This film takes place between Session 22 Cowboy Funk (1999) and Session 23 Brain Scratch (1999) of the Cowboy Bebop (1998) series.
The full English title of the film is "Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door". However, supposedly due to copyright disputes over the subtitle "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (after a Bob Dylan song of the same name), Columbia Tristar, who is releasing the film in the United States, shortened the name to just "Cowboy Bebop: The Movie".
The mysterious Rasheed is based on the Moroccan guide who accompanied the movie-staff while they were scouting locations.
Contrary to popular belief, there was no rotoscoping or tracing used for the lifelike characters in the opening credits.