The 31 Mar 1960 DV listed the 1945 novel by James Arthur Kjelgaard among the latest properties acquired by the Walt Disney Company. The film version was scheduled to go into production the following summer, as stated in the 23 May 1961 LAT. Meanwhile, the 12 May 1961 DV reported that independent producers Arnold Stoltz and Arthur Silber had purchased rights to the novel in 1947. They had since registered the title with the Screen Writers Guild (SWG), and sent treatments to several movie studios. The team claimed that they had negotiated the project with Disney for two years, and spent more than $40,000 in "script costs," but the studio feigned disinterest. Stoltz also stated that dog trainer William Weatherwax had raised several Irish Setter dogs over the past ten years, each with the name "Big Red," in anticipation of the novel becoming the basis for a television series or a film. The producer incurred considerable expense defending his claims, although he insisted that they were a matter of public record. The 28 Aug 1961 DV explained that Silber was assigned all rights to the property, previously controlled by Stoltz's former partner Lloyd Lind. Stoltz filed "a suit for declaratory relief" on 25 Aug 1961, asking the court to prohibit Disney from continuing production, as plaintiffs would be "irreparably damaged." Disney, however, reportedly acquired rights to the story through Mrs. Edna Kjelgaard, the novelist's widow.
       Despite Stoltz's claims, Disney started production on 13 Jul 1961, according to the following day's DV. The 23 May 1962 Var identified the Canadian province of Quebec as the filming location. Veteran actor Walter Pidgeon, who played "James Haggin," told the 27 Aug 1961 LAT that the picture marked his first experience working with an animal, and hinted that he did not enjoy being upstaged. The 16 Oct 1961 DV reported that Disney gave a Pidgeon a "stop date" for his role, allowing him to join the cast of Advise and Consent (1962, see entry).
       A news item in the 8 Aug 1961 DV announced the company's return to Disney Studios in Burbank, CA, for interior scenes, after three weeks on location. Later that month, the 24 Aug 1961 issue stated that the company had embarked that morning for nine days of filming at Big Bear, CA.
       Following the completion of principal photography, Disney filed an action with a U.S. Federal Court, asking that Stoltz and Silber's suit be transferred to "federal jurisdiction because the question of copyright is involved."
       Big Red opened 3 Jul 1962 in Los Angeles, CA, and in early Sep 1962 in New York City. The 19 Jun 1962 DV noted that the film was accompanied by the short subject, Living Desert (1962), also a Disney production. According to the 8 Aug 1962 Var, the picture was the eighth most profitable release of Jun 1962, although attendance decreased dramatically the following month. Two days later, a studio spokesman assured the 10 Aug 1962 DV that Big Red "performed well at the box office," as had all recent Disney releases.
       The film was among fourteen features honored by the Southern California Motion Picture Council. The dog cast in the title role, "Champion Red Aye 'Scraps'," won a Patsy Award from the American Humane Association. The 30 May 1962 Var reviewed an audio dramatization of the story, released on Disneyland Records.