According to Robert Rodriguez, the theme park at the beginning of the film was originally going to be Disneyland, but Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington was used instead. Additionally, Carmen's line "no more rinky dink assignments" as she tosses away the propellor beanie was originally supposed to be "no more Mickey Mouse assignments" and she was to have tossed mouse ears.
Juni's full name is Juni Rocket Racer Rebel Cortez. Rocket Rodriguez, Racer Rodriguez and Rebel Rodriguez are the names of Robert Rodriguez's three sons.
One of the gold items Carmen picks and tosses away in the treasure chamber is the small gold idol from the movie Les Aventuriers de l'arche perdue (1981).
Most of the movie was filmed in Texas.
There are two 'Lord of the Rings" references in the movie. The first, when Juni picks up a necklace and says "One necklace to rule them all," and the second, the outtake of the same clip during the credits where instead Juni imitates Gollum and says "My precious."