by Manila Bulletin Entertainment
This holiday season, everyone’s favorite leche-loving, swashbuckling, fear-defying feline returns. For the first time in more than a decade, DreamWorks Animation presents a new adventure in the Shrek universe as daring outlaw Puss in Boots discovers that his passion for peril and disregard for safety have taken their toll. A hero to some, an outlaw to others…everyone agrees that this swashbuckling cat has style to spare. Known for his iconic (and beautifully cobbled) boots, Puss is a skilled swordsman, charming, fearless, determined and a crazy-good dancer.
Puss is a legend who has lived all these lives. He goes from town to town and party to party. He’s the life and soul of everywhere he goes. But just like the rock star who plays the concert every night and is in top form, he goes back to his hotel by himself every night—lies in bed and doesn’t have anyone around. That’s the story of Puss. He’s never let anyone in. Along the journey, he’s starting to question that choice.
The long-awaited follow-up to the 2011 Academy Award®-nominated blockbuster, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish stars Academy Award® nominee Antonio Banderas who returns as the voice of the notorious PiB as he embarks on an epic journey into the Black Forest to find the mythical Wishing Star and restore his lost lives. The last time we saw Puss in Boots, in his 2011 solo outing as a movie star, he was purring about his cunning ability to save the world and be adulated for it. Now with only one life left, the devil-may-care feline is wondering if he’s forever lost his mojo…and with it, the very essence of what makes him Puss in Boots.
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” features an all-star voice cast that includes Oscar® nominee Salma Hayek Pinault as Kitty Softpaws, Harvey Guillen as Perrito the mutt, Oscar® nominee Florence Pugh as Goldi, Oscar® winner Olivia Colman as Momma Bear, Ray Winstone as Papa Bear, Samson Kayo as Baby Bear, Emmy winner John Mulaney as Jack Horner and Wagner Moura as Wolf.
The character of Puss in Boots first appeared in 2004’s Oscar®-nominated Shrek 2 and instantly became a global, scene-stealing sensation. Puss then co-starred in two other Shrek sequels and his solo film, as well as in multiple DreamWorks Animation videos and a TV series. The Shrek and Puss in Boots films have collectively earned more than $3.5 billion worldwide.
Antonio Banderas has lived with (and brought life to) Puss in Boots for almost two decades, and he has seen the impact of the character first-hand in every area of the globe. “I have had interviewers from all around the world and thought, ‘Wow. When that person saw Shrek 2, they were seven, eight years old,’” Banderas says. “Now, they are interviewing me about this character they saw years ago, and now they are 28 or 29. It’s beautiful that younger people have grown up with this character that produced such a strong impact in their lives. It seems like the time to pick up Puss and throw him back to the biggest screen, the place where he belongs.”
“Coming back to voice this memorable hero has been a remarkable experience,” Banderas says. “I felt like I was visiting a very dear, clever friend that I hadn’t heard from for a few years. We both have greyer whiskers and are no longer the brash, young players we used to be. What I love most about playing Puss is that deep down inside, he has a strong sense of honor and loyalty—as well as a mischievous and funny side, which endears him to audiences of all ages,” concludes Banderas.
A DreamWorks Animation and Universal Pictures feature, “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” breaks into local cinemas starting Dec. 7.
