The story's theme was that a family needs to pull together in tough times to move ahead.
[1] Dante Amodeo of Jacksonville Beach was approached at a book signing for his young adult mystery novel Saban and the Ancient (2006) by a local TV producer for family friendly scripts.
The story then tested so well that the Family Movie Night partners purchased the idea.
Amodeo then wrote the screenplay before it was handed off to Douglas Barr to finalize the story.
[5] Production took place in Montreal with a 100-foot "mountain" built on a football field-size sound stage.