 Determined to make a good impression for his first screenplay commission, Bricusse proved agreeably productive from the start for Jacobs, suggesting numerous story ideas and adding a female leading character to the film during their first meeting on May 6, 1965.Zanuck signed Bricusse on for a trial run, hiring him temporarily to complete two songs for the film and the first twenty pages of a script.Two weeks after he was brought on to the project, Bricusse presented the song "Talk to the Animals" composed in mind for Harrison in which he was officially hired.