Don Hertzfeldt's first digitally animated film. All of his other films were shot on 16mm and 35mm, but he animated this film using a Cintiq tablet, Photoshop and Final Cut Pro. He stated in an interview that he did this because that since the film takes place in the future and that the future looks so abstract, it would be impossible and time consuming to do it right on film.
Winona Mae, the voice of Emily Prime, is animator Don Hertzfeldt's niece. All of her dialogue in the film was unscripted and edited into the story from recorded conversations when she was four years old.