The mousetraps scene was completed without any digital effects. Over 800 mousetraps were set individually and rigged with wires under the floor. It took several takes, so each trap had to be reset, baited, and wired one at a time.
Actor William Hickey was seriously ill during the film's production and died toward the end of principal photography. Fortunately all his scenes had already been filmed so it was not necessary to recast his part or make any major changes to the script to accommodate his death.
While close-ups used an animatronic rodent, and some scenes involved CGI, most shots were made using a team of 60 field mice trained by animal trainer Boone Narr. The mice were trained for everything from running and climbing to sleeping in a sardine can underneath a tissue paper blanket.
A rare commercial spot for the film not included in the either the VHS or DVD features a dramatic voice-over introduction "A story about a mouse..." which slowly pans to the shadow outline of the famous Disney character. Then the camera quickly cuts to show that it's actually the little guy from Mousehunt holding a pair of toothpick speared olives which he had been holding close to his head.