50 Fun Facts About Puss in Boots

Which studio produced the 2011 Puss in Boots film?

DreamWorks Animation first planned the spin-off as a 2008 direct-to-video release, then upgraded it to a cinema film in 2006.

Who voices Puss in Boots?

Antonio Banderas also voices the cat in two Spanish dubs and the Italian one, which he called the hardest because every line had to match the animated lips.

What signature trick does Puss in Boots use to make opponents drop their guard?

Big, pleading eyes are his main weapon: he widens them and mews until a dangerous foe melts, then makes his move.

Who hires Puss in Boots to assassinate Shrek in the cat's first film appearance?

King Harold pays him to get rid of his new son-in-law, but when Shrek spares his life the would-be assassin switches sides and joins the ogre.

Who voices Kitty Softpaws in the Puss in Boots films?

Salma Hayek's Kitty is a master thief with a secret she admits mid-heist: her former owners had her declawed.

Who voices Humpty Alexander Dumpty in the 2011 film Puss in Boots?

Zach Galifianakis voices Puss's estranged childhood friend, the mastermind whose bean heist turns out to be a revenge plot against him.

Which two actors voice the outlaws Jack and Jill in Puss in Boots?

Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris play murderous married outlaws, though Thornton's Jack turns out surprisingly maternal, nagging Jill to start a family.

Which filmmaker voices the Comandante in Puss in Boots and was its executive producer?

Guillermo del Toro had just finished writing The Hobbit when the crew showed him a snippet of the film; he asked to be part of it.

What is the name of the town where Puss and Humpty grew up?

San Ricardo is the town that jailed Humpty, and his whole scheme is secretly a plan to see it destroyed in revenge.

Where was Puss in Boots raised as a kitten in the 2011 film?

In an orphanage, where the caretaker Imelda adopts the abandoned kitten and he befriends a fellow orphan, Humpty Dumpty.

In Puss in Boots, what does the trio hope to find by planting the magic beans?

Golden goose eggs prove far too heavy to carry, so the trio takes the gosling that lays them instead.

In Puss in Boots, what is the "Great Terror" guarding the castle in the clouds?

The Golden Goose's mother is a gigantic bird who will stop at nothing to rescue her gosling, which is exactly what Humpty is counting on.

What has become of the giant in the 2011 Puss in Boots?

He died long ago, offscreen, so the trio never meets him; the real danger in his castle is a beast called the Great Terror.

Which prisoner tells Puss in Boots that Humpty robbed him years earlier in a shared cell?

Andy "Jack" Beanstalk is the original owner of the magic beans, which Humpty stole when the two shared a cell; director Mike Mitchell voices him.

What does Puss discover under Humpty's shell after his fall?

A large golden egg lies under the shell; the Great Terror carries it home to the clouds, and the credits show Humpty restored and riding on her back.

What does Kitty playfully steal from Puss as they flee together?

His boots are gone before he notices, the parting trick of a thief Humpty first hired to steal the magic beans.

Which subtitle did Puss in Boots carry when planned as a direct-to-video film?

The Story of an Ogre Killer fit a cat who entered the Shrek films as an assassin hired to kill the ogre.

Where did Puss in Boots hold its world premiere in October 2011?

Aboard a cruise ship: Royal Caribbean and the studio were partners, with Shrek characters, the cat included, already parading on its ships, and the two hosted the red carpet together in Fort Lauderdale.

In Shrek the Third, a botched spell makes Puss in Boots swap bodies with whom?

Donkey and Puss trade bodies when Merlin's spell goes wrong, and when he finally reverses it their tails stay mismatched.

In Shrek Forever After's alternate reality, what has become of Puss in Boots?

A pampered, overweight pet: with Shrek never born, the retired swordsman has gone soft living with Fiona, who leads an ogre resistance.

Which French author published the best-known version of the Puss in Boots fairy tale in 1697?

Charles Perrault's telling is the one that stuck: his cat's cunning wins a poor miller's son a castle and a princess.

Which film beat Puss in Boots to the Oscar for Best Animated Feature?

Rango won the 2012 award; unusually for animation, its cast acted scenes out together with props and costumes instead of recording alone in booths.

In the original fairy tale, how does Puss in Boots defeat the castle's ogre?

Tricks him into becoming a mouse: the cat doubts aloud that the shape-shifting ogre can turn into something tiny, then eats him and claims the castle for his master.

Which Mexican guitar duo contributed to the Puss in Boots soundtrack?

Rodrigo y Gabriela quit a failed heavy-metal band in Mexico City and spent years busking in Dublin before their guitars reached Hollywood scores.

Which Lady Gaga song is featured in the 2011 film Puss in Boots?

Americano, a mariachi-flavoured track from Born This Way, also drove a sneak-peek clip the studio released a week before the film opened.

Under what title was Puss in Boots released in the United Arab Emirates?

Cat in Boots appeared on prints across the Gulf; the UAE's censors said they had no role in the change, which came from the studio and local distributors.

Puss in Boots was its studio's first feature partly animated in which country?

India: animators in Bangalore spent six months on three major scenes, after years in which the unit made mostly TV specials and DVD extras.

In Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, what animal form does Death take while hunting Puss?

A wolf: he first appears as a hooded bounty hunter who disarms Puss in a pub duel, and only later reveals that he is Death himself.

Whose Halloween-weekend opening record did Puss in Boots break?

Saw III had held the Halloween-weekend record at $33.6 million; the cartoon cat kept it until Five Nights at Freddy's won it back for horror in 2023.

In Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, why does Puss go after the Wishing Star?

To win back his lost lives: a doctor counts eight deaths behind him, and with one life left the fearless hero finally learns to be afraid.

In Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, which animal is disguised as a cat when Puss first meets it?

A dog: the optimistic chihuahua has been passing as one of the strays, and Puss simply calls him Perrito, Spanish for little dog.

At the end of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, which kingdom do the heroes sail toward?

Far Far Away, home of Shrek's royal in-laws, is where the trio head on a stolen ship to reunite with some old friends.

In which short on the 2012 Puss in Boots home release does Puss tame thieving kittens?

The Three Diablos are kittens caught working for a jewel thief; Puss must win them over to recover a princess's stolen ruby.

Which comedian voices the villain Big Jack Horner in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish?

John Mulaney's Jack Horner is a pastry-chef crime boss and collector of magical objects who wants the Wishing Star so he can control all the world's magic.

Where did the spin-off series The Adventures of Puss in Boots premiere in 2015?

Netflix later used the series for one of its first interactive episodes, Puss in Book, where viewers decide what the cat does next.

Which Latin pop hit does Puss in Boots sing as the closing party number of his first film?

Livin' la Vida Loca closes the film as a duet sung in character with his fellow sidekick, and the cover made the soundtrack album.

The sequel's shelved 2014 title was Puss in Boots 2: Nine Lives & which famous numbered group?

40 Thieves was announced in 2014, but the film was pulled from the schedule a year later and re-emerged in 2022 as The Last Wish.

In the original fairy tale, Puss in Boots passes off his poor master as which nobleman?

The Marquis of Carabas is a title the cat simply invents, then backs with gifts of game for the king until the miller's son wins a princess.

Why does Kitty Softpaws resent Puss when they reunite in The Last Wish?

He skipped their wedding and has regretted it ever since, but the grudge has a twist: she later admits that she never showed up either.

The very first voice session for Puss in Boots was spent recording what?

Coughing up a hairball took 45 minutes of strange noises, and the actor, then starring on Broadway, had no voice left for that night's show.

Which mobile game got a Puss in Boots-themed spin-off in 2011?

Fruit Ninja: Puss in Boots handed the slicing to the sword-swinging cat and added a new Bandito mode of ever-harder challenges.

How did Shrek Forever After tease the Puss in Boots spin-off?

The ogre shelves a storybook about the cat: as the film ends, Shrek closes the book titled "Shrek" and slides it in beside one titled "Puss in Boots".

The executive producer of Puss in Boots suggested making Humpty more like which historical figure?

Leonardo da Vinci was the model for a dreamier Humpty, turning the egg into an inventor whose contraptions include a flying machine.

Which earlier role of Puss in Boots's voice actor did the animators study to shape the cat?

Zorro: once the actor was cast, animators studied his 1998 turn as the masked swordsman, and the cat's roots moved from the fairy tale's France to Spain.

Puss in Boots's look in his first film was partly modelled on what?

Cats owned by the crew were the reference: designer Tom Hester based the look partly on pets belonging to the director and the effects supervisor.

At which film festival did Shrek 2, the sequel that added Puss in Boots, compete for the top prize?

Cannes put the sequel in its main competition in 2004, and the cat's voice actor recalls the studio's boss floating a solo film for the character soon afterwards.

Which two actresses voice Goldilocks and Mama Bear in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish?

Florence Pugh and Olivia Colman voice an adopted Goldilocks and her bear mother, who run a crime family with Papa and Baby Bear.

Why was Puss in Boots rushed into cinemas a week early in October 2011?

To beat the November family films paid off: opening before Happy Feet Two and Hugo, the cat topped the US box office two weekends running.

What did Humpty trick teenage Puss into helping with?

A failed bank robbery: Puss escapes by leaping into the river while Humpty is arrested, the grudge that drives the egg's revenge years later.

After a doctor's warning in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, where does Puss retire?

A cat lady's house: Mama Luna takes him in as an ordinary pet, and visitors who come looking for the outlaw find what appears to be his grave.