In the original novel by William Stevenson, Jackie's pet galago is named Kamau rather than Komba. Kamau was also the name of the real-life bushbaby that inspired Stevenson's work.
Jackie's family's surname in the novel is Rhodes, as opposed to Leeds.
Tembo refers to Jackie numerous times as "mtoto". Mtoto is Swahili for "child."
The anthem sung by the characters at the church is called "Onward, Christian Soldiers," a nineteenth century English hymn. Its words were written originally by Sabine Baring-Gould in 1865, and the music was composed by Arthur Sullivan in 1871, a tune he named "St. Gertrude."
The film reveals that John Leeds's wife, Penelope Leeds, had died during the uprising of 1961. In the novel by William Stevenson, Penelope (who is referred to as "Penny") still lives, and so do Jackie's siblings, whom are all absent in the film.
The film was made available on VHS from MGM/Warner in 1993, its last home video release. Since then, it has remained as part of Metro Goldwyn Mayer's infamous moratorium of unreleased films.