[3] Chilly Willy was inspired by mystery writer Stuart Palmer, according to Scott MacGillivray's book Castle Films: A Hobbyist's Guide.

[5] Paul J. Smith initially based Chilly's design on a separate penguin character from Lantz' 1945 cartoon Sliphorn King of Polaroo, but would later be redesigned by Tex Avery in his second appearance, I'm Cold in 1954.

[6] Chilly Willy appeared in 50 theatrical short subjects produced by Lantz from 1953 to 1972, most of which involve his attempts to stay warm, and often meeting opposition from a dog named Smedley (voiced by Daws Butler).

Many times, the notion of a plot was extremely weak, appearing to be a random collection of loosely related gags as opposed to a coherent story.

The initial version of Chilly Willy resembled Woody Woodpecker, except with flippers and black feathers, but he was redesigned in to his more familiar form in subsequent cartoons.

The next time he spoke was in The Woody Woodpecker Show Halloween special Spook-A-Nanny in 1964, with Daws Butler providing Chilly's voice until the end of the series in a style similar to his Elroy Jetson characterization.

Also in the comic book stories, Chilly had two nephews named Ping and Pong, similar to how Woody Woodpecker is uncle to twins Knothead and Splinter.