Antonio Banderas voiced Puss in Boots in the English, Spanish, Latin Spanish, and Italian versions of this movie.
The Worcestershire school band playing "All Star" in the pep rally was performed by a real high school band for authenticity. The song "All Star" was also used in the first film. The cheerleaders' routine was also based on footage of a local high school cheerleading squad.
When Queen Lillian (Dame Julie Andrews) is stunned from knocking down the prison wall, she sings "My Favorite Things", as well as "With a Spoon Full of Sugar", which were performed by Andrews in The Sound of Music (1965) and Mary Poppins (1964), respectively.
Eric Idle, upon seeing the "coconuts as horse hoof sound effects" segment in the stage show scene, admonished the makers of the movie publicly. He claimed they were ripping off Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) and "stealing" their joke. He perhaps failed to realize that coconuts have been used as horse hoof beats since the days of radio - from whence Monty Python were no doubt inspired.
In one scene, The Gingerbread Man's life essentially passes before his eyes. Not only does this scene make reference to The Six Million Dollar Man (1974), but according to the sequence, The Gingerbread Man is, or was, married.
Julie Andrews: [songs] After Queen Lillian bashes through the prison walls with her head in order to free herself, Donkey and Puss, and the princesses, she briefly hums "Spoonful of Sugar" from Mary Poppins (1964), then segues into "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music (1965), two of Andrews' most famous musical numbers.