Of the film's credited cast members, only Maureen O'Sullivan (LN-18) and Joyzelle Joyner (Loo Loo / Boo Boo) were still alive during the actual 1980. O'Sullivan died on June 23, 1998 whereas Joyner died on November 30, 1980, coincidentally only one week after the 50th anniversary of the film's release.
Hearing that people fly "Rosenbergs" and "Goldbaums" instead of driving cars, Single-O (El Brendel) comments that someone got revenge on Henry Ford, a jab at the famed car manufacturer's well-known rabid anti-Semitism.
This was the first science fiction film made as either a talkie or a musical.
Images from this film, showing the elaborate model of a futuristic New York skyscape, are often mistakenly identified as scenes from Metropolis (1927).
The airplanes were designed and built by an aircraft engineer from the Douglas Aircraft Co. based on what he thought aircraft would look like in 1980.