On the documentary about the making of the show on the DVD, singer/composer Paul Williams says that when Jim Henson asked him to write the songs for it, Henson explained that the show was going to be a "trial run" for a proposed Muppet movie to check out whether the Henson company could handle certain technical tasks needed to produce a full-length theatrical feature. When The Muppet Movie (1979) came out two years later, Williams also wrote the songs used in that film.
The scene where the drum rolls past Emmet and Ma Otter took over 200 takes to get right. In 2020, Frank Oz wrote in a tweet about how much fun he and Jerry Nelson had doing the takes.
During filming, Frank Oz provided both the puppeteering and voice for Ma Otter. Later, Marilyn Sokol's voice was dubbed over Oz's.
Many of the titles of the songs written for this special were suggested by the original book by Russell Hoban. 'The Bathing Suit That Grandma Otter Wore' and '(Downstream) Where the River Meets the Sea' were songs sung by Emmet and his Ma. 'Ain't No Hole in the Washtub' is suggested by words that Emmet sings with the jug-band.