The teardrop-shaped formations in the background when the ship is taking off from an alien planet are based on Roger Dean's cover for Yes's album "Yessongs".
The evil warlord Sarris was named for film critic Andrew Sarris, who once trashed producer Mark Johnson's The Natural (1984).
The robot that appears behind the emcee in the final scene at the convention is from the Robin Williams film Toys (1992).
The rock monster is a mock tribute to William Shatner, who desperately wanted to put rock monsters in the climax of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989), but had to cut them out of his script for budgetary reasons.
The Thermians say they are from the Klaatu Nebula. Klaatu was the name of the alien who came to earth in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951).
Instead of ripping off the standard Star Trek "Swooosh-thweep" sound for their automatic doors, the NSEA Protector's automatic doors were given the same "Tweeep-Clunk" sound effect as the doors in the original version of the video game "Doom".
When the crew are eating aboard the ship, they are told that the food has been prepared based on their regional cuisine. The commander comments that the steak tastes like Iowa Beef. This seems like a subtle reference to the fact that Captain Kirk (Star Trek) is from Iowa.
The design of the NTE ship is based on a Star Trek comm-badge.
Gwen originally, when faced with going through "the chompers", said "Well, fuck this!" She was re-dubbed to say "Well, screw this!" to avoid an R-rating. The original line is still obvious when reading her lips.
The NSEA Protector's serial number is NTE 3120. NTE is short for Not The Enterprise.
The main plot idea of actors mistaken for heroes - see ¡Three Amigos! (1986) and A Bug's Life (1998).
The set of the NSEA Protector was built on an articulated platform so that it could move a few feet in any direction, for a touch of realism (instead of actors leaning in unison). When it was first used the set dropped two feet and shifted to the side, causing several cast members to fall out of their chairs and two lights to fall down.
Reportedly originally developed by Harold Ramis for Disney, but Ramis dropped out before production began.
When Jason and Gwen are following Brandon's directions to escape through the ship's ventilation system, Gwen says, "Ducts. Why does it always have to be ducts?" This is a reference to Sigourney Weaver's character Ripley in the "Alien" movies. It is also a variation on the famous Indiana Jones line: "Snakes. Why does it always have to be snakes?"
The teardrop-shaped formations in the background when the ship is taking off from an alien planet are based on Roger Dean's cover for Yes's album "Yessongs".
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