#cats swings

[mochatears]

Today, I have spent way too much time watching and rewatching that one Cats Gothenburg video that actually has more than two pixels! So I bring you the fruits of my labour: my attempt at labelling most of the cats!

Most of the characters who have portraits from the 2009 Cirkus Stockholm are easy enough, although some of their designs changed slightly between productions. When you do that, the names you’re left with are: Agustus, Etcetera, Moses, Plato, Savannah, Tintomara, and Victor. (Note: Isis also has a portrait from 2009, but isn’t pictured in this particular lineup. We have one extra male ensemble). Macavity doesn’t have a portrait, as his ensemble character, Quaxo, gets one instead, but it’s pretty easy to identify him during the curtain call based on what we can see from his appearance during the fight.

More under the cut. I have loads of poor quality pictures so this is gonna require a few reblogs, bear with me!!

I’m gonna start with some of the confirmed cats, since I’ve seen a bit of confusion while looking through the entire Gothenburg tag on here!!

This cat is Pouncival!

His makeup in the Gothenburg production seems to have looked like this though:

I kinda prefer it!

This cat is Electra

This cat is Tumblebrutus!

And the cat behind him is Exotica!

She seems to have been a kitten in this production, and took over Etcetera’s squealing in the Rum Tum Tugger. I really love her design 🥰

These portraits are from the website of, I think, the group responsible for the production. It’s no longer a working page, but I double checked on the wayback machine and the names all match so I think these are indeed the correct cats! I suppose their names could have been switched around between productions, but there’s really no way to know if that’s the case.

[flame-x]

A list of named swings and such

So. I know one of these already exists. BUT. I'm doing another. because i can

Old London Swings (pre-Revival, mostly late 80s and the 90s) Greycat/Hysperia/NBQ (nameless brown queen)- Greycat was sometimes known as NBQ, it depended on her costume, which ranged from grey to tan. Hysperia is a different cat who has sometimes been called NBQ by fans even though she isn't Greycat/NBQ AJ- "Almost Jemima". Female kitten Tabbygirl- more mature queen (usually covered adult roles) Patches- male kitten, often resembles Admetus Calico- male or female Caramel- male, looks very similar to Victor Victor- originated here but used in productions worldwide

Post-revival London Swings Electra (also Lightning Ellectra) George Pouncival Victor

Early Broadway Swings (80s and 90s) Spike- young male George- young male AJ- young female Greycat- female Carbucketty- male kitten, later cut when Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer became actual cats and not trash puppets Babygriz's design was also used as a swing

US Tour Swing Spike- different design. male.

China 2012 Grumbuskin Jemima Oliva Murad Quaxo Noilly Prat Latter four have since been used in other productions

Gothenburg 2006 Isis Ramses Garbo Shakespeare Tintomara Agustus Moses Savannah

Warsaw 2004 Fraszka Fantasia Sierściuch Zyleta/Kocik Le Miau Angelika Mamrotka Turbo Ptys Menello Bianco Kara Kotek

Tecklenburg 2015 Rocketta Eris Barnaby Buttons Bonzo Mab

Thunerseespiele 2017 Ishtar Luna Roxy

2009 Italian Tour Caligola Paride

Helsinki 1986 Aprilli Gilbert Lilli Marina Meijuli Grumbuskin/Rokkonen Russu Sibylla

Oslo 1985 Kvesesta Potefar Godnattakatt

The Named Swings Some of these are full ensemble characters in certain productions but when other productions cut that character or use an alternative, that name is often used for a swing. Admetus- when he's replaced by Plato, Admetus is sometimes used by a male/female swing Augustus Autumn Bill Bailey Carbucketty Electra Etcetera Exotica- first used to create a cameo for Femi Taylor (who played Tantomile in the OLC I'm pretty sure) in the 1998 film but has since been used for swings in large productions George- male kitten Jemima- female kitten Jonathan- male Murad- young male Noilly Prat- young female Olivia- young female Peter Quaxo- young male Victor- kind of an elderly male? his performer usually covers the older roles like Gus and Old Deuteronomy There's also a swing Babygriz in the current UK Tour

And now the mindfuck that is alternatives: Bill Bailey/Tumblebrutus- Bill Bailey originated in the original London production. Tumblebrutus was used instead of him on Broadway and in the 1998 film (the latter to maintain international something or other). In the 98 film it was Bill Bailey under the name Tumblebrutus. Carbucketty/Pouncival- Carbucketty originated in the original London production. As with Bill Bailey/Tumblebrutus, Pouncival was used instead of his London counterpart on Broadway and in the 1998 film. In the 98 film it was Carbucketty under the name Pouncival. Pouncival/George- the 2014 London Palladium production included a third male kitten aside from Carbucketty and Bil Bailey named Pouncival, who's design was actually much closer to the original London George character than to Carbucketty.

Quaxo/Mistoffelees- Big mindfuck! In UK-style productions, the performer is credited as Quaxo up until his song, where he is revealed to be The Magical Mr. Mistoffelees. This is usually explained as Mr. Mistoffelees being Quaxo's stage name. However, in some productions they're completely different cats, with Quaxo using a totally different design. Also, as Quaxo/Misto used to dance a tap dance duel against Jennyanydots while dressed as the lead beetle. Because of this, all pre-revival London productions attached the name Quaxo to the lead tap dancing beetle regardles of whether or not it was played by Mistoffelees. Plato/Admetus- Even bigger mindfuck! Admetus was the original double for Macavity in London and I think London-based prodctions still use Admetus. Plato is the Broadway version of the same cat. The Plato you see in the 1998 film is the Admetus design. Plato's design originally had a lot of brown and grey but since the 98 film, which used the Admetus design, you get a lot of "Admetus costume and makeup but named Plato". In productions where Plato is the Macavity double, the name Admetus is sometimes used for a swing (this is common in Australian-style productions) Admetus/George- This one is purely to do with the 98 film. Frank Thompson was credited with playing the Rumpus Cat and Admetus. Fans assumed the cat who was actually using the George design was Admetus, but it is unknown if the renaling of the George design to Admetus was intentional or not. Jemima/Sillabub- Jemima originated from the original London production but was renamed Sillabub in the US and in US-based prosuctions to avoid any negative racial connotations. Since then, the name Sillabub is used more often outside of Europe, though in productions where Sillabub is used as the principle version, the name Jemima is sometimes used for a female swing. Jemima is a named swing in the China 2012 and Shiki productions.

Other names There are two names in Old Possum's that haven't been used in any production (that I know of): James and Cat Morgan. Then there's Socrates, who is exclusive to the 2019 film.

So! That's that! Wow this got long and kinda detailed. If you've any questions/additions/whatever, send them in an ask and I'll do my best to answer.

There are many, many, more unnamed swings, but this is a compiled list of named swings.

I got the majority of my information from the wiki and also from this post by @/theimpossiblescheme.

[the-owl-tree]

when you think you're flirting but your crush is one moment away from taking a sledgehammer to your skull

excerpt from the star prologue that made me snicker

[catfindr]

[naamahdarling]

Iiiiiiiii'm gonna swing from the chandelie-heeeer!

From the chandelie-heeeer!!!

[thereweredragonshere]

Unrelated to the cats you've been drawing, your Hiccup looks like he'd he shit in close combat and if it came to that would scratch, bite and screech like a feral cat. Ideal Hiccup actually. I love your art

Oh he is so fucking hopeless in close combat. Give him his weird shield bow and arrow thing and yeah he’ll fuck you up but the moment you expect him to duel he’s done.

[dawnofiight]

Are yall the type to have one huge playlist or a bunch of mini playlists that have certain moods and genres put into them

- sincerely someone with a playlist filled with 4K songs

[skimmeh]

He has no idea

[retro-only-darling]

Ollie Reed and his kitten

[build-a-stim]

psyduck (2019) with water and animal/nature stims for anon

X | X | X || X | X | X || X | X | X

[mochatears]

Hello again! Back at it with the Oslo 85 prod! It’s my new hobby (oh no)!

So the cats from the 85 production I can’t confirm pictures for are George/Rumpus Cat, Coricopat, Tantomile, Quaxo, Carbucketty, as well as the three swing cats Godnattakatt, Potefar, and Kvesesta. I also don’t know what Victor or Plato look like, as the only pictures I have for them are of Bustopher and Macavity.

A second run of this production followed in 86, in which a majority of the cast reprised their roles, but there were some cast changes.

Based on these available images of this run of the production, it seems as though returning cast members (Jenny, Electra) wore relatively the same makeup/wig, while new cast had some changes (Jemima, Alonzo (although I’m tempted to say, in Alonzo’s case, it is not at all helped by the fact they had no idea how to shoot Calvin Ray Stiggers). With that being said, I think that these pictures of George, Quaxo, and Coricopat from 86 are probably mostly accurate to 85 as well.

On a final note, the 86 production may have featured the new addition of an ensemble character linked to Young Grizabella called MjauMjau (if you were unaware, the Oslo 85 prod is one of the ones that featured a younger version of Grizabella singing Memory alongside her, rather than Jemima; not to be confused with BabyGriz).

Disclaimer: I have no first hand sources for these character portraits, so it is possible that there maybe a mislabel somewhere here as a result of this decades long game of telephone.

If anyone wants to look at grainy group shots with me to see if we can spot the last few of these kitties, I’ll love you forever! Cos I think, even outside of my desire to know all the swing cats, having an incomplete list sitting here might actually drive me insane!!! ^w^

[sporeclan]

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SporeClan's first babies!!!! I love them so much

[lackadaisycats]

The Lackadaisy animated short film trailer~

Endless thanks to the incredible crew + cast who’ve put so much work and love for the craft into this! 

Film premieres in March on YouTube!

[stuffaboutminneapolis]

Boy in swing reading a book with his cat, Ramsey (1900?) via Anoka County Historical Society

[hiemaldesirae]

velvette needed models for her latest set

(outfits inspired by @lyrelotus' techwear vox and this twt post)

[mikeyp16]

That Moment when ur ex-teammate won’t stop biting ur ankles

Idk lol I don’t have much at the moment so here’s a silly image I made a few days ago.

Inspired by this silly Panel I found funny