COOL CAT

PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH The flamboyant feline returns – and he’s down to his last life.

A decade on from his last solo outing, Shrek’s furry buddy is back to his old tricks – until he discovers he’s been squandering his nine lives and his next death will be his last. A mythical Wishing Star could be the answer to his prayers… but he’s not the only fairytale character who wants to get his mittens on it. “This isn’t a repeat but an expansion,” says director Joel Crawford who, with co-director Januel Mercado, sought to bring a taste of the spaghetti western to DreamWorks’ latest animation. Here the pair take Teasers on a tour through the sequel’s larger-than-life characters and genre-splicing universe…

1. PICTURE PURR-FECT “We have really pushed the look of this movie,” says Crawford, who previously directed 2020’s The Croods: A New Age for DreamWorks. “One thing our production designer, Nate Wragg, ran with was making each frame look like a fairytale painting. It feels like we’ve been able to add a new layer of paint to Puss In Boots.”

2. ANIMAL MAGNETISM The Puss we meet at the beginning of the film, voiced as ever by Antonio Banderas, is the cat we know and love: swashbuckling, devil-may-care and always ready to charm the nearest señorita. “He’s like a rock star who just goes on tour and parties,” laughs Mercado. “He feels he’s immortal and invincible, to the point where it’s gotten to his head.”