Skimbleshanks

About

Skimbleshanks is a character in Cats the musical. In the show, the character sings a song about its life as a "railway cat," a cat which keeps things in order upon a train. After the release of the 2019 film adaptation of Cats, the character became popular among viewers as many commented that its song was among the more memorable in the film.

Origin

In Andrew Lloyd Weber's 1981 musical Cats, Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat appears in the second act and sings a song about his life keeping order upon a train (stage version shown below). In the 2019 film adaptation, the character is played by Steven McRae.^[1]

Spread

After the film's December 20th, 2019 release, audience members remarked upon Skimbleshanks the character as well as his song, noting it was one of the more catchy in the show, even if the film was weird overall. For example, Twitter user @meganamram^[2] wrote, "I think CATS the movie gives you the same brain parasites that real cats do. It's all I can think about. It's all I can talk about. I've been listening to Skimbleshanks on loop for 50 hours," gaining over 350 retweets and 5,600 likes (shown below, left). Twitter user @patrickhwillems^[3] wrote, "Cats: transcends simple descriptors like “good” or “bad.” One of the most deeply weird things I’ve ever seen. I applauded at least ten times. Skimbleshanks is the best. Cat Rebel Wilson eats dancing cockroaches," gaining over 40 retweets and 670 likes (shown below, right).

The fandom continued in the weeks after Cats' release. On December 30th, 2019, Natalie Walker^[4] tweeted, "I can drink coffee at any time and sleep fine but I cannot listen to Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat after 9pm," gaining over 500 retweets and 5,200 likes (shown below, left). Twitter user @KendraJames_^[5] changed her display handle to "Skimbleshanks Hive" and tweeted, "Jellicle's Choice: Grizzabella. People's Choice: Skimbleshanks," gaining over 150 retweets and 900 likes (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References