shirley Temple asked the reporter, "Why don't you talk to me? I'm the star."
According to an article by Frederick Othman from January 10, 1940, this film marked a major break for Geneva Sawyer who was working as a dancer in this film. Bill Robinson noticed her ability and recommended her as a dance teacher for Shirley Temple. Sawyer went on to become a prominent choreographer and dance instructor to the stars in Hollywood.
One of many films starring Shirley Temple which were remakes of box-office hits starring Mary Pickford during the silent era. Known as "America's Sweetheart" and the "Girl with the Curls," Pickford's earlier successes included Une pauvre petite fille riche (1917), Le petit démon (1917), and Petite princesse (1917). In addition to re-purposing Pickford's films as vehicles for Temple, studio publicists re-used Pickford's persona and nicknames as a model for crafting Temple's own image as a Hollywood starlet.
Leonard Kibrick is in studio records for the role of "Freckles", but was not seen in the released print.