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. Some think of Rumpleteazer either being his sister or his mate. 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 rumoured to be one of Macavity's agents.

Onstage, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are usually costumed as orange, black and brown calico cats. In the original Broadway production, Coricopat doubled as Mungojerrie in the skit they put on for Bustopher Jones in the song 'Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer' originally sung by Mr. Mistoffelees, not Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer themselves. 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 was portrayed by Drew Varley in the CATS movie, and John Thornton in the original London West End cast. In the original Broadway production he was played by Rene Clemente who was Coricopat as well as Mungojerrie. 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.