DVD commentary revealed that the creators got letters of praise for heightening the awareness of the abandonment of racing dogs even though they didn't know it was a real problem when they created the episode.
In this episode, Barney had blonde hair which was the same colour as his skin, but that was later dropped because of the belief that only the Simpson family should have such hair.
Episode aired first but was written eighth. This is why Santa's Little Helper doesn't make an appearance in the episodes that follow immediately.
Matt Groening claims that this episode has been incorrectly credited with creating the "alternate version" of "Jingle Bells" that has become a well-known children's playground song.
This special was not originally intended to be The Simpsons (1989) pilot. Production problems, particularly with the first produced episode, Some Enchanted Evening (1990), saw the show delayed from its planned October debut until late December, thus dictating that this Christmas-themed episode, the eighth one produced, was the first to be broadcast. ("Some Enchanted Evening" was eventually broadcast as the last episode in the first season).