This was the first Pokemon film to have new dub actors. The only voice to remain the same was Wobbuffet, played by Kayzie Rogers.
In the English dub, when diamonds and pearls are mentioned for the first time in the movie, Meowth breaks the fourth wall by saying "Hey, that sounds like a good name for a game!". When they get mentioned for the second time, he says "Let's get through this season first." These instances are references towards the (at the time) next games due out and the next season.
With a length of 105 minutes, this is the longest of all the Pokémon movies to date.
Director Kunihiko Yuyama traveled to Italy to visit the ruins of Rome, the city of Naples, and the island of Capri to get ideas for the setting of the movie.
Although the posters and DVD cover show Ash controlling some kind of ship, he never actually does this in the movie.