Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

E20949

book children's poetry poetry collection

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats is a whimsical collection of light verse about anthropomorphic cats by T. S. Eliot, best known today as the basis for the musical "Cats."

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All labels observed (19)

Label	Occurrences
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats canonical	17
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats	14
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats universe	3
Macavity: The Mystery Cat	2
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats (1939)	2
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats universe	2
"Growltiger's Last Stand" in Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats	1
Bustopher Jones: The Cat About Town	1
Gus: The Theatre Cat	1
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (poetry collection)	1
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot	1
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats poem cycle	1
The Ad-dressing of Cats	1
The Cat	1
The Song of the Jellicles	1
poem "Gus: The Theatre Cat"	1
poem "Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat"	1
the collection "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats"	1
“The Magical Mr. Mistoffelees”	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T167849 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
Context triple: [T. S. Eliot, notableWork, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats]

A. The Wind in the Willows
The Wind in the Willows is a classic 1908 children’s novel by Kenneth Grahame that follows the adventures and friendships of anthropomorphic animals along an English riverbank.
B. Buckthorne and His Friends
Buckthorne and His Friends is a section of Washington Irving’s 1824 story collection Tales of a Traveller, featuring interconnected tales centered on the character Buckthorne and his social circle.
C. Blaze the Trail Cat
Blaze the Trail Cat is the energetic, feline-themed mascot who entertains fans at Portland Trail Blazers basketball games.
D. The Surrey with the Fringe on Top
"The Surrey with the Fringe on Top" is a lighthearted romantic show tune from the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical *Oklahoma!* that charmingly describes a fanciful horse-drawn carriage ride.
E. The Milk-Eyed Mender
The Milk-Eyed Mender is the 2004 debut studio album by American singer-songwriter and harpist Joanna Newsom, noted for its intricate lyrics, distinctive vocals, and folk-inspired arrangements.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
Target entity description: Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats is a whimsical collection of light verse about anthropomorphic cats by T. S. Eliot, best known today as the basis for the musical "Cats."

A. The Wind in the Willows
The Wind in the Willows is a classic 1908 children’s novel by Kenneth Grahame that follows the adventures and friendships of anthropomorphic animals along an English riverbank.
B. Buckthorne and His Friends
Buckthorne and His Friends is a section of Washington Irving’s 1824 story collection Tales of a Traveller, featuring interconnected tales centered on the character Buckthorne and his social circle.
C. Blaze the Trail Cat
Blaze the Trail Cat is the energetic, feline-themed mascot who entertains fans at Portland Trail Blazers basketball games.
D. The Surrey with the Fringe on Top
"The Surrey with the Fringe on Top" is a lighthearted romantic show tune from the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical *Oklahoma!* that charmingly describes a fanciful horse-drawn carriage ride.
E. The Milk-Eyed Mender
The Milk-Eyed Mender is the 2004 debut studio album by American singer-songwriter and harpist Joanna Newsom, noted for its intricate lyrics, distinctive vocals, and folk-inspired arrangements.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (50)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	book ⓘ children's poetry ⓘ poetry collection ⓘ
adaptedAs	Cats (2019 film, indirectly via the musical) ⓘ linked to: Cats (2019 film) Cats (musical) ⓘ
author	T. S. Eliot ⓘ
containsPoem	Bustopher Jones: The Cat about Town ⓘ linked to: Bustopher Jones Growltiger's Last Stand ⓘ Gus: The Theatre Cat ⓘ linked to: Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats Macavity: The Mystery Cat ⓘ linked to: Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats Mr. Mistoffelees ⓘ Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer ⓘ Of the Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles ⓘ Old Deuteronomy ⓘ Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat ⓘ linked to: Skimbleshanks The Ad-dressing of Cats ⓘ linked to: Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats The Naming of Cats ⓘ The Rum Tum Tugger ⓘ The Song of the Jellicles ⓘ linked to: Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
countryOfOrigin	United Kingdom ⓘ
genre	comic verse ⓘ light verse ⓘ nonsense poetry ⓘ
hasCharacter	Bustopher Jones ⓘ Growltiger ⓘ Gus ⓘ Macavity ⓘ Mr. Mistoffelees ⓘ Mungojerrie ⓘ linked to: Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer Old Deuteronomy ⓘ Rum Tum Tugger ⓘ linked to: The Rum Tum Tugger Rumpelteazer ⓘ Skimbleshanks ⓘ
hasSubject	London ⓘ linked to: London, England anthropomorphic cats ⓘ
illustratedEditionBy	Edward Gorey ⓘ
intendedAudience	children ⓘ general readers ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
literaryStyle	humorous ⓘ whimsical ⓘ
mediaType	print ⓘ
notableFor	being the basis of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats ⓘ
originalPublisher	Faber and Faber ⓘ
publicationDate	1939 ⓘ
setting	London streets and theatres ⓘ urban environments ⓘ
timePeriodOfCreation	1930s ⓘ
titleOrigin	Old Possum (Eliot's nickname from Ezra Pound) ⓘ linked to: T. S. Eliot
writer	T. S. Eliot ⓘ

How these facts were elicited