In ordinary anime, characters would at least blink to create the feeling of "being animated", but in this movie, Motoko's eyes intentionally stayed unblinking many times. Director Mamoru Oshii's intention was to portray her as a "doll".
Writer Shirow Masamune named his manga "Ghost in the Shell" to pay homage to a book about philosophical psychology by Arthur Koestler, "The Ghost in the Machine" (1967).
This is the first anime film to be released at the same time in Japan, Britain, and the United States. Its intended goal was to bring anime to a more mainstream audience in the UK and US. It didn't, but it did become a sleeper hit on video and DVD.
Director Mamoru Oshii was so obsessed with realistic movement in every frame, especially the shooting scenes, that he took the production to Guam to shoot guns into different materials to see how they reacted.
The lyrics to the title song "Making of a Cyborg" were written in ancient Japanese. The romanized Japanese lyrics are as follows: A ga maeba, kuwashime yoini keri A ga maeba, teru tsuki toyomu nari Yobai ni kami amakudarite Yoha ake, nuedori naku. Tôkamiemitame (x4). English translation: When you are dancing, a beautiful lady becomes drunken. When you are dancing, a shining moon rings. A god descends for a wedding And dawn approaches while the night bird sings. God bless you (x4).
Mamoru Oshii: [gun] The usage of guns and Togusa preferring to use a revolver over a semi-automatic pistol.