on december 9, 1961, walt disney suggested that harry tytle and tom mcgowan find some animal stories to adapt as a two-part live-action episode for the "wonderful world of color" television program. by new year's 1962, mcgowan had found several stories including a children's book about a mother cat and her kittens set in new york city. however, tytle felt that a london location had added a significant element to "one hundred and one dalmatians" and suggested setting the story of the cats in paris. following a rough storyline, the story became about two servants—a butler and a maid—who were in line to inherit a fortune of an eccentric mistress after the pet cats died and focused on their feeble and foolish attempts to eliminate the felines. boris karloff and francoise rosay were in mind to portray the butler and the distressed madame. a subplot centered around a mother cat hiding her kittens to keep them out of danger in a variety of different homes and locales around paris, france. during the filming of "escapade in florence", mcgowan brought him the story that had been written by tom rowe, an american writer who was living in paris.