In the Italian dubbing the wizard speaks with a marked Northern Italy accent, contrasting him with the other characters, who have either a Sicilian accent or no accent at all.
Among the pictures hanging in the royal palace there are some illustrations by Dino Buzzati, author of the original novel.
In the Italian dubbing this movie features the last performance of Andrea Camilleri before his death. Camilleri was a very popular writer in Italy, famous in particular for his crime novels set in Sicily on which the series Il commissario Montalbano (1999) is based; however, the Sicilian writer also had a handful of acting and directing credits.
The characters of the storyteller Gedeone, his assistant Almerina and the Old Bear were created for the movie. Almerina's name is also an homage to that of original author Dino Buzzati's wife, who concede to Lorenzo Mattotti the rights to make the movie
The original novel the movie is based on, La famosa invasione degli orsi in Sicilia (The Bears' Famous Invasion of Sicily), was not only written but also illustrated by Dino Buzzati.