The holo program entrancing Neel's younger siblings is an homage to a series of acrobatic dancers portrayed in The Star Wars Holiday Special in 1978. Costume designers referenced the original wardrobe sketches from the special and rebuilt the costumes from scratch.

Although sharing similar features to the Ortolan species, which counts Max Rebo among its most famous examples, Neel and his family belong to an all-new species.

The droid driver at the controls of the school tram is an RX-Series pilot droid. A similar model, RX-24, was the pilot of the original Star Tours, flew a commuter shuttle in the Star Wars Rebels episode "Droids in Distress," and most recently started a new career DJing at Oga's Cantina inside Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.

Bonjj Phalfa, the racer who taunts Fern, is named as an homage to nefarious hot-rodder Bob Falfa, played by Harrison Ford in American Graffiti.

Ravi Cabot-Conyers, who plays Wim, has described the gray milk in his cereal as tasting "gray."

In addition to gloves and pads, Fern wears her school jacket inside out when she's hoverbike racing or at school. The only time we see her jacket flipped is when she's at home talking to her mother.