Paul Gallico, the author of the movie's source novel, was invited to the set during filming, and quickly came to dislike "the great god Disney". Therefore, he was vastly amused when one of the felines portraying Thomasina held up filming for two days by flatly refusing to perform a stunt for which she had been trained, in spite of
Walt Disney's frustrated bellowing.
Paul Gallico recalled in his memoirs: "I was proud of that cat!" As with many films with animals, more than one cat was used to portray Thomasina. Disney introduced the film when it aired on television (it's included in the DVD special features), during which he indicated that Paul Gallico was his friend.
