The first song Ella sings, "Somebody to Love" was not the original song choice. Tommy O'Haver had discovered that Anne Hathaway didn't have very good chemistry with their first choice, a more classical "fairy-tale" song. O'Haver and Hathaway were relaxing when she starting singing along and dancing to the song that was currently playing: Queen's "Somebody to Love". They both decided that "this was it".
Overcast skies in Ireland were digitized a brilliant blue to create more of a fairytale atmosphere.
During the fight scene with the ogres, a horse fell on stuntman Rob Inch, shattering his pelvis in thirty places.
The opening shot took about 6-7 months to create, it mixed live action and models.