The film was not a success in Japan, opening at the bottom end of the top ten films of that week. Initially, it broke box-office opening records for a CGI animated movie in China at the time. However, numbers dropped after a few days. By the end of its run in China, it was not considered a box office success. Unlike two other U.S.-produced Japanese-based films had done previously: Dragonball Evolution (2009) and Speed Racer (2008) had tanked in Japan, but went on to be hugely successful in China.
As Astro Boy is under construction, the blueprint plan briefly seen has been drawn exactly as the character appeared in Astro Boy (1963).
A man in a red cap and glasses with a big nose appears in almost subliminal cameos throughout the film. This is the frequent self-caricature of Osamu Tezuka.
Samuel L. Jackson only speaks eleven words in this movie: "I'm old school", "Not just people", "The blue stuff", and "No biggy".
Isaac Asimov's "Three Laws of Robotics" are referenced a few times throughout the film. They are first mentioned when the RRF are introducing themselves to Astro. The laws, paraphrased, are as follows:
1) A robot may not harm a human being, or through inaction, allow a human to come to harm.
2) A robot must obey orders given it by a human being, as long as doing so does not conflict with the First Law.
3) A robot must protect its own existence, as long as such protection does not interfere with the First or Second Law.