Editing One Hundred and One Dalmatians (section)

===Story development===
The children's novel ''[[The Hundred and One Dalmatians]]'' by [[Dodie Smith]] had been published on November 19, 1956,{{sfn|Grove|1996|page=240}} to an immediate success.{{sfn|Allan|1999|page=236}} By February 1957, screenwriter [[Charles Brackett]] brought it to the attention of [[Walt Disney]],{{sfn|Grove|1996|page=241}} who acquired the film rights to the novel on November 26 of that year<ref name="AFICatalog">{{cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23705-ONE-HUNDREDANDONEDALMATIANS|title=One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)|publisher=[[American Film Institute]]|website=[[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]]|access-date=January 2, 2024|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240102190012/https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23705-ONE-HUNDREDANDONEDALMATIANS|archive-date=January 2, 2024}}</ref> (after lengthy negotiations)<ref name="SincerelyYours">{{cite AV media notes|title="Sincerely Yours, Walt Disney"|type=Bonus feature|publisher=[[Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment]]|format=DVD|edition=''101 Dalmatians'' Platinum DVD|year=2008|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ufNSGGrztA|via=[[YouTube]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607053233/https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=_ufNSGGrztA|archive-date=June 7, 2023}}</ref> for $25,000.{{sfn|Grove|1996|page=241}} The project was set to be Disney's next animated feature after ''[[Sleeping Beauty (1959 film)|Sleeping Beauty]]'' (which was still in production at the time)<ref name="SincerelyYours" /> and was originally expected to be finished within two years.<ref name="AFICatalog" /> Story artist [[Bill Peet]] was assigned to single-handedly develop the story,{{sfn|Barrier|2007|page=274}} marking the first time a Disney animated film was written by one person.{{sfn|Barrier|1999|page=567}} Disney also tasked Peet to write a detailed screenplay first before storyboarding; since Peet never learned to use a typewriter, he wrote the initial draft by hand on legal paper.{{sfn|Peet|1989|page=165}} The manuscript was completed and typed up within two months, after which, having received Disney's approval, Peet began storyboarding and was charged with recording the voice-over process.{{sfn|Peet|1989|pages=165–166}}  This was the first time that a complete screenplay was approved for a Disney feature animated film before storyboarding began, but it was "a short-lived experiment" and that particular approach would not be used again at Disney Animation until ''[[The Great Mouse Detective]]'' (1986).{{sfn|Peri|Docter|2024|p=195}}

Peet closely followed the plot of Smith's novel, but condensed some of its characters, which included Cruella's husband and cat,{{sfn|Koenig|1997|page=117}} as well as Cadpig, the female runt of Pongo and Missis' puppies, whose traits were transferred to Lucky in the final film.<ref name="101ForTheFamily" />{{efn|The Disney version of Cadpig was introduced as one of the main characters in [[101 Dalmatians: The Series|1997 animated TV series]].<ref name="TooningInTheFallSeason">{{cite magazine|date=September 6, 1997|title=Tooning in the Fall Season|url=https://www.awn.com/mag/issue2.6/2.6pages/2.6tooningin.html|magazine=[[Animation World Network|Animation World Magazine]]|issue=2|access-date=January 3, 2024|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404151027/https://www.awn.com/mag/issue2.6/2.6pages/2.6tooningin.html|archive-date=April 4, 2023}}</ref>}} He also merged two Dalmatian mothers, birth mother Missis and adopted mother Perdita, into one,{{sfn|Barrier|1999|page=567}} naming her after the latter;{{sfn|Koenig|1997|page=117}} likewise, Nanny Cook and Nanny Butler from the novel were amalgamated into one character, simply named Nanny.<ref name="101ForTheFamily" /> The Colonel's cat assistant was re-gendered from the female Pussy Willow into the male Sergeant Tibbs, and Horace Badun was renamed from Saul.{{sfn|Koenig|1997|pages=116-117}} Among other things, Peet retained a scene from the original book in which Pongo and Perdita exchange wedding vows in unison with their owners, who were also renamed from Mr. and Mrs. Dearly to Roger and Anita Radcliffe.<ref name="101ForTheFamily" /> However, after the [[Hays Code|censor board]] warned that it might offend certain religious audiences if the animals repeated the exact words of a solemn religious ceremony, it was reworked to be less religious, down to having Roger and Anita dressed in formal clothes.{{sfn|Koenig|1997|pages=117–118}} Also, the film's original ending involved the newly rich Roger selling his song about Cruella and buying the Hell Hall to turn it into a Dalmatian Plantation, with Pongo and Perdita expecting another litter of puppies. It was ultimately cut short and rewritten to have Dalmatians reunite with their owners after they escape from Cruella.{{sfn|Koenig|1997|page=118}}

Although Disney had not been as involved in the production of the animated films as frequently as in previous years, he was always present at story meetings.<ref name="Redefining the Line">{{cite AV media notes |title = Redefining the Line: The Making of One Hundred and One Dalmatians |url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZRm67FJH3Q |type = Bonus feature |publisher = Walt Disney Home Entertainment |location = Burbank, California |format = DVD |year = 2008 |via = YouTube |access-date = 2020-01-01 |archive-date = 2019-12-23 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191223111326/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZRm67FJH3Q |url-status = live }}</ref> When Peet sent Dodie Smith some drawings of the characters, she wrote back saying that he had improved her story and that the designs looked better than the illustrations in the book.