Rum Tum Tugger an homage to Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones. This homage is apparent in the way he moves on stage in the original Gillian Lynne choreography and the costume styling. His type of cat was said to be Maine Coon, because of his wild mane and being portrayed as being much bigger than the other cats. Rum Tum Tugger Rum Tum Tugger is one of the many feline characters in the poetry book "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" by T. S. Eliot, published in 1939, and in the musical "Cats", which premiered in 1981 and is based on Eliot's
The King of the Cats 1929 short story "The King of the Cats" based around this folk story was selected by The Library of America for inclusion in its two-century retrospective of "American Fantastic Tales", edited by Peter Straub. Frances Jenkins Olcott's 1942 anthology "Good Stories For Great Holidays" included a version of Charlotte S. Burne's "The King of the Cats" adapted by Ernest Rhys. Barbara Sleigh's 1955 children's book "" is inspired in part by this tale, as are its two sequels, "The Kingdom of Carbonel" and "Carbonel and Callidor", which make up the "Carbonel" series. Peter Straub's 1980 novel, "Shadowland" also references the