The existing footage of Judy Garland shot prior to her leaving the production shows that some key sequences, most notably "I'm an Indian Too" were originally to have been shot on a sound-stage, rather than outdoors. Besides the major roles mentioned above, several child roles were also recast between Garland leaving the film and production resuming with Betty Hutton, as evidenced by the Garland version of "Doin' What Comes Naturally".
The original Broadway show "Annie Get Your Gun" opened at the Imperial Theater on May 16, 1946 starring Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton and ran for 1,147 performances.
The original filming of the opening number, "Colonel Buffalo Bill," with Frank Morgan appearing as Buffalo Bill, and Geraldine Wall featured as Dolly Tate, is an extra on the DVD release from Warner Home Video.
Writers Dorothy and Herbert Fields and Producers Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II had originally arranged for Jerome Kern to write the musical score. When Kern died suddenly, he was replaced by Irving Berlin. This was the first time that Irving Berlin wrote a score for a show with an existing plot. In his many musical plays and films the songs were written first, then the scripts were written for the situations suggested by the songs.