The show was created by Traci Paige Johnson and Jennifer Twomey, both veterans of Blue's Clues, and was announced in 2019 before releasing early in the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was the first DreamWorks property where the creators were based in New York City instead of Los Angeles, and the entire production team, including the creators, collaborated via videoconferencing, another first for a DreamWorks production.

The concept of 'dollhouse deliveries' was inspired by unboxing videos, but was tweaked so that instead of unboxing a product, the characters unbox a story.

Cats were not originally the main theme of the show; for example, the character DJ Catnip was initially conceived as a clock before being changed to a cat due to the popularity of cat videos.

Early in production, the creators discovered Carol Dweck's book 'The Growth Mindset,' which inspired the show's theme of celebrating mistakes and 'failing fantastically.'

The show's soundtrack includes genres uncommon in children's programming, such as disco/pop for DJ Catnip's theme song 'The Music In You,' because the creators disliked overly saccharine children's music.

Gabby's live-action cat Floyd, though always referred to as male on the show, is actually portrayed by a female cat named Amelia.

In 2024, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade featured a parade balloon depicting Gabby's animated form alongside Pandy Paws.

The 2025 feature film Gabby's Dollhouse: The Movie, announced in April 2024, is DreamWorks Animation's first live-action hybrid film.