Unusually, a story arc is present in this episode involving the Sleestak "dormant season", which continues into the following episode Follow That Dinosaur (1974).
The first feature film that producer Sid Krofft saw was The Wizard of Oz (1939), which the then-10-year-old caught during its original theatrical run. He has frequently cited it as his favorite movie. The encounter with the possessive being has many visual similarities to the Wizard's throne room, and the being says "I am the great and powerful," just like the Wizard did.
When Cha-Ka encounters the possessed Holly he twice exclaims "Ogansa tusa!" In the Pakuni language these words respectively mean "magic" and "tall" - essentially the phrase means "big magic."