 The film provided visual relief from the war and, as one of the few fantastical films produced by the Ministry of Propaganda, represented a rare opportunity for escapism.After viewing parts of the film, Hitler instructed Goebbels to ensure that, “Kästner should have no further assignments.”

When the film was first released it had a run time of 133 minutes, however a second re-censored version was released three months later with a run time of 118 minutes, indicating the decision to remove the most controversial aspects of the film by the Ministry of Propaganda.Today a 114-minute version exists in the Murnau Foundation.