''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' (1939) is a collection of whimsical light poems by T. S. Eliot about feline

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and

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, published by Faber and Faber. It serves as the basis for Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 musical '' Cats''. Eliot wrote the poems in the 1930s and included them, under his assumed name "Old Possum", in letters to his godchildren. They were collected and published in 1939, with cover illustrations by the author, and quickly re-published in 1940, illustrated in full by

Nicolas Bentley Nicolas Clerihew Bentley (14 June 1907 – 14 August 1978) was a British writer and illustrator, best known for his humorous cartoon drawings in books and magazines in the 1930s and 1940s. The son of Edmund Clerihew Bentley (inventor of the clerih ...

. They have also been published in versions illustrated by

Edward Gorey Edward St. John Gorey (February 22, 1925 – April 15, 2000) was an American writer, Tony Award-winning costume designer, and artist, noted for his own illustrated books as well as cover art and illustration for books by other writers. Hi ...

(1982),

Axel Scheffler Axel Scheffler (born ) is a German illustrator and animator based in London. He is best known for his cartoon-like pictures for children's books, in particular ''The Gruffalo'' and ''The Gruffalo's Child'', written by Julia Donaldson. He has ...

(2009) and Rebecca Ashdown (2014).

The contents of ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'', along with the names of the featured cats where appropriate, are: * "

The Naming of Cats "The Naming of Cats" is a poem in T. S. Eliot's 1939 poetry book ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats''. It was adapted into a musical number in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 musical '' Cats'', and has also been quoted in other films, notably '' Lo ...

" * "The Old Gumbie Cat" ( Jennyanydots) * "

Growltiger's Last Stand Growltiger is a fictional character appearing in both T. S. Eliot's ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical '' Cats'' which is based on Eliot's book. He is described as a "bravo cat who lived upon a barge", one ...

" * "The

Rum Tum Tugger Rum Tum Tugger is one of the many feline characters in the 1939 poetry book ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' by T. S. Eliot, and in the 1981 musical '' Cats'' which is based on Eliot's book. Rum Tum Tugger is a rebellious Jellicle cat wh ...

" * "The Song of the Jellicles" * "

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are fictional characters in T. S. Eliot's 1939 poetry book ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats''. The Jellicle cat duo are mischievous petty thieves who often cause trouble for their human family. Although origi ...

" * "

Old Deuteronomy Old Deuteronomy is a character in T. S. Eliot's 1939 '' Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' and its 1981 musical adaptation, ''Cats''. He is a wise and beloved elderly cat, further serving as the Jellicle patriarch in the musical. The role of O ...

" * " (Of) The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles (Together with Some Account of the Participation of the Pugs and the Poms and the Intervention of the Great

Rumpus Cat The Great Rumpus Cat is a fictional character from T.S. Eliot's 1939 book ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' and in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 musical, '' Cats''. The Great Rumpus Cat appears in the poem " Of the Awefull Battle of the Peke ...

)" * "

Mr. Mistoffelees Mr. Mistoffelees is a character in T. S. Eliot's 1939 poetry book ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' and its 1981 musical adaptation, Andrew Lloyd Webber's '' Cats''. Mistoffelees is a young black-and-white tuxedo cat with magical powers ...

" * "

Macavity Macavity the Mystery Cat, also called the Hidden Paw, is a fictional character in T. S. Eliot's 1939 poetry book ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats''. He also appears in the Andrew Lloyd Webber 1981 musical ''Cats'', which is based on Elio ...

: The Mystery Cat" * " Gus: The Theatre Cat" * "Bustopher Jones: The Cat about Town" * "

Skimbleshanks Skimbleshanks is a character in T. S. Eliot's 1939 book of poetry ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' and in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 musical ''Cats'', which is based on Eliot's book. The character is portrayed as a bright and energetic ora ...

: The Railway Cat" * "The Ad-dressing of Cats" * "Cat Morgan Introduces Himself" (added in the 1952 edition)

Adaptations

In 1954, English composer Alan Rawsthorne set six of the poems in a work for speaker and orchestra entitled ''Practical Cats'', which was recorded soon afterwards, with the actor

Robert Donat Friedrich Robert Donat (18 March 1905 – 9 June 1958) was an English actor. He is best remembered for his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's '' The 39 Steps'' (1935) and '' Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' (1939), winning for the latter the Academy Award f ...

as the speaker. At about the same time another English composer,

Humphrey Searle Humphrey Searle (26 August 1915 – 12 May 1982) was an English composer and writer on music. His music combines aspects of late Romanticism and modernist serialism, particularly reminiscent of his primary influences, Franz Liszt, Arnold Schoen ...

, composed another narrated piece based on the poems, using flute, piccolo, cello and guitar. This work, ''Two Practical Cats'', consists of settings of the poems about Macavity and Growltiger. The best-known musical adaptation of the poems is Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical '' Cats'', which was premiered in the West End of London in 1981 and on Broadway in 1982. It became the longest-running Broadway show in history until it was overtaken by another musical by Lloyd Webber, ''The Phantom of the Opera''. As well as the characters found in the book, ''Cats'' introduces several additional characters from Eliot's unpublished drafts, most notably

Grizabella Grizabella the Glamour Cat is a main character in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical ''Cats''. Lonely and decrepit, Grizabella seeks acceptance from the other Jellicle cats but is initially ostracised. She sings the most famous song from the musical ...

. The musical was adapted into a

direct-to-video film Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was ...

in 1998. A feature film adaptation of ''Cats'' was released on 20 December 2019. As of December, 2019, the feature film's production cost was $100 million but only grossed $38.3 million globally, yielding an approximate $70 million loss.

Cultural references

In the film ''Logan's Run'', Logan and Jessica meet an old man in the ruins of the United States Senate Chamber during their search for Sanctuary. The Old Man has many cats and refers to the poem "The Naming of Cats", explaining that each cat has three names: one common, one fancy and one that only the cat knows. Later the Old Man refers to one cat in particular, "Gus", short for "Asparagus", and goes on to recite parts of "Macavity: the Mystery Cat". The British rock band

Mungo Jerry Mungo Jerry are a British rock band, formed by Ray Dorset in Ashford, Middlesex in 1970. Experiencing their greatest success in the early 1970s, with a changing lineup always fronted by Ray Dorset, the group's biggest hit was " In the Summer ...

derived their name from the book's poem "

Comparable work

On 5 June 2009, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' revealed that in 1937 Eliot had composed a 34-line poem entitled "Cows" for the children of Frank Morley, a friend who, like Eliot, was a director of the publishing company Faber and Faber. Morley's daughter, Susanna Smithson, uncovered the poem as part of the BBC Two programme ''Arena: T.S. Eliot'', broadcast that night as part of the BBC Poetry Season.Arena: TS Eliot – Cows, unpublished poem, revealed at bbc.co.uk
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References

General references

* *Larsen, Janet Karsten (1982) "Eliot's Cats Come Out Tonight", ''Christian Century''. May 5, 1982, p. 534.

External links