"Have you been an alumnus of heaven and hell?"

Sideblog for Cats and Starlight Express because there is no rhyme or reason to what my autism happens to latch onto, there is only the resulting deadly intensity of my interest Casey, twenties, they/it

[alumnusofheavenandhell]

got this in my email

missed oppurrtunity to say "Coming this Jellicle fall" smh do I have to do everything around here

[cillyscribbles]

they've perfected the art of putting on the guise of pleasant conversation while cussing each other out in truly spectacular detail. in a household which includes munkustrap on his nigh sanctified quest to make these two get along, this was a necessity.

[cillyscribbles]

these were gonna be animatic designs but i got way in over my head about it. anyway they on da prowl

[sillybub]

Okay okay okay wait I'm sorry Regent's Park was aiming to overhaul Cats for modern audiences and they decided to keep the Racism Nexus Song

[sillybub]

[sillybub]

I have too much to say to really fit in a reply comment so I hope you don't mind me responding in post form! Thank you for asking, this is an important thing to discuss and ask questions and be curious about!

In my opinion:

The spirit of how the Siamese/Mongolian/Persian/Otherwise Asian cats were written is so inherently in bad taste that I think the number just needs to be abandoned altogether.

For Christ's sake the original poem and early versions of the show lyrics called them the C-slur. It was written to be mean about Asians and to me it feels disingenuous to behave otherwise/ignore that it's there. I'm not saying that you shouldn't think that Pirate Cats Doing Slaptick is fun. It IS fun. But in this instance it is also happening within the context of Really Shitty Racism that cannot be swept under the rug.

I think that going through the trouble of meticulously re-writing the entire song to remove/replace the Cruel Barbaric Scheming Asians Played By Actors in Yellowface would be a tremendous effort that to me kinda says "we care more about being able to have fun than being sensitive to an entire ethnicity of people and how portrayals like this perpetuate some nasty fucking stereotypes". I do not say this to attack or accuse anyone of being racist for enjoying Growltiger, but I do think it's important to question why we are willing to work so hard to try and salvage something that is inherently racist and hurtful.

To be clear, Pekes & Pollicles is not off the hook to me and I'd like to see a little more work put into it. I am much more critical about Growltiger because the racism has SO MUCH MORE PRESENCE in it than Pekes & Pollicles. To replace all the Asian cats in Growltiger would be more akin to having to replace all of the dogs in Pekes & Pollicles, not just the "heathen Chinese" mentioned in literally two lines. Though they should still do that, even the updated "winsome Chinese" has an unpleasant stink. The point is that imo rewriting is only a good option when it would be relatively small and unobtrusive, but the changes needed in Growltiger would make the entire number so unrecognizable that it ought to just be thrown out.

And if producers simply MUST have their funnyboy pirate cats and are willing to put that much work in, then they can just stage Billy McCaw and/or In Una Tepida Notte. Throw Cat Morgan in there too if while we're at it! Growltiger doesn't have to be here for us to have a fun pirate time

[gursevraq]

shipping the popular yaoi pairing but shaking my head while i do to indicate that i also care about the work's themes and other characters

[lotus-kittycats-yay]

I drew some Tuggoffelees.

[uncertainbravado]

theyre checking you out before they let you into the junkyard... they've decided you're good.

[bruzum]

[millenari]

So Costumes Dropped,

[soapyyycats]

bombi doodle

[uncertainbravado]

Cats as Cats!

had a lot of fun drawing these :3

[cillyscribbles]

jennyanydots' post-ball reflection tea party going great this year

evidently inspired by this post

[cillyscribbles]

everyone's telling me electra looks like she's taking a fat rip off a bong and i just wanted to say i am cilly scribble and i wholeheartedly endorse this message

[awliette]

POV you’re at the World Championship Railroad Race with the girlies

Closeup of the action:

[stanifortharchive]

" there's always me ♡ "

📸: Robert Workman

Another few breathtaking shots from Robert Workman, featuring Michael as C.B and Frances as Dinah.

All three of these photos are from angles never before seen: MASSIVE DAY FOR C.B FANS!!! I do wonder if C.B genuinely cared for Dinah, or if he was just manipulating her?

As with the last post, a huge thanks to both the Bishopsgate Institute and Robert Workman for giving me access to these photos. If you repost these pictures I urge you to credit the photographer— high quality pictures from this era of StEx are practically unheard of, so please do the bare minimum and give him the credits he deserves! [ — 🌽 ]

[rimtimtigger]

i don't think i'll ever have a consistent design for demeter ngl

[wetcatschwartzy]

anniversary cake