This marks the final appearance of Tom's notorious owner. He was consequently dropped from the series after this short due to gaining negative attention by fans and viewed the way he treated Tom was depicted as "animal cruelty". He was later replaced by a thin female owner in the next short, Buddies... Thicker Than Water (1962).
Sorry Safari (1962) was banned from Cartoon Network and Boomerang in the 2010s due to dark humor involving Tom's bald owner, as his actions of verbally punishing Tom are subjected to animal cruelty.
The elephant rental agency, Nertz, is a play on the car rental company Hertz. Both businesses accept credit cards, apparently. (Hertz used that as an advertising enticement).
The colorful background jungle foliage is fancifully rendered in a swinging sixties style, just a few years before everything became mod.
The arriving jet bears the red and white color scheme of the national airline of the former Czechoslovakia (where director Gene Deitch resided). Founded in 1923, the airline (CSA) still flies as the flag carrier of the present day Czech Republic.