The series was the first TV show produced by Adelaide Productions, the animated series division of Sony Pictures Television.

Character designs for the show were created by Everett Peck, known for creating the animated series Duckman.

Unlike the original film and picture book, where the board game's hazards manifest in the real world, the animated series instead transports the game's participants into a world inside the game itself, a concept later carried over into the film sequels.

The show excluded Bonnie Hunt's character Sarah Whittle from the original film when adapting the story for television.

The villain Professor J.S. Ibsen's name is a reference to both J.F. Sebastian, a character from Blade Runner, and Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, author of The Master Builder.

The villain Captain Ishmael Squint is modeled after Captain Ahab from Moby Dick, with his name referencing the novel's protagonist and narrator Ishmael.