Mungojerrie

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Mungojerrie is a character in T. S. Eliot's book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats and the musical CATS.

Mungojerrie and his partner in crime, Rumpleteazer, specialize in petty theft and mischief. In Eliot's original poem "Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer", they are depicted knocking over Ming vases and stealing items from their human family. Mungojerrie is also mentioned in the poem "Macavity, the Mystery Cat" as being one of Macavity's agents.

Onstage, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are usually costumed as orange, black and brown calico cats. In the original Broadway production, Mungojerrie doubled as another character, Coricopat. The "Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer" song was sung by Mister Mistoffelees. Both of these were changed a few years into the run of the show (So that in more recent productions, it is Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer who perform the number to their own unique dance number where both latch onto each other and do a "double windmill" across the stage). By the end of the recent number both are eventually thrown out of the junkyard by the Jellicles. In addition, two distinct versions of the "Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer" music exist; one is upbeat, the other has a slower tempo.

Mungojerrie (left) as portrayed by Drew Varley.
Mungojerrie (left) as portrayed by Drew Varley.

Mungojerrie was portrayed by Drew Varley in the CATS movie.

A cat in Dean Koontz's Christopher Snow series is also named Mungojerrie.

The skiffle band Mungo Jerry, most famous for their hit "In the Summertime," is named after this character.

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