The film's title,To Catch a Thief, was based upon the ancient proverb: "Set a thief to catch a hief," with double meanings regarding a double-chase.Two live fawns in a small studio zoo were used as models for the young animated creatures, and many of the detailed drawings of the forest were based on photographs taken in the states of Maine and Vermont by Maurice "Jake" Day.Danny Kaye starred as ex-acrobat and minstrel entertainer Hubert Hawkins, one of the members of the "Merry Men" of The Black Fox (Edward Ashley), a Robin Hood-esque or Zorro-like hero/outlaw who was leading a group of rebel loyalists o protect the throne from usurpation....it's like Miss Tare just said, he wouldn't kill anything, not even an old mountain lion that had a bounty on him.