Puss, like all cats, has nine lives. An enemy’s blade has never touched him, or so he sings, so he must have at least half of those lives left, right?
Ah, no.
Hero of the people, Puss in Boots, is down to his very last life. He must make profound lifestyle changes to avoid death for as long as possible. But is it really death he is running from?
Eve and I swing back into family-friendly PG territory this month and take a stab at Dreamworks animation’s Puss In Boots: The Last Wish. In it, Puss discovers he is on his last life and resigns himself to the “meaningless existence” of a regular house cat. However, when he learns that crime boss Big Jack Horner has procured a map to the Last Wish, a wishing star that fell to earth, Puss resurrects his swashbuckling persona to steal and use the Wish: he wants his lives back. He’s not the only one who wants that Wish in fairytale land. Puss must work with an absurdly optimistic dog and an old flame, Kitty Softpaws if he is going to get his Wish.
Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado direct Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, which features music by Heitor Pereira. It stars Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, and Harvey Guillén, but it also includes many other talented voice actors.
First Impressions
There’s no doubt that Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is an entertaining, fun movie with an excellent mix of action and story. In addition, almost all of the characters are easy to sympathize with. By the movie’s end, you find you are rooting for some of the “bad guys,” too.
We both felt like Puss in Boots: The Last Wish was a typical animated film for children but with just the right amount of adult-level humor to keep the parents engaged. I love how animation has so much more leeway storytelling than live action—it is much easier to hide metaphors in plain view, and the “moral of the story” potency can occasionally carry more weight than with live action. So it was easy for me to see the influence of Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse in the animation. Usually, the animation style was the same as they’d used for Shrek from the beginning. But when there was an action scene, and there were plenty, the animators intentionally lowered the frame rate and loosened the animation, making the edges more surrealistic and sharp. This decision helps to set the action scenes to stand out and show off.
It has some inappropriate content, though. The movie has a scene that Eve thinks is highly problematic, and I completely missed it. It is meant to be funny and provide insight into Perrito’s character, but it is too creepy. Perrito has the ambition of becoming a therapy dog, so when Puss is deep in depression in his new life as a house cat, Perrito insistently tries to get Puss to rub his belly. We can see the intent here, but given the target audience’s age, the joke cannot help but have shades of grooming. Imagine an adult convincing a child that inappropriate touching will make him feel better. I’m sure you can see the problem. We’re hoping most children would not have taken it the way that.
It’s surprising how easy it is to create an unintentionally conducive environment for grooming. But know that there are services designed to help ministries create safe environments for children, like MinistrySafe.
In another scene, Puss goes to the bar and orders milk. Regardless of the contents of his glass, it looks and feels like a bar scene. The setting just isn’t appropriate for the target age group.
Finally, Eve as a crazy cat lady was annoyed by the character of Mama Luna. She’s not a crazy cat lady—she’s an animal hoarder. There’s a big difference. What Mama Luna is doing is animal cruelty.
Perspective Matters
In Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, the characters seek the map to the “Last Wish.” When each character holds the map, it and the environment take on characteristics tailored to the holder’s personality. For example, the map renames the obstacles in a way that suggests how the holder must grow as a person to be worthy of the Last Wish. This is an impressive visual and an interesting mechanic in the movie. In real life, however, it’s pretty accurate. As Christians, we know that God makes even the bad things in our lives work toward the good of those who love him. But we also know that God allows many of the bad things so that we learn to lean on him for guidance and support:
Make your ways known to me, LORD; teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; I wait for you all day long. – Psalm 25:4-5
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight. – Proverbs 3:5–6
Puss’s Perspective: Selfish
Puss builds his whole perspective around his status as a swashbuckling hero who only works alone and takes tremendous pride in that status. However, when his mortality forces Puss to retire, that status leaves him no one to turn to for help or support. Even people who have tried to get close to him have surrendered to Puss’s first love: himself. Humility isn’t a concept he can grasp.
Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. (Philippians 2:3-4)
One who isolates himself pursues selfish desires; he rebels against all sound wisdom. (Proverbs 18:1)
Perrito’s Perspective: Contented
Perrito has a decidedly upbeat way of looking at things. He’s rarely affected by his circumstances. Sometimes it’s blissful ignorance, like his recollection of his abusive owners as playing a game with him, but sometimes it’s intentional. For example, when asked what his Wish would be, Perrito replies, “I already have a comfy sweater and two best friends. I got everything I could wish for. No magic required.”
I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through him[d] who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:11-13)
Keep your life free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for he himself has said, I will never leave you or abandon you. (Hebrews 13:5)
[Adoptive] Family
For a “B” plot, the idea of “family” plays pretty heavily into the themes of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Goldilocks and the three bears appear early in the movie as one of the groups seeking the Last Wish. Apparently, after finding her asleep in Baby Bear’s bed, the Bear family adopted Goldi. Fast-forward 18 years or so, and Goldi leads the bears on a quest to get the Last Wish. Goldi won’t tell the Bears what she will wish for, but she’s convinced that she’s missing her family. In the end, eternal optimist Perrito sets Goldi straight: “Oh, I wish I had a family like this. Speaking from one orphan to another, Goldi, you won the orphan lottery.”
We’ve discussed it frequently here on Are You Just Watching, but it bears repeating: adoption is how we become sons and daughters in Christ.
For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him. He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One. (Ephesians 1:5-6)
Death Comes for Us All
In Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, death is both a motivating and strong theme. Puss’s realization that he is on his last life and his fear of death drives his retirement. Yet, after he resumes his swashbuckling in pursuit of the Last Wish, a supernaturally fast and strong cloak and scythe-wielding bounty hunter begins to hunt him. Death taunts Puss constantly, and Puss seems to deserve it. At one point, Death says, “Everyone thinks they’ll be the one to defeat me, but no one’s escaped me yet.” (Well, actually…)
At the movie’s climax, Puss learns, through the words and actions of his friends, that there are things in life more important than his life. In doing so, he puts off the jerk he had been in his old lives and seeks to become a new and better person.
For he must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be abolished is death. (1 Corinthians 15:25-26)
Otherwise, he would have had to suffer many times since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared one time, at the end of the ages, for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment—so also Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:26-28)
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Now if I live on in the flesh, this means fruitful work for me; and I don’t know which one I should choose. I am torn between the two. I long to depart and be with Christ—which is far better—but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. Since I am persuaded of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that, because of my coming to you again, your boasting in Christ Jesus may abound. (Philippians 1:21-26)
Puss realizes that he has not been running from Death all this time; he has been running from everything that makes life worth living. The love of Kitty Softpaws and the friendship of Perrito are among them.
The Value of Life
Big Jack Horner is the true villain of this movie, the character you are encouraged to despise. He turned his plumb-bearing thumb into a pie empire, and he doesn’t care who he had to squash to get what he wanted. Even Horner’s temporary conscience, a very Jimminy-like cricket, gives up on Horner.
When Eve and I recorded this episode, it was Sanctity of Life Sunday. In this post-truth world, many people and governmental authorities cannot see the true value of life. As Christians, we need to keep fighting for the sanctity of life. The unborn and the terminally ill, the disabled and the mentally challenged are every bit as valuable to creation as the superstars and world leaders.
Conclusion
For a secular movie, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish has many Christian elements to its themes. It has an eternal perspective. While it is missing the essential facts, including the necessity of accepting Christ as the son of God and our need for His saving grace, it is a beautiful springboard for discussing what makes life worth living.
Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea
A great High Priest whose name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me
My name is graven on His hands
My name is written on His heart
I know that while in heav’n He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart
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