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Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

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Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Puss in Boots The Last Wish June Poster
General information
Title

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Length

102 minutes

Release Date

December 21, 2022

Release on DVD

February 28, 2023

Genre

Fantasy

Production information
Directed by

Joel Crawford
Januel Mercado

Produced by

Mark Swift

Starring
Preceded by: Succeeded by:
Puss in Boots Puss in Boots: The Last Wish The Trident
Shrek 5
—
“ Say hola to his little friends. ”

—Tagline

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a 2022 3D computer animated comedy action film directed by Joel Crawford and produced by DreamWorks Animation. The film is a sequel to Puss in Boots (2011) and a spin-off to the Shrek franchise.

The film was released on December 21st, 2022.

Plot[]

Set after the events of Shrek Forever After, Puss in Boots hosts a party in a governor's mansion of Del Mar when he is caught. In the ensuing fight, he wakes a giant, which attacks everyone. He manages to subdue it, but is crushed by a bell shortly after.

Waking up, he is informed by a Doctor that he only has one life left out of the nine; the others having been squandered in various ways (being rammed by bulls in Pamplona while talking to a lady about liking gazpacho, getting mauled by dogs for cheating in poker, jumping off a tower while getting drunk in Switzerland, trying to lift a barbell without a spotter and getting crushed in the process, exploding in a cannon test gone wrong, having a food allergy after eating shellfish, accidentally burning himself on an oven with Gingy in Drury Lane, and getting crushed by the bell from today).

Puss initially laughs it off, but after getting scarred and nearly killed in a duel with a black-hooded wolf in a local pub that night, he reluctantly (as recommended by the doctor) goes to the house of Mama Luna, an elderly cat lady, to be a domesticated pet.

Time passes, and he soon meets a dog disguised as a cat, but their conversation is cut short when Goldilocks and the Three Bears show up to find him. However, after they find his "grave", they inadvertently reveal the existence of a Wishing Star to Puss and that the map pointing it will be delivered to "Big" Jack Horner that night. Seeing it as an opportunity to restore his lives back, Puss breaks into Jack's factory to steal the map, unexpectedly reuniting with Kitty SoftPaws who holds a grudge on him after a previous incident at Santa Coloma. After a skirmish with Goldi's group and Jack Horner's goons, Puss, Kitty and Perrito (the dog from earlier who followed him) manage to escape with the map which instructs them to go to the Dark Forest.

Entering the forest, the trio find out that the dimension morphs into different landscapes to whoever wields the map. The dimension transforms into a hellish setting for Puss and Kitty, while Perrito is given a nice setting. While riding downstream, Puss gets his beard shaved off by Kitty before getting rid of a stick which Perrito follows, leading to the latter being captured by Jack. Mid-fight, Puss sees the hooded wolf again and runs off in fear, distracting Kitty and enabling Goldi to obtain the map.

Puss elaborates what happened at Santa Coloma to Perrito; he left Kitty at the altar at the town’s church on their supposed engagement, which he has regretted ever since. Kitty overhears their conversation and reveals that she never came to the altar either, feeling like she could never compete with someone who loves himself more than her. The two manage to reclaim the map from Goldi's group but Perrito is captured once again. As the dimension morphs, Puss is accidentally trapped in the Cave of Lost Souls after touching the map and instructs Kitty to retrieve Perrito.

Inside the cave, Puss encounters his past lives and the hooded wolf again, who introduces himself as "Death" and reveals that he wants to obtain Puss's last life as retribution for evading him. Puss cowardly runs away with the map, an act which Kitty and Perrito see from afar. Meanwhile, Goldi reveals that she wishes for a real family. Even though it's to the Bears' dismay, they oblige to help her if it's what she really wants.

Finally reaching the star, Puss is about to make his wish but is stopped by Kitty, who calls him out for his selfishness. Shortly after, they are interrupted by Goldi and Jack and a fight ensues, during which Jack is thrown into his never-ending nanny bag by Kitty and Goldi saves Baby when he is almost thrown off the star.

Puss encounters Death again and a fierce duel erupts between the two. However, Death begrudgingly decides to spare Puss after the latter boldly stands up to him but remarks that "they will meet again" before departing. Puss reconciles with Kitty and gives her the map, but she doesn't need it. Just then, Jack re-emerges from his bag, having eaten some cookies in Wonderland that makes him grow big, and seizes the map from Puss and Kitty. As Jack attempts to make a wish, Perrito manages to distract him long enough for Puss, Kitty and Goldi to reclaim and rip the map to shreds, causing the Wishing Star to collapse and kill Jack after it violently implodes when the former attempts to reassemble the map.

In the aftermath, Goldi finally accepts being a part of the bear family and Puss and Kitty rekindle their relationship. Perrito also finally gets his name, sticking with Perrito and saying it suits him. Sometime later, Puss, Kitty and Perrito (now wanted as "Team Friendship"; even when they still hate that team name) steal a boat from the Governor and set sail to reunite with "some old friends" at the Kingdom of Far Far Away.

Cast[]

Additional Voices[]

Shrek, Donkey and Mister Geppetto appear in non-speaking appearances via brief flashbacks, as does Imelda from the first Puss in Boots[1].

Development[]

In November 2012, executive producer Guillermo del Toro said that they already did a couple of script drafts for a sequel, and that the director Chris Miller wants to take Puss on an adventure to exotic places. In April 2014, Antonio Banderas, the voice of Puss, said that the work on the sequel had just begun. In June 2014, the movie was titled Puss in Boots 2: Nine Lives & 40 Thieves and was scheduled to be released on November 2, 2018. Two months later, it was moved back to December 21, 2018. In January 2015, Puss in Boots 2 was removed from the release schedule following corporate restructuring and DreamWorks Animation's new policy to release two films a year. Two months later, Banderas said in an interview that the script was under restructuring, and that Shrek may appear in the film.

On November 6, 2018, it was revealed in a Variety interview with Chris Meledandri, the founder and CEO of Illumination, that both the movie and Shrek 5 were in the works. However there weren't other news after this leaving the fate of both films uncertain for a year. On February 26, 2019 it was revealed that the sequel is still in development. Now with an undetermined release, Bob Persichetti of Spider-Verse was slated to direct the movie.

Production[]

In August 2020, DreamWorks Animation trademarked the name "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish", indicating the new title for the movie. Later, it was confirmed that The Croods: A New Age director Joel Crawford was replacing Persichetti as director. While Crawford and his crew were relatively free with the previous film, he noted that DreamWorks was extremely particular with how they wanted to continue Puss in Boots' story. This pressure was also place on the writers, Paul Fisher and Tom Swerdlow, the latter of whom wrote the original story with Tom Wheeler (who wrote the first Puss in Boots). According to Crawford, the story itself originate from Guillermo del Toro's idea of Puss burning through eight of his nine lives and facing his mortality.

When the film first entered production, it was decided to embrace a unique art direction to help advance animation techniques. Instead of the more pseudo-realistic visuals of previous entries, the project would look more like storybook illustrations sprung to life. This was initially suggested by Nate Wragg, the film's production designer, and was met with unanimous approval- citing Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse as a justification for this new direction. To accommodate the new art style, new technology was created at DreamWorks Animation to create more painterly textures for the characters and sets. It helped further create the enriching fairy tale world that the filmmakers wanted to present, and showcased how the technology could create more stylized environments with CG-I.

Along with the change in visuals, a much darker tonal shift was favored by Crawford, who wanted to use Puss' arc to tell a story about appreciating life through the perspective of becoming a true mortal. Producer Mark Swift also agreed with this vision, as he felt that the 20 year gap of the Shrek franchise gave the filmmakers an opportunity to explore darker themes compared to its predecessors. This would be further intensified by the influence from classic Grimm Fairy Tales, which often placed lead characters in dark situations which made them appreciate the light- a story element that would drive the tone of the final product. It would also be mixed with inspiration from classic Spaghetti Western films; which are known balancing different tones making for an enticing experience.

Another major source of inspiration for Crawford was the first Shrek film. As a nod to the original, he wanted the comedy to bring back the "edginess" established from that installment, along with fairy tale jabs through the character of "Big" Jack Horner. He still wanted the film to stand tall on its own however, and opted not to retread familiar ground. Along with these ideas, Crawford also wanted to include familiar Shrek characters without sacrificing the integrity of the story. Swift also added in the feature commentary that the filmmakers didn't want to overwhelm the audience (old and new) with too many references to previous installments. The approach of balancing the "Shrek fairy tale world" and the "spaghetti western world" played a significant role in the decisions made for the final film.

The film's most memorable scene with Puss' panic attack was conceived later in the film's development. Scenes were drafted with Puss verbally expressing his insecurities, but they were considered "insincere," whereas a panic attack was more natural for leading into a serious discussion- forcing Puss to remove his façade of the "fearless hero" that he was displaying throughout the film. For added authenticity, Joel Crawford and storyboard artist Taylor Meacham drew from their personal experiences.

On March 14, 2022, the cast was announced along with the first trailer debuted on March 15, 2022. It was scheduled to be released on September 23, 2022, but it was announced on April 25, 2022 it was moved back to 3 months later on December 21, 2022 from the former release date.

Reception[]

After a one-day public screening on November 26, 2022, it was released in the United States on December 21, 2022. The film received universal critical acclaim, with praise directed towards the new animation style, story, action scenes, visual style, themes, voice acting, and humor. It has also been widely considered to be superior to the original film released in 2011. Some have even considered the film as the best Shrek installment since the second film, or even the original film.

Despite the critical acclaim, the film underperformed on its opening weekend. This was largely attributed to the release of the anticipated sequel film, Avatar: The Way of Water, and a series of intense snowstorms in the U.S. However, because of positive word-of-mouth, the film would continue to grow its revenue, and ultimately make $484.6 million worldwide. It would become the tenth highest grossing film of 2022.

Future[]

While the ending of the film teased a potential follow-up, it is still currently unknown what will succeed the film moving forward. Antonio Banderas stated in an interview that he wasn't made aware of the film's ending shot until the premiere, and was surprised when he saw it for himself. Shrek actors Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy also expressed interest in reprising their roles for a new sequel (whether for Shrek or Puss in Boots), but have both stated that they're waiting for DreamWorks to contact them.

Songs[]

  • Fearless Hero - Antonio Banderas
  • La Vida Es Una - KAROL G
  • This is the End - Dan Navarro
  • Por Que te Vas - Gaby Moreno
  • Fearless Hero (Hero Version) - Antonio Banderas

Songs Not Featured in the Soundtrack[]

  • Beer Barrel Polka - Ray Winstone

Trivia[]

  • This is DreamWorks Animation's second film to release in December, since The Prince of Egypt (1998).
  • This is the second DreamWorks Animation film to be directed by Joel Crawford after The Croods: A New Age.
  • This is the first Shrek film for several things:
    • The first film in the Shrek universe to be released in the 2020s.
    • The first film in the Shrek universe to be distributed by Universal Pictures.
      • Universal handled uncredited international distribution for the first two Shrek films.
    • The first film in the Shrek universe not to end with a pop song-accompanied dance party.
    • The first and only film in the Shrek universe to not have a video game based on it, unlike the first five films.
    • Features the first theatrical on-screen appearance of Shrek, Donkey, Gingy, and Pinocchio since Shrek Forever After, which was released in 2010.
  • The song used in the credits, "La Vida es Una" was sung by the Colombian singer, Karol G., making this film the first DreamWorks film to feature a Latin American singer in the end credits.
  • The scene where a Sumo wrestler flattens Puss is not shown in the film, being replaced by the scene where Gingy warns Puss about the hot oven with which the cat later burns himself to death. It was most likely cut for being too goofy for the movie; though some have said the scene was made for the trailer so as not to spoil the Gingy cameo for theatergoers.
    • Various shots and alternate versions of scenes shown in the first and second trailers also went unused.
  • The film had the alternate title, The Good, the Bad and the Goldi during production.
  • It was decided early during development to opt against heavy pop culture influence beyond a handful of visual references (i.e. Attack on Titan and classic spaghetti westerns). This was done to ensure that the film wouldn't become quickly outdated despite being genuinely funny- with Shrek 2 being cited as a major factor in the decision.

Gallery[]

Images[]

Trailers[]

Videos[]

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