(At around twenty-three minutes in) This is the first theatrical movie to have a completely CGI (computer-generated image) character: the knight emerging from the stained glass window to attack the priest. Industrial Light & Magic animated the scene, overseen by John Lasseter in a very early movie credit for Pixar.
The "Stained Glass Knight" took Industrial Light & Magic artists four months to create.
(At around nine minutes) When young Sherlock Holmes (Nicholas Rowe) and John Watson (Alan Cox) first meet, Holmes incorrectly guesses that Watson's first initial stands for "James". This is a reference to one of the contradictions in the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stories. In most of the stories, Watson's first name is John, but in one story, his wife inexplicably calls him "James". Watson's middle initial is "H", which Doyle never expanded upon. There is a popular fan speculation that it stands for "Hamish", which is the Scottish variation of "James", and that this is a private term of endearment used by his wife.
The opening credit sequence (a shadow moving across the ground) was an homage to the opening credit sequence of the classic Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes/Dr. Watson film franchise.
Barry Levinson: [Ralph Tabakin] (Policeman in Shop Window) has appeared in every Levinson picture from Diner (1982) to Liberty Heights (1999). Levinson, a Baltimore native, is also an Executive Producer, and sometimes director, of Homicide (1993), where Tabakin had a recurring role.