Whenever John Lasseter and Nancy Lasseter go anywhere on vacation, she always makes a point of buying a snow globe from that particular place. It was from this practice that the initial idea for the film was born.
Bobby McFerrin recorded the soundtrack to a rough cut with dummy credits that only read "blah-blah", so he ad-libbed some blah-blah-blahs for this portion. John Lasseter enjoyed this and kept them in.
The film was completely rebuilt and re-rendered for release in theaters preceding Finding Nemo (2003). In this version, the girl on the "Miami" knick knack and the mermaid in the fish bowl have undergone a breast reduction, and the mermaid is now wearing a seashell bra rather than just starfish pasties, presumably to make the short more family friendly. However, both of the knick knacks can be seen in their "uncensored" form briefly in Toy Story 2 (1999).
Shown with the theatrical release of Finding Nemo (2003) and the 2006 Disney Digital 3-D theatrical re-release of The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).