It's Great to be a Cat (2023)

About

It’s Great to Be a Cat was released in January 2023 as part of a collaboration between Robbie Williams and FELIX, the Purina pet-food brand. The song accompanied a Europe-wide campaign celebrating feline personality traits such as independence and playfulness, marking one of Williams’s most unusual standalone releases.

The track was recorded specifically for the campaign, with Williams voicing the animated character Felix the Cat and appearing in the promotional film. The music combined playful swing instrumentation with orchestral backing performed by the Metropole Orkest, arranged to evoke the charm of classic show tunes. The video, filmed in Amsterdam, blended live action and animation to humorous effect. Lasting around ninety seconds, it was released as both a promotional single and part of the brand’s short film.

Lyrically, It’s Great to Be a Cat celebrates the self-assured and mischievous nature of cats, highlighting their agility and independence. Williams delivers the lines with theatrical warmth, echoing the light entertainment tone of his earlier swing recordings rather than his pop catalogue.

“The cat is out of the bag … I love how my cats live their lives exactly how they want, when they want. They’re masters at being mischievous, true to themselves, confident, free-spirited and playful.”Robbie Williams, 2023

Though not part of a studio album, the project demonstrates Williams’s versatility and his willingness to explore character-driven music. It also began an ongoing association with FELIX, which he revisited in a 2025 continuation of the campaign. The song remains a light-hearted curiosity in his discography, illustrating his flair for humour and performance.