Thora Birch and Vincent Kartheiser did their own stunts, after a month of intense training sessions with the movie's sports consultants.
The bear cub was found by director Fraser C. Heston and was called Agee. It was born in January 1995 and was raised by a bear expert in his own home. She had to be trained for the role. The bear worked well with the two co-stars.
The character name of the father is Jake Barnes, which is also the name of the central figure in Ernest Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises."