- In the film, Lupin III is seen wearing a green jacket. Lupin wore a green jacket in "Rupan sansei" (1971), a red jacket in "Rupan sansei: Part II" (1977) and a pink jacket in "Rupan sansei: Part III" (1984).
- The second animated theatrical Lupin the 3rd movie.
- The "Lupin III" creator, Monkey Punch, did not seek permission from Maurice Leblanc's estate to use the name of Arsène Lupin, and at that time Japan did not enforce trade copyrights. This led to copyright issues once Lupin's popularity spread to North America and Europe, (the name was still permitted in Japan however), and in English translations of the film, the protagonist was known as either "Wolf" (the direct meaning of "Lupin") or "Rupan" (the Japanese pronunciation of the word)
- The 100-minute film was produced in four months (July-November 1979).
- The Count's boat is based on a Turbinia, the world's first steam turbine powered steamship.
- Director Trademark: [Hayao Miyazaki] [flying] Count Cagliostro pilots an autogyro, which Lupin later use to escape the castle.
- Some "Lupin III" fans criticize the film for presenting a different characterization of Arsène Lupin III: he is seen as a nobler, more heroic character in the film, while in the manga he is portrayed as a arrogant, shrewd playboy (however the film has Lupin mentioning he was like that at the beginning of his career).
- Hayao Miyazaki would go on to direct two episodes of "Rupan sansei: Part II" (1977) ("Albatross: Wings of Death" and the finale "Farewell My Beloved Lupin") under the name of Tereki Tsutomu, before finally leaving TV animation (and the "Lupin III" franchise).
- Lupin provides a bilingual calling-card for the Count, which holds printing in Japanese and French. The Japanese text shows Lupin's name, while the French text reads "Seigneur le Volupteur! Veux voler votre fiancée. Je me presenterai prochainement." (meaning: "Lord Hedonist! I want to steal your fiancée. I will arrive shortly.").
- In the Maurice Leblanc story "The Countess of Cagliostro" (1924), Clarisse was the name of Arsène Lupin's wife. In this film no event of that sort ever occurs.
- The film was initially a flop in Japan as it set a lighter, more cartoonish tone than normally seen in the manga; however, it achieved classic status through reruns and re-releases. In contrast, in the U.S.A. it achieved incredible popularity, where the film's DVD had more sales than "Rupan sansei: Part II" (1977) DVD.
- This was the first anime film to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival, although not in a competitive category; later on Innocence (2004/I) would be screened in that capacity.
- Voice actress Sumi Shimamoto was chosen by Hayao Miyazaki to voice Clarisse after having auditioned for the title role of "Akage no An" (1979) (better known as "Anne of Green Gables"), which Miyzakai was working on. Although Shimamato failed to get the role of Anne, Miyazaki liked her voice so much he hired her for this film.
- This was the first film directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Initially, the film was going to be directed by Yasuo Ôtsuka, and would be an adaptation of "Rupan sansei: Part II" (1977) (as part of a common trend at the time of adapting TV animes into films); in fact a draft of the script was handled by the series writer Seijun Suzuki, and contained an amalgamation of elements from the series. however, Otsuka didn't like the draft, and asked Miyaki to handle it. Miyazaki changed the direction of the script completely by asking for an original plot.
- Because the film had such a tight production schedule (production took only four months), Hayao Miyazaki claimed he had to alter the script in post-production to complete the film on time for release. He has never revealed what his original scripted idea was ever since, and has only expressed dissatisfaction with the completed film.
- The cars driven by the main characters are based on real vehicles:
- Lupin's car is a 1969 Italian Fiat 500, which animation director Yasuo Ôtsuka had once owned;
- Clarisse's automobile is a French Citroen 2CV, which Hayao Miyazaki notes as being the first car he ever owned;
- the men chasing Clarisse were driving a 1940 British Humber Super Snipe vehicle
- Zenigata's car is a Japanese Nissan Bluebird;
- and Zenigata's men were in a 1943 Canadian GM Military Pattern truck, of which Yasuo Ôtsuka had made a detailed sketch of in his childhood.
- The readers of the manga magazine "Animage" voted this film as the best anime in history in November 2001.
- Steven Spielberg called the film "one of the greatest adventure movies of all time."
>>> WARNING: Here Be Spoilers <<<
Trivia items below here contain information that may give away important plot points. You may not want to read any further if you've not already seen this title.
- SPOILER: The "Lupin III" manga is based upon French author Maurice Leblanc's adventure tales of the gentleman thief Arsène Lupin, (the manga's title character, Arsène Lupin III, is noted as the grandson of this Lupin). The film contains homages to other Lupin stories:
- the backbone of the plot (Lupin attempts to rescue a young woman named Clarisse) was taken from the case of "The Countess of Cagliostro" (1924);
- the story "The Justice of Arsène Lupin" mentions an immense cache of counterfeit money used to destabilize economies;
- the tale of "The Damsel with Green Eyes" (1927) features a treasure hidden at the bottom of a lake.
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