Fridge Brilliance / Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

The Protagonists:

Puss in Boots

• In the beginning, Puss is portrayed as a more heroic figure in comparison to his anti-heroic self from the first Puss in Boots movie and the main Shrek movies. This makes sense, since he had more positive influences during movies prior to The Last Wish.
• The reveal that Puss really has nine lives explains a lot of his reckless behavior in previous installments. He always knew he could still bounce back even if the worst-case scenario happens, unlike the other heroes like Shrek or Donkey.
• In the Cave of Lost Souls, Puss meets his past lives, and one of those lives scoffs at Puss being friends with Perrito, a dog. That specific life is one that was killed by dogs he’d tried to cheat at cards, so it’s no wonder he's salty at present-day Puss for being Perrito's friend.
• It only makes sense that a place called the Cave of Lost Souls would be the place Puss confronts his previous lives - they’re the souls he lost.
• When Puss encounters the Wolf and retreats to retirement at Mama Luna's, why doesn't he take the doctor/barber's advice and go stay with somebody he's close to, i.e., Shrek, Donkey, Fiona, Gingy, etc.? There are multiple potential reasons:
  • Because he doesn't want to lead the Wolf to them and endanger their lives, especially with Shrek and Fiona (and Donkey and Dragon) raising families of their own^note While Death probably isn't interested in going after them specifically yet, remember that Puss at this point in the story only sees the Wolf as a particularly dangerous bounty hunter who, in his mind, might not care about innocents being caught in the crossfire.
  • Because Far, Far Away is...well, far, far away. That would mean making the long trip back with The Grim Reaper stalking him every step and potentially setting up things to kill him (e.g., a ship crash).
  • Additionally, given how he still hasn't quite grown out of his egotistical, Glory Hound mentality by this point, he wouldn't want his friends to see him reduced to running away from an opponent he can't defeat.
• Puss lost his third life when he fell off of a bell tower, drunkenly claiming that a cat always lands on its feet. In the first movie, when Jill (somewhat rhetorically) asks if this is true as she’s about to throw him out of a moving carriage, Puss answers that it isn’t true and that it’s “a rumor spread by dogs.”
  • However, it’s shown multiple times throughout the movie that while Kitty is able to always land on her feet, Puss doesn’t.
    • It's the boots and hat (with a big ass feather). They mess with his balance. Unlike Kitty, Puss is also shown keeping all sorts of items in his boots, which randomly change the weight of them.
• One of Puss's deaths is at the hands of a bunch of canines he cheated. The film basically remakes this incident in him trying to cheat the canine Death, by attempting to get his eight lives back. The second time, though, he decides to face Death fairly.
• Puss' ninth, current and final life draws from all his prior lives.
  • His first life was taken when he tried to flirt with a woman about gazpacho, getting hit by a bull. After learning he's on his last life, he immediately asks the doctor where he can find some gazpacho.
  • His second life was taken after he cheated in a game of poker, getting mauled by dogs. As mentioned above, he tries to cheat the lupine Death once again for most of the movie.
  • His third life was taken when he, drunk on milk, fell off a bell tower. As soon as he leaves the doctor's, he heads out to the bar to drink some milk.
  • His fourth life, he died because he refused a spotter's help in working out. He tries to get Perrito to stop trying to help him but fails.
  • His fifth life he tried to revolutionize travel and got himself blown up. Throughout the movie, he uses Perrito's easy path to get through the Dark Forest without having to deal with the dangers of his or Kitty's versions of the forest.
  • His sixth life was taken when he refuses to stop eating a plate of shellfish despite being deathly allergic, paying with his life. He keeps denying death to be a major thing, but he quickly changes his tune and becomes very afraid of it once the Wolf shows up and almost kills him.
  • His seventh life (which is presumably the one he was living during the Shrek movies) has him gloat to Gingy that he's a Master of Baking, before getting his face burned to a crisp. His version of the Dark Forest is a Lethal Lava Land, and the last scene of the movie reveals that Team Friendship is headed to Far Far Away.
  • His eighth life was spent mostly singing about how he's a great, valiant, fearless hero, getting crushed by a bell after announcing that he will sing a song called "The Legend Will Never Die." He then proceeds to let his legend die after coming face to face with Death, before accepting his mortality by the end of the movie, in both cases defying the statement of the song's title.
• Alternatively, Puss manages to survive because he avoided the trappings of his previous eight lives.
  • His first, fifth and sixth lives: he becomes more aware of his surroundings and is more careful, as evidenced during the fight with the Baker's Dozen.
  • His second life: he comes to form a friendship with Perrito and lose his disdain for dogs.
  • His third life: he isn't seen drinking milk like he used to. And a good thing too, as the last thing a survivalist may need is to get drunk.
  • His fourth and seventh lives: He learns to ask for help when it's needed. In fact, the Gatito Blade that Kitty gave him is a testament that asking for help is a good thing.
  • His eighth life: He accepts that, yes, he will die some day, but that's what makes his current life precious.
• The three antagonists in the movie (Jack, Goldie, Death) each parallel a different vice of Puss's character: Jack echoed the feline's arrogance and greed, Goldi mirrored his loneliness, and Death exposed his cowardice and mortality.
  • And each antagonist's fate represents what happens to the respective trait they parallel: Jack dies (the arrogance/greed in Puss is all gone via Character Development), Goldi realizes and embraces the Bears as her true family (Puss disses his I Work Alone attitude, forms a team with Kitty and Perrito, rekinded his romance with the former, and has made his way back to Shrek and the others by the film's end), and Death leaving Puss to live out his final life with them parting with respect (Puss accepts his mortality and will treat his life with respect).
• Multiple lines from Puss' "I Am Great!" Song at the beginning of the movie actually get picked apart over the course of the movie.
  • The whole saying of "Favorite Fearless Hero", down to the title, is no longer true, since Puss spends the entire movie utterly terrified of the Wolf, hiding in fear at Mama Luna's after their first fight and fleeing every confrontation with him until the very end. The same also goes for the lines "Who's brave and ready for trouble?" and "Puss in Boots is never afraid!"
  • "Who's so unbelievably humble?" is an obvious joke about Puss' big ego as a Showy Invincible Hero, but the events of the movie actually give Puss a dose of Humble Pie, learning to care about his friends and respecting his mortality by the end.
  • Him saying that he "gambles with his life" is no longer the case as Puss learns to value his life over the course of the movie.
  • His boast that he has "never been touched by a blade" gets undone when the Wolf grazes him with his sickle in their first battle, drawing blood. Puss similarly gets hit more times during his final fight with him.
• All eight of Puss' deaths were a direct result of unbridled hubris — none of them were from normal occupational hazards for an outlaw adventurer such as himself. Puss never needed extra lives to continue his adventurer career to begin with; he just needed to pay a bit more attention to his personal safety (Of course, having a couple of good friends to watch his back couldn't hurt).
• A lot of Puss' previous deaths came from showing off, such as trying to demonstrate that a cat always lands on its' feet, refusing a spotter when weightlifting, attempting to travel by cannon, and fighting the Giant of Del Mar; the last one had Death watching, very unamused, in the crowd. When Puss battles Death at the end of the film, while the others can see the shadows of the fight they can't see exactly what's happening, meaning Puss isn't doing this for an audience.
• Puss's battle with the Sleeping Giant of Del Mar foreshadows his next opponent. In using his 8th life waking up a literal giant, he woke up a metaphorical giant: Death itself.
• Puss's deaths came as a result of seven deadly sins (the prime sin and possibly the source of the others being Pride)
  • The first death was Lust, because he got run over while trying to chat up a woman
  • The second death was Greed (avarice), because he tried to cheat on the cards to win a lot of money
  • The third death was mix of Gluttony and Pride, because he drunkenly jumped off the tower
  • The fourth death was pure Pride (in the form of vanity and overconfidence) with a dash of envy, because he refused a spotter and wanted to show that he is as strong as others.
  • The fifth death was Sloth (with some pride as well), because he decided to save time by shooting himself out of cannon when it was more work to do it the normal way and just walk to the shore.
  • The sixth one is Gluttony, because he keeps eating the food despite being deadly allergic to it
  • The seventh one is Envy, because he is envious of somebody being a better baker than he is.
  • The eight (and almost ninth) were Wrath. The Puss defeated the giant, but he wanted to stay and rub some salt in the wound because of his interrupted party.
• When we see Puss's wanted poster, the wall it is tacked to is decorated with a variety of slash marks, a few iconic P's, and a group of eight tally marks - one for each of Puss's lives up to this point.
• Puss technically conquered one his trials in the Map of the Wishing Star, the Cave of Lost Souls. Puss meets up with his past lives and, while he did enjoy the trip down memory lane, the second they start bad mouthing his current path, especially his friends, he grew tired and began walking away from them in disgust, signifying his clear growth as a character. Old Puss would have gladly agree, but New Puss decides he's had enough of them. Had it not been for Death, Puss would have cleared this obstacle with relative ease.
• Some reviewers complained that it took Puss way too long to figure out the Wolf was Death, but he has lived in a Fractured Fairytale world for a long time, so he most likely figured the Wolf must have been another form of the Big Bad Wolf or some other fairytale/nursery rhyme figure rather than the less convenient Grim Reaper.
• While living with Mama Luna and walking on all fours like a normal cat, Puss strolled around with his tail held upright. In regular cats an upright tail is a sign of confidence and a friendly attitude, two things he absolutely didn't have at the time especially given how aggravated he was by Perrito. But, as an anthropomorphic cat who normally walks bipedally and sometimes sits on things like a human would, Puss is accustomed to frequently holding his tail at an angle that keeps it out of the way of his feet - which translates to raised, when he's on all fours.
• Puss's first death is from a falling bell. In other words, they belled the cat.

Kitty Softpaws

• Kitty begins to bond with Perrito after the latter reveals his Dark and Troubled Past. Said past involves his former owners abusing him for no reason, not too different to how Kitty was declawed by her own owners for reasons she's still not aware of.

Perrito

• Perrito being able to master the Puppy-Dog Eyes look at the climax - The trope itself is named after his species. Of course it would come to him more easily.
• It may seem odd that it was Perrito who indirectly helped Goldi realize the bears are her family, but it does when you realize dogs and bears are closer than you think — While both species aren't related to each other due to evolution, they both share an ancient ancestor. Meaning that while not related, they have a connection.
  • Also, Goldi is a Human. Dogs are Man's best friend after all, so of course Perrito would help her.
• Perrito advises Puss and Kitty to appease the giant roses by stopping to smell them. This is supposed to be symbolic of the two cats learning to appreciate what's in front of them. By contrast, Jack literally burns his way through the roses without even stopping to smell them once. It perfectly suits him, as he later describes his loving parents and their business as "useless crap", as though reflecting he doesn't appreciate what he had.
• Perrito will be a great therapy dog. Why? Because he's a Magnetic Hero - people are just naturally drawn to him and thus able to let their guard down.
  • It's more than that, he's a natural therapist too. Everyone's talking about the panic attack scene where Perrito performed an actual therapy dog maneuver, but he also listens to Puss after he's calmed down, respects his wishes to not tell Kitty about his last-life situation, and advises Puss that apologizing for Santa Coloma might be a good first step, for both his and Kitty's sakes. And it's not just Puss either. He's very good at figuring out just what makes his 'patients' tick - the orphan lottery comment to Goldi, or how Kitty opens up to him of her own accord floating down the River of Relaxation (albeit cryptically).
• Of the characters who hold the map, Perrito has the easiest route to the star. It's implied the star makes harder maps for everyone because it wants to be left alone, but Perrito would leave it alone because he's the only one who doesn't want a wish.
  • That interpretation is also supported by the fact that the path is very much dangerous for anyone that's actually going after the star as Jack Horner can attest to. After all when you're going after the wish who would stop to smell the flowers?
  • It could also be tied to the amount and type of baggage someone has and being the Pollyanna (to the point of brushing off literally everything about his Dark and Troubled Past up to and including being drowned in a sack) he simply doesn't have the baggage to make his journey to the wish difficult, which is ironic considering that if you don’t have that much baggage you wouldn’t need a wish to begin with.
• Perrito, Spanish for "little dog," settling on his name has more significance given that Puss and Kitty's names are both alternative words for cat.

The Antagonists:

The Wolf

• This YouTube comment:
  Brent Grisier: The beauty of death's whistle is that you can read it two ways. If you go willingly or accept that it's your time, it's almost calming and relaxing. But if you were like Puss and fight it, it's haunting and gets under your skin. It's truly a masterpiece.
• This film, as part of a franchise known for deconstructing fairytales, does so with Goldilocks and the Three Bears (the bears raising Goldi) and Jack Horner (a deconstruction of Pinocchio), but plays the Puss vs Death storyline realistically. Why? Because there’s no fairytale that has Death treated as a joke - there are tales where people win against Death, true, but it always claims them in the end. That's what happens with Puss: he wins against Death fairly and is allowed to live his last life in peace, but knows full well that it’s only a matter of time before he’ll see Death again.
  • Also note that Death is played seriously because Puss treated him as a joke for eight lives already.
• The Wolf demonstrates No Sense of Personal Space on his first meeting with Puss. That's when Puss in Boots has used up his spare lives, and is now close to death.
• Appropriately, Death only approaches Puss when he’s either in near-death situations, or when death is literally near him. Can be interpreted as Death stretching his mandate of always being near the departed in order to haunt Puss personally.
  • The first time he meets Puss in person, it's when Puss has recently lost his eighth life.
  • The second time is after Puss steals from Jack, after one of the serpent sisters was turned to gold by the Midas Touch.
  • The third time is during the fight with the Baker's Dozen, when Jack accidentally (and carelessly) kills a lot of his own men with baby unicorn horns.
  • The fourth time is when Puss is in the Cave of Lost Souls surrounded by his previous eight lives or (as Death puts it) his past deaths.
  • The fifth and final time he meets Puss is after the last of the Baker's Dozen has died and Baby Bear nearly dies from the Wishing Star's barrier.
• There are many hints to the Wolf being Death itself:
  • The doctor presented Puss losing his last life akin to a candle being blown out. Before the wolf first appears, a candle is blown out…
    • Speaking of, in keeping with the Fairy Tale Motifs, probably the best known Western fairy tale that features Death as a major character is "Godfather Death". That version also features lives as candles as shown by a Grim Reaper who's not to be cheated and possibly a tad sadistic.
    • And of course, the Doctor’s warning to Puss before he leaves: “Death comes for us all."
  • The Wolf’s appearance overall mirrors but adds its own twist on how the traditional Grim Reaper looks; his white fur and black hood being one example.
    • His weapon of choice are a pair of sickles, hook-shaped blades referring to Death’s classic long scythe in most media. In fact, anyone who played the Diablo III expansion is bound to lose all doubt the moment they glimpse those, since they are a dead ringer for Malthael's.
  • When greeting Puss, the Wolf remarks that he’s finally meeting him “in the flesh”, which implies how they’ve technically already met — eight other times — in a different form. A Freeze-Frame Bonus, but when the crowd is doing a wave for Puss as he fights the giant, you can see Death is actually in the crowd, waiting for Puss's eighth death to happen. Fittingly, just after this, the giant is shown grabbing the bell, the object that will ultimately kill Puss.
  • Also, when the Giant is defeated and dramatically slides up behind Puss, the bell tolls right above him, moments before killing him.
  • When Puss says that he “laughs in the face of death”, the Wolf scratches his claw against the bar table, seemingly out of anger.
  • Before they start fighting at the bar, The Wolf says "Everyone thinks they'll be the one to defeat me, but no one's escaped me yet". A lot of people think they can cheat death, but death comes for everyone in the end.
  • When scarring Puss on the forehead and drawing blood during their first duel, one can notice the Kill Tally of Puss’s past lives on the Wolf’s sickle.
  • Immediately after this, where the Wolf takes a big sniff in the air, he declares "I just love the smell of fear!" One might expect a wolf with a typically canine sense of smell to notice the smell of blood, but while this initially can be read as the Wolf simply being metaphorical in his speech, it's also in keeping with him being a metaphysical entity, and thus can literally sense Puss's fear.
    • He could be literal that way as well.
  • His uncanny ability to trail Puss no matter where he is, foreshadowing he's more than what he appears to be.
  • When the Wolf appears to Puss when escaping Jack's pie factory, he puts two glimmery coins in his eyes. This in reference to how in Greek culture, those who've passed have two gold coins placed above their eyes.
  • When the Wolf appears in the Dark Forest (triggering Puss's panic attack), the lighting around him makes it look like he's standing in a skull.
  • Unlike the other main characters, the Wolf doesn't have a wanted poster in his introduction. It can easily be chalked up to him being a bounty hunter and therefore not having a bounty on his head. ...then again, wanted posters were his bounty, for when he eventually claims their lives.
    • Plus, The Wolf never actually admitted to being a bounty hunter. Puss just assumed as much because he had the wanted poster on him.
• Out of all the forms he could have taken on, Death chooses a wolf. A canine form is the most suitable form for an antagonist to Puss, a cat.
  • Canines have a shorter life span than humans, and especially in contrast to the nine-lifetime felines.
  • Wolves are also renowned for their loyalty towards their pack and would treat each member's life with value. From Death's perspective, he sees Puss using up his 9 lives ("packmates") frivolously and personally insulting.
  • Wolves are also pursuit predators, that can track prey for weeks at a time then chase them for hours or days until they're simply exhausted to escape and are forced to fight or die.
  • Considering that Puss had a "lone wolf" mentality, Death probably find it amusing and ironic to take down Puss in the form of a literal lone wolf.
• The Wolf only appeared before Puss whenever he was reminded of his mortality. Since he is Death itself, he is always around the corner, especially to those who fear him. But he never appeared before him when Puss was in Mamma Luna’s house, as Puss was in no serious danger living there. But as one can see, this led to the other problem of hiding in fear so much, you essentially stop living. It’s only when Puss finds a balance between the two extremes, appreciating the gift of life while giving death the respect and fear it deserves, does the Wolf leave Puss alone to live the rest of his last remaining life before he inevitably comes to collect it.
  • Another reason the Wolf never comes to Mama Luna's: Puss retreats there because he's hiding in fear of Death, thus showing more respect for the wolf (which is all Death wants, in the end) than he has throughout all 8 other lives by that point.
• The Wolf wields a pair of sickles. Death ordinarily carries a scythe, but the sickle is the Reaper's traditional harvesting tool with a more pragmatic form for combat (it works like a khopesh, a sickle-sword), as well as its crescent-moon shape being a pleasing shape for a wolf, an animal normally associated with the moon.
• Death doesn't start to actively pursue Puss after their first encounter until he begins his quest for the Wishing Star. If you can't hide from Death, why did he not appear at Mama Luna's house to kill him right then and there? Because Puss already "died"; he buried his mantle as a legend with a grave and all.
  • Similar irony: Death did indirectly succeed in "killing the legend" by the end. Puss has changed as a person by their battle in the climax. Puss overcoming his fear of Death "killed" the cowardly, boisterous part of himself.
  • Alternatively, Death's motivation to hunt Puss is due to him squandering his lives and openly mocking the concept of dying time and time again. While cutting his final life short is Death's way of getting even, a more karmatic punishment would be to let Puss live his final life in shame and abject misery as a house cat. It was only after he donned his persona once more to reclaim his lost lives did Death go on the hunt again.
  • Likewise, Death is pissed off enough with Puss for wasting eight lives ^note when most people have just one to physically manifest, because with reckless abandon Puss' treating life like it's all just a game, which of course, makes its end and passing also a complete joke. If you deprecate Life, you are also insulting and belittling Death.
  • Not only that, the reason Puss decides to abandon the safety of Mama Luna’s house is to get his wish of more lives, basically, he’s trying to cheat Death again. There was still a chance The Wolf could have let Puss go, because in some stories of characters meeting Death, they usually have a moment of realization that makes them reevaluate their lives for the better. Hell, the "old retired adventurer because they're not in shape to adventure anymore" is a common character in fiction (usually as The Mentor or as a happy ending), but after their encounter Puss is still trying to get back to his old ways, this probably angered The Wolf so much, to the point to just cut Puss last life short.
• The Wolf being literally Death itself makes sense given how many times Death has appeared as an actual character in many fairytales.
  • Also, since the Big Bad Wolf is often the antagonist of said stories by virtue of wanting to eat (and thus kill) the hero, wolves have technically stood in for Death (metaphorically, those times) in several stories.
• When Puss sees the Wolf for a second time, the latter puts two coins on his eyes and points at the former tauntingly. On one hand, this is a clever way to foreshadow the Wolf's true nature. On the other hand, it acts as a clever Red Herring to feed into the idea that the Wolf's just a bounty hunter who's out for the reward on Puss's head, if on a morbid level.
• Of course, Death's Fatal Flaw is his sadistic tendency to "play with his food". There are quite a few stories where Death agrees to spare a mortal's life if they win a game against him... and if they do beat him, he keeps his word. In fact, his whole hunt of Puss and toying with him can be interpreted as one big game - one that he ends up losing.
• Death's appearance is based on various myths and folklores about entities affiliated with death. This makes sense as he is the living embodiment of death, and he would have played a role in all of them.
  • Death is a large, canine-like creature. In Egypt, there are two canine-like deities associated with death. While the more famous is Anubis, the judge of the dead, there's also his brother Wepwawet, who guided souls through the Duat and is portrayed as having the head of a white wolf. (On that note, while we don't know what real animal it's supposed to represent, if any, the sha, associated with Set, the god of evil, chaos and destruction, also seems to be canine, fitting with Death's more malicious tendencies.)
    • Don't forget the other hellhounds and various death dogs in other mythologies, including but not limited to: the Greek Cerberus, the English black dog, Garmr and Fenrir from the Norse sagas.
  • Death's black poncho and sickles are drawn from the popular depiction of the Grim Reaper wearing a black cloak and wielding a scythe that first popped up during the 14th century during the Black Death.
• While the Wolf was seemingly invisible to anyone other than Puss for most of the film, everyone present can finally see him when he arrives at the Wishing Star in the climax. Although he's mainly there for Puss, the others are also willing to die or kill each other to get the wish, Baby Bear nearly dies before Goldi and their parents save him, and Jack Horner is ultimately Killed Off for Real. Death may have left Puss in peace, but he doesn't leave empty-handed.
  • Speaking of Jack being Killed Off for Real, Jack was noteworthy the only one of the main cast who wasn't there for the last fight between Puss and Death. Jack was trapped in his bottomless bag at the time. Why was it important? Jack's obsession with power and his fantasy was blinding him to the reality: that obsession with power and living in a fantasy only means that your life is empty when you die, making the death of such a person the exact kind of death Death calls Puss out for. Death probably was offended that someone was throwing away his life right after he convinced Puss to value his.
• When Death reveals his true identity to Puss, he takes a moment to clarify that he's not speaking metaphorically and has a noticeably exasperated tone in his voice and look on his face. Given that it's fairly common for those who think themselves as fearsome enough to refer to themselves as death (something Jack himself later does when he thinks Puss is talking about him at the wishing star) and Death takes disrespect towards him very personally, it stands to reason that he takes just as much issue with those that egotistically use his name to describe themselves.
• The Wolf putting coins over his eyes, besides being nice Foreshadowing, also neatly plays into actual Classical Mythology. The gods were notoriously temperamental when confronted with mortals who tried to portray themselves as superior to the divine, often taking human form to correct them harshly, often in a poetic way - just ask Arachne. It would not be out of character for Thanatos or Hades to take lethal umbrage at Puss treating what is effectively a divine boon so frivolously and mocking what is effectively their mercy, and so manifesting as a bounty hunter that cannot be beaten.
• The bar scene:
  • The Wolf first appears to Puss in a bar. Beyond that, he only shows up when Puss is close to dying, or when someone is dying/dead. There was no danger in the bar, but Puss was close to DRINKING himself to death.
  • Puss is on his ninth glass of milk as well after having drunk eight others...an echo for his lives.
  • The scene also foreshadows Death's downfall: given that Puss was close to drinking himself to death, it's possible that, had Death left him alone, he would have been able to reap him easily. However, he had to taunt Puss instead, and the cat got away from him (at least temporarily). Death not leaving Puss alone for his last life forces him to become someone quite different from the "arrogant little legend" Death was trying to reap early...and Death is forced by his own sense of fair play to leave him alone (at least temporarily).
  • Before Death shows up, Puss orders another shot of milk from the bartender. And remember each shot of milk represents a life of Puss. However, due to Death's interference, Puss doesn't get his tenth glass. This foreshadows the end - Puss has the chance to wish for more lives, but because of the appearance of Death (coupled with major Character Development and the realization that his bonds with Kitty and Perrito is what makes life worth living), the cat doesn't get to do that.
• Nearly all of the Wolf's appearances in the Dark Forest, as well as earlier in Jack Horner's bakery, are preceded by one or more deaths resulting from Jack's reckless disregard for human life. While he wasn't able to find Puss at Mama Luna's, he's able to resume the hunt because Jack is unknowingly pointing him in the right direction. This is backed up by the fact that the Wolf wasn't shown in the montage of characters heading for the Dark Forest; he didn't have to follow them, he was summoned.
• Death only attacks Puss when he's alone; if there's bystanders around, he just stands there menacingly. He's coming specifically for Puss, and him alone; he doesn't want to risk having innocents interfere or get caught in the crossfire.
  • The only exception is at the Wishing Star where Puss has the chance to ask for his lives back, which prompts Death to directly intervene even while the other fighters are around. Even then, he immediately creates a wall of fire to separate himself and Puss from everyone else (note how Perrito is blown away by the barrier, but isn't actually harmed).
• Death's taunting whistle is in a major key, sounding cheerful rather than mournful. But of course it is - it's a lullaby. It also gives a whole new meaning to the term "wolf-whistle".
  • Considering that it's Death that's whistling, it could very well also be another meaning to "death-whistle". This is fitting, as the death-whistle is an instrument the Aztecs would play before an attack with sounds that very much resemble a scream.
• The title card for Puss's deaths features the Wolf in the corners, holding his sickles in the form of an omega symbol or close to one. The Omega represents finality, a fitting symbol for Death.
• Of course Death is capable of easily popping out from the Wishing Star's barrier. Getting caught in it practically causes death, and that's who he is.
  • Which raises the question of why he can get hurt (or at least smacked back) by Puss during their second fight despite being supposedly invincible. It has something to do with his role: Death can get anywhere no matter how dangerous it is (in fact, he's more likely to be present in dangerous places) and reap anyone's soul at the end of their lives. But trying to personally kill Puss, who is still alive, falls outside of his normal jurisdiction; so he gets a handicap.
    • This also works on a symbolic level, since it is, in fact, entirely possible to fight Death, and even drive him back... for a time. Doctors, for example, do it every day by saving gravely ill or injured people whose death should be all but assured. He always comes back to collect in the end, but resolve and determination to live can buy you a few extra years.
  • It might have to do with the fact that the Wishing Star knows that Death doesn't want, nor cares for, the wish, he wants Puss. Everyone else were in danger because they were after the wish for themselves or someone else, even Perrito.
• Death might not be able to get Puss because he needs a proper excuse. The Bar Fight? Puss was likely drinking himself to death, so Death could get him. Pie Factory escape has Puss dodging flaming arrows, the Lake of Relaxation fight has Puss fearing for his life and real potential of death, not to mention his panic attack could have led to a heart attack. Really, only when Puss has a real possibility of dying is Death at his most dangerous, when Puss starts respecting his mortality more, Death can't get his last life as easy.
• Death "loving" the smell of fear might be because that is literally his normal everyday experience. Living things more often than not have a self-preservation instinct — that certain beings might lack that would be a severe cause for concern, especially in a world where magic is prevalent.
• For all that Death seems linked with fear, the only times Death physically interacts with Puss is when Puss doesn't fear him: the first time when Puss thinks him to be an ordinary bounty hunter; the second immediately right after Puss' past lives try to encourage him back into his old fearless lifestyle (note that Death mostly settles for smashing the crystals of his past lives though); and the third time when Puss finally accepts his last life and willingly faces Death head on. Every other time, Death looms as an ominous specter.
• Death forfeiting because he couldn't stop dragging out Puss's execution gets a little more ironic when you connect it to cats being famous for playing with their food. He might not like those lucky furballs, but if he acted more like a wolf and less like a cat in this specific instance, he might have put an end to the legend after all.
• Why does Death find the idea of nine lives absurd? Because that's not how it works in real life!
  • Also, no life is worth more than another so of course Death is angry that cats have such a privilege. You are supposed to have one and only one life.
• Why does Death's whistle send whoever hears it into fear? Because in many folklores, whistling at night is seen as a bad omen and is synonymous with death.
• More Fridge Humor than anything, but reaping those fishes Shrek killed with his farts all the way back in the first movie probably was embarrassing for Death. And King Harold passing away was a parody of dramatic plot-driving death scenes, with two fake-outs, so Death was probably awkwardly standing in the room waiting for Harold to kick the bucket for real.
  • And there's of course the climax of the first Shrek movie, where Lord Farquaad had Shrek surrounded by his knights and shouting to the ogre that he will have him tortured so much that he’d be “begging” for death to save him. And that's exactly what he did moments later when Shrek managed to free his hand just long enough to whistle for Dragon.
• The Wolf being there for all of Puss' deaths is a subtle callback to the first film: "I was there the whole time." Except this was done more subtly and seriously than Humpty.
• Another reason Death is able to justify taking Puss' ninth life? Because if The Adventures of Puss in Boots is taken as canon, it isn't his ninth, but his tenth. He died and was resurrected by a True Love's Kiss. While it was erased from time, Death is a cosmic entity and such things likely don't matter to him. So Death has every right to take Puss' life: he's already living past his appointed time even without wishing for his lives back.
• Death's feud with Puss meeting its climax at the Wishing Star works not just for pacing, but to tie Death into the Central Theme. While Death doesn't pursue the star, he, like every other character, persues a "wish" almost mindlessly and without seeing the forest for the trees (in his case, hunting down Puss to bring down his ego, despite that also validating Puss before Death and thus making him someone he is unwilling to kill). Only here does Death come to that realization, just like everyone else does; his pursuit is a waste, since he already got his "wish".
  • It also adds further Brilliance to the aforementioned contrast with Jack. Death looks his most "mortal" here, struggling and even panicking against Puss before throwing a comical tantrum over said lack of foresight, while Jack, the only one left wanting his wish and being totally unfettered about it, takes over as the final menace. Death fell for the same selfish pitfall everyone else did, while Jack knows exactly what he wants and there is no changing his mind.
• Many old fairy tales are actually cautionary tales against certain behavior or vices, this is especially true of ones with a wolf as the main antagonist ('Little Red Riding Hood' against trusting strangers and 'Three Little Pigs' warning against laziness and encouraging hard work and dedication). Death's chase of Puss fits this mold as cautionary tale against hubris and taking one's life for granted. As such, not only is Death unique in the franchise for being played dead seriously, he's unique for not being a Fractured Fairy Tale, but a fairy tale played straight.
• In the final battle, Death first damages the left boot and the cape, as well as strikes away the hat and sword of Puss. After all, he was and still is fine if Puss abandons the myth around him and lives a normal life like at Mama Luna's. The last hit of the battle is Puss hitting Death's head with the undamaged right boot, as Puss refuses to let go of his adventurous life, instead choosing to value what he has.
• In a metaphorical sense, Death did take Puss's life, he was just so angry with him that he couldn't accept it until he saw it for himself. In terms of symbolism, Death doesn't always mean killing, it also means rebirth and the "death" of an old personality/characteristic. Although Puss is insanely hubristic and wasteful with his eight lives, he does learn to value the people in his life and learn to truly appreciate life during the story. Meaning, that Puss's old personality did die so Puss could be reborn into the humble hero at the end of the story.
• While it could've just been a convenient shape for an arena, the red/magenta barriers of fire Death summons with his scythes for his last duel with Puss bears some resemblance to the bident (two-pronged pitchfork) commonly associated with Hades/Pluto.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

• In Real Life, bears have a great sense of smell. However, it’s Baby Bear who is tasked with sniffing out Puss, why? Because between him and his parents, Baby is the youngest of them, thus having the sharpest sense of smell.
• Goldi's wish is to specifically have a new human family. Why not wish to find her birth family? Because, prior to meeting the Bears, she was raised in an orphanage. That means her family are either dead, missing, and/or willingly abandoned her. Plus, given how sensible and pragmatic Goldilocks is, she's not going to waste her wish finding her birth parents who may not be alive or not even want her.
• A small thing, but the way Goldi styles her hair looks incredibly similar to the "mother" in the fairytale book she read so much as a child. Along with drawing the same hairstyle onto the little girl in the picture, Goldi styles her hair that way to feel like she's with her "proper” family.
• The character design parallels between Goldi and the Bears show that even the former isn't related to the latter, she is still connected to them. She's part of the family. Goldi and the bears personalities started to rub off on each other, hence the accessories.
  • Some part of Goldi's design directly parallels with some character feature/design of her bear family:
    • Papa Bear has yellow eyes and wears a yellow-orangish scarf, and he's notably blind in his left eye - Goldi is a blonde and, while hard to notice, gains two thin scars above her left eyebrow by the end of the movie.
    • Like her daughter, Mama Bear wears two different types of earrings on both ears.
    • Baby Bear wears a chain necklace with three items on it = Goldi wears three necklaces. Also, both of them have blue eyes.
  • Similar to the above example of Goldi's design paralleling each of the Bears, they also parallel in another way - Asymmetry:
    • Like her daughter, Mama Bear wears two different types of earrings on both ears.
    • Papa Bear is blind in his left eye
    • Baby Bear has a single Ear Notch and different adornments on his chain necklace.
  • The parallels of Goldi's clothes when she and Bears are traveling by moonlight symbolize her transformation on her views of the Bears as family — Her initial outfit is shown (even in the dark) to be a multitude of colors and like the Bears, have an asymmetrical design but it also shows she's the odd one out (hinting at her possible insecurity of being the only human of the group). But by the end, her clothing (specifically her dress) now has a muted brown color, similar to the Bears, showing how she is more confident and assured of her place in the family.
  • Another parallel spotted between Goldi and the Bears is that, by the end, all of them have some sort of scar.
    • Most obvious, Papa Bear, is missing his left eye and a prominent scar is also present.
    • As stated above, Baby Bear has an Ear Notch and the flashback of how he and his parents met Goldi, show he's had it since he was a cub.
    • It's hard to notice unless you pause it, but Mama Bear has a scar on her nose.
    • Like her mother, it's hard to notice, but at the end, Goldi has two prominent scars above her left eyebrow.
• Aside from pettily bringing up Goldi being his "adoptive" sister, another reason Baby could be so harsh towards Goldi is because his parents show more favoritism to her than him. Also being the youngest child, he would likely be jealous she has more of their attention.
  • Another reason for Baby's rivalry with Goldi could also be that, like the original fairytale, Goldi ate all of his porridge, broke his chair and slept in his bed when they first meet. When Mama pulled him away from his bed because Goldi was sleeping and shushing him, Baby immediately pouts.
  • There's also how before Goldi was adopted in the family, Baby was the only child, and he was likely going to be head of their family. The, Goldi is adopted and being the oldest, is now in line.
• Goldilocks deciding to pull a Heel–Face Turn (or, at least, a Played With version of it) and help Puss fight against Jack Horner makes sense because of a number of factors:
  • It's implied that Goldilocks has a nice amount of respect for Puss given she calls him a "legend" and wanted his help to steal the map from Horner. In contrast, she initially avoided being directly involved with Horner out of fear of the latter's reprisal.
  • Horner shouted, with Goldilocks and the Bears in the same room, that he hates magical, Talking Animals. And Goldilocks' family consists of talking bears. And had Horner achieved his wish to Take Over the World and given his sociopathic nature, he would've done something horrible in regard to the group. Goldilocks helping Puss would help protect her family.
  • Following from the second reason, Goldilocks and the Bears did break into Horner's place with the intention of stealing the map. And he's a cruel and evil man who would've made the family's lives miserable for crossing him.
  • There's payback too. While the family was against both Puss' team and Jack Horner getting the wishing star, the former group never tried to kill them. On the other hand, Jack Horner attempted to kill Goldi and the Bears when they meet up again, not only for trying to steal from him but also because they're talking animals; Kitty even reveals how he had backstabbed her after hiring her, likely because she's a talking animal. Not to mention, Jack Horner nearly sent Baby to his death. Given how protective they are of each other, they wanted to hurt him back.
  • Let's not pretend the family wasn't watching Puss' dance with literal Death from start to finish. It gives them some newfound respect for Puss since he not only did reaffirm himself as a "legend" without trying to, but he also indirectly showed them how short, fragile, and precious life and its contents are, which only helped Goldi realize that her Family of Choice is worth fighting for.
• Goldilocks seems to have a nice amount of respect for Puss given she called him a "legend" and it was her idea to ask him for his help. Makes sense when you realize that they are both orphans and Goldi most likely admires him to some extent because of this, which likely only increases when watching him face Death to a standstill.
• When Goldi and the Crime Bear family are smacked by Jack Horner's stone-encased, Excalibur, Mama Bear instantly goes to cushion Goldi from the fall. Why is her concern only about Goldi and not also about her husband and son? Because they are bears — a species that can take heavy hits and falls better than humans. Since Goldi is the only human, she would've been less lucky.
  • Related to that, Papa Bear and Mama Bear probably show favoritism towards Goldi in general because as a human, she's less durable than Baby, therefore they're more protective towards her.
• Papa and Mama Bear not having any issue with adopting Goldi makes sense for two reasons - First, in Real Life, bears have been known to adopt orphan cubs; Second, they were already a crime family when Goldi broke into their home, it's highly likely they saw Goldi's burglary as something respectable.
• Mama and Papa Bear are much faster to correct Baby calling Goldi an orphan than her strings of insults, Papa even agrees with her that Baby has dingleberries. It's pretty common in families with adopted or stepchildren for the parents to cater to the adopted child, assuming the bio child already knows how much the parents care about them.
• Goldi and the Bears initially wanting to hire Kitty makes sense not only because of her soft paws but that unlike the loud and ego-driven Puss, she can be discrete and does have a longer history as a thief than Puss himself. Also, given how Kitty would've likely gone unnoticed that meant Goldi and the Bears wouldn't have been discovered by the sociopathic Jack Horner and Goldi could've spent a peaceful time with the Bears before making her wish.
• When Goldi reveals her plan to wish for a human family, of all the Bears, Mama looks the least surprised (but still just as heartbroken). If you remember at their time in the illusion cottage, she fondly remembers Goldi's favorite childhood book. And said book showed Goldi's old doodling of her with a human family. And given how Goldi is arguably closest to Mama of their family, the former knew, or at least suspected, of Goldi's desire for a human family.
• Goldi riding on each of the Bears' backs makes sense for a couple of reason — First, they are large and muscular bears and can handle the weight of a relatively skinny and small human girl. Second, in Real Life, bears are known to travel longer and faster than humans, so Goldi riding on their backs would be less tiring for her.
  • Bear cubs when they are little ride on their mother's backs as their main form of transportation. Also, at one point Goldie does a two step, using Papa's side as a stepping stone to jump on Mama's back, showing it to be a well trained and often used move. Goldi is human, compare to the bears she will always be little cub fit to ride on their backs.
• Unlike Jack or Puss, Goldi doesn't read the Wishing Star's incantation when given the opportunity and soon (even sooner than Puss when he was facing Wolf/Death) abandons it to help save Baby. Why? Because unlike the people who earlier held the map, Goldi didn't get obstacles. She only received words, good advice. So, Goldi seeing the incantation reminded her of the earlier advice about her wish being right in front of her. Her small smile when looking at the incantation isn't her struggling to choose between making her wish or saving Baby. It's her dawning realization that her wish did come true in the form of the Bears.
  • Also, between the three of them, when Goldi holds the map, her eyes are given the most focus on the map and its' incantation. She's following the map's earlier advice: She changed her point of view.
• Goldi repays each of the Bears for something she denied at earlier points in the film:
  • Goldi's real intentions for the wish was for a human family, believing it would make everything "just right", which breaks the Bears' hearts. She attempts to reason she couldn't stay with them because she's not a bear. This is especially hurting for Mama, as it's implied, she knew Goldi's true goal and tried to convince her daughter she already had a family. After the battle with Jack Horner, Goldi proudly states with Tears of Joy that "everything is just right" meaning she realizes the Bears are her family. And she goes to hug Mama who is crying from joy as well, visibly relieved and happy at her daughter's change of heart.
  • When it appears that Puss is dead and they can't complete their job, Papa states they should go hibernate but Goldi reasons why they shouldn't. And after the literal bear hug with her family, Goldi's first request is they should go home and hibernate, which Papa proudly replies she a chip off the old block.
  • Goldi earlier derided Baby for wanting to come up with a plan to steal the map. After amicable parting ways with Puss' team, Goldi asks Baby what their next job should be.
• Perrito's comment on how Goldi "won the orphan lottery" makes sense as bears are known to be great and protective parents in Real Life.
  • Also, like in Real Life, bears also have a healthy diet. That and how these bears also eat porridge, a common healthy meal, Goldi could live with them on a similar diet.
  • Besides that, Perrito may see some resemblance of him in Goldi — Both are orphans with troubled backgrounds and like how Perrito was the runt of his litter, Goldi could technically be considered the runt of her family given she's the shortest and smallest. However, unlike Perrito's family, Goldi is equally valued and respected, even being the leader of the group, and being able to trade equal insults with her brother and winning the game.
• Papa being the toughest of his family, being the only Bear that didn't get affected by Puss' stick sword or Mama Luna's broom, makes sense. According to the original fairytale, he is the one who sleeps on the hardest bed; thus, he is used to hard items.
  • On a similar note, Mama Bear in the original fairytale sleeps in the softest bed, so not only would she be sensitive to, e.g., a light attack on her knuckles but she would be the one best suited to cushion Goldi's fall when Jack Horner struck the family with Excalibur.
• Goldi and the Bears' next venture to take over Jack Horner's pie factory makes sense for a number of reasons:
  • For Baby, who came up with the idea, can now wear the left behind purple clothes of the deceased Jack. And with how rich said factory is, Baby can afford to buy and/or make his own clothing. Also, given he's a Big Eater with the sharpest sense of smell, Baby can also pick and choose the right ingredients for making pies.
  • For Papa, he asks Goldi if getting the Wishing Star could make them rich enough to do a year-long hibernation. With how lucrative Jack Horner's pie business is, Papa most likely can do that.
  • For Mama, she's all about spending time with family, so a family business is great for her. It's also in direct contrast with Jack Horner — who called his loving parents "worthless crap", among other things. It's fitting that a family-oriented Mama would love the idea.
  • For Goldi, her presence could help bring in even more customers. Why? Both she and Jack Horner are humans, but the latter was known for his hatred for anything magical while the former was Happily Adopted by talking bears. Goldi being part of the family could bring in magical creatures who most likely didn't want to do anything affiliated with the magic-hating Jack.
    • Also, given how easily distracted her family can be, Goldi can be the most focused one of them among directing their workers. And said workers will be appreciated having a fairer, and arguably kinder boss.
  • It's also a fitting karmic justice against Jack and his hatred over magical creatures. The empire he was handed down to by his family (who he earlier called "worthless crap") will now be taken over by a family of magical creatures (sans Goldi).
  • Adding to the above, Jack also has a strong hatred for fairytales given he doesn't come from one, his is a nursery rhyme. So, it's also karmic justice that his business will be taken over by a family who are based on one of the most popular and reimagined fairytales in the world.
• Baby Bear calling Goldi a "low-rent Cinderella" isn't just a simple shot at her being less popular than the more iconic fairy tale princess; it's yet another jab at her being adopted, since Cinderella was also an orphan girl who was unable to fit in with her adopted family.

Jack Horner and the Baker's Dozen

• Jack initially mistakes the Ethical Bug for a locust. The Ethical Bug is a parody of Jiminy Cricket, and crickets actually are orthopterans like locusts and very similar in appearance.
• Why did the posies straight-up eat Jack's bakers even though they non-lethally blocked Puss and Kitty shortly before? Might have something to do with their wishes. It’s implied the Dark Forest and the Wishing Star itself wanted to keep everyone away no matter what their wishes were, but it’s likely said wishes had something to do with it. Puss wanted his nine lives back and Kitty wanted someone in the world she could fully trust. While they were selfish wishes, they weren’t malicious ones that would cause harm to anyone, so while the Star still didn’t want to be found or used, it didn’t think they deserved to be killed just for wanting their heart’s desires. Jack, on the other hand, wanted to be the supreme master of all magic — and by extension, rule the universe — all because he'd been upstaged by Pinocchio as a child. He was such a monster that the Dark Forest thought he totally deserved to die before he could reach it.
  • This also ties into the paths the map gives each holder. Kitty and Puss get difficult journeys, while Perrito - who doesn't even have a wish - gets a nearly effortless path because the Star knows he isn't interested in using it. Jack would’ve probably gotten an absolutely brutal path filled with unsurmountable challenges.
  • There's also the fact that the posies become more aggressive the more aggressive people are towards them. Perrito thought that the posies were pretty and good-smelling, so they let him pass without attempting to attack him. Puss and Kitty wanted to get through the obstacles and reach the Star, so the posies pushed them back and non-lethally restrained them until they stopped being aggressive. Jack and the Bakers tried to chop down the posies right from the start, so the flowers immediately employed deadly force.
• Jack's entire villainous motivation boils down to the fact that he's always been unsatisfied with being an otherwise normal person in a world filled with magic and fairytales. Jack feeling like the odd one out makes total sense when you realize Jack Horner isn’t from a fairytale, but a nursery rhyme.
  • Not only that, it’s a rhyme that, despite being recognizable both in-universe and the real-life English-speaking world, is infamous for being plain and uninteresting (after all, it’s about a completely ordinary boy pulling a plumb out of a pie with his thumb!) compared to the more interesting and fantastical fairy tales like Pinocchio (and even other nursery rhyme characters like Humpty Dumpty). After being upstaged by Pinocchio, Jack, rather than realizing that he needed to stop relying on a lame gimmick and make his act more engaging and interesting, decided to blame his failure on his lack of magic, causing him to develop a huge chip on his shoulder and become enraged when it's pointed out by one of the Serpent Sisters.
• Jack's remark about being relieved that his pants grew with him after eating the magic snacks that turned him into a giant is funny but also an indicator of his brilliance. Having acquired, contained, and operated numerous magical items despite having no magic himself means he has to at least have a secure and possibly deeper understanding of magical principles compared to the average fairytale character. Details like that wouldn't be missed by him at this point.
• Jack Horner is ultimately an amalgamation of all past Shrek villains, and even the antagonists in Puss's one previous film.
  • Lord Farquaad: Both rule over a town and dream of a world they rule, where they rise above the magical creatures and talking animals they so despise. Both also show callous disregard for their men, not caring if they have to die to achieve their goals.
  • Fairy Godmother: Both own a rather big company of sorts, and Puss does break into both of them to acquire a macguffin.
  • Prince Charming: They became unloved stage performers at one point in their lives.
  • Rumpelstiltskin: They share the same kind of wish, to take over the world and be the most powerful person ever.
  • Humpty: Both he and Jack are comic relief antagonists, have rather round figures and are schemers and crafty strategists.
  • The Giant golden-egg-laying goose: Well, Jack turns into a giant in the climax, thanks to the "magic snacks".
• Many foreign viewers were confused by the inclusion of Jack Horner, who is only known in the English-speaking world. However, you realize that he was one-upped by Pinocchio, who in the real world is known worldwide, originated in Italy, and had two beloved movies made about him. Naturally, this would play another factor in Horner's villainous motivations.
• The fact Jack Horner reacts to the Ethical Bug calling him irredeemable by wondering why it took him so long to figure it out makes perfect sense for two reasons.
  • For one, Jack stole Excalibur still in the stone, so he knows for a fact he failed the test of pure heart, and any delusions about him being an Anti-Hero died with that — as evidenced by how he is still a bandit, he obviously realized he doesn't care.
  • For another, Jack is clearly prejudiced against talking animals — and he didn't want the Ethical Bug bothering him to begin with. Of course, he's going to Troll the thing by driving in he doesn't want redemption or a conscience to begin with.
• How many chances does the film give Jack Horner to mend his wicked ways? The Baker's Dozen, literally and metaphorically. Ethical Bug tries to find any good in Jack, even lampshading the Phoenix he holds is the symbol of eternal fire and rebirth (only for him to use the mythical bird as a flamethrower instead). Ethical Bug finally gives up on Jack and proclaims him an "irredeemable monster" for treating his men as expendable. Normally this wake-up call would get some villains to have a My God, What Have I Done? moment. But not Jack. When the final chef dies, Jack meets his karmic death soon after, when Ethical Bug and phoenix destroy the Wishing Star map.
• How did Jack come across Fairy Godmother's wand? Since we now know their at least more versions of fairy tales, we only ever saw Fiona's supposed Fairy Godmother. Who's to say he just gotten a stolen wand from another one, it would explain how it's still has magic in it since we clearly saw the original Godmother's wand go dark.
• As an addendum to the above entry, Jack having Excalibur in his possession is pretty easy to explain. Either another Arthur failed to reach the sword in time (which in the Shrek universe, can happen, given how Shrek was never meant to save Fiona in the first place), or Artie's story in Shrek's universe never needed Excalibur in the first place, because again, thanks to Shrek, he was already in line to inherit a throne because Shrek never wanted it. To Jack, the sword was easy pickings.
  • Alternatively, Excalibur in Arthurian myth is sometimes two separate swords. Jack might have the sword in the stone, but perhaps not the sword that the Lady of the Lake bears.
• Jack's teeth are noticeably crooked; while this is set in a time period where dentistry isn't great, he's constantly been sucking his thumb since he was a child.
• During a conversation with the Ethical Bug, Jack Horner says he grew up in a mansion with a loving family and a thriving baked goods enterprise. However, Jack's flashback shows him in a run-down wagon with only two customers watching him recite his nursery rhyme. The possible explanation is both cruel and hilarious; a scorned Jack may have quit his gig after seeing Pinocchio upstage him, which in turn allowed the business to thrive because his act was no longer turning away customers. Jack was so famously boring as an entertainer that he chose to blame magical creatures after he stopped being in the spotlight.
• Jack Horner is the only main character in the film to never actually see Death in person, as he's in his magic bag when Death appears at the Final Battle. While one explanation is Jack is the only main character to die (and thus see Death on the other side), there's another possible reason. Death implies the reason that Puss never noticed him despite his eight previous deaths is because he didn't value any of his lives and laughed at Death. Jack Horner explicitly doesn't comprehend the value of a life, so it's entirely possible he never saw Death for the same reason as Puss.

Other Characters:

Mama Luna and her cats

• Mama Luna's name could be pretty meaningful, as there are tales of the moon making people crazy, hence the word "loony". With her crazy cat lady personality, she certainly is.
• The cats at Mama Luna's house are very hostile to Puss. Of course they are! Mama Luna didn't introduce Puss properly, so the cats treated him with hostility like real cats.
• The first thing Mama Luna does with Puss after adopting him is drag him into a bathtub. While a Crazy Cat Lady such as Luna would surely know most cats can bathe themselves just fine, Puss had recently crawled through a latrine pipe to escape Lobo del Muerte. Mama Luna almost certainly smelled the literal shit caked in Puss's fur, and elected to deep clean him personally before allowing him near the rest of her cats.

The Ethical Bug

• The sheer poetry in The Ethical Bug being the one to do Jack Horner in. Jack has a major grudge against Pinocchio, and the Ethical Bug is basically Jiminy, so even years later, Pinocchio's influence still gets the better of him.
  • Furthermore, a conscience is supposed to stop somebody from doing bad things by appealing to their guilt or inner good nature. When Jack makes it clear he has no good in him whatsoever and isn't remotely interested in redemption or stopping his callous villainy, how does his conscience stop him? By cutting out the middle man and making sure he cannot commit anymore bad deeds.
• The Ethical Bug choosing to go with Goldi and the Bears at the end may seem odd but makes sense when thought about:
  • He was in the possession of Jack Horner but ultimately helps defeat him because of his sadistic and callous attitude towards everyone, even his underlings. However, he was present when he heard the Crime Bear Family's plan to take over Horner's business, thus making them, his next bosses by default; adding to that, unlike Jack Horner, they all proved to have more redeeming qualities such as familial love, something the Ethical Bug most likely overheard and/or witnessed before introducing himself to them.
  • There's also how between Goldi's, Puss' and Jack's respective groups, it is Goldi's who are the most capable of a redemption arc. Puss' group, while having their own flaws, are still the most heroic team between the three teams, so they don't need a guide in morals; Jack Horner's group are nothing but violent villains with a leader who the Ethical Bug plainly states in Beyond Redemption; Goldi's group are a proudly self-proclaimed crime family who have done thuggish acts (i.e., breaking into Mama Luna's home, holding people hostage for the map, etc.) but they also prove to be genuine loving towards one another despite bickering and even prove to be heroic when needed (i.e., Goldi giving up the map to save Baby, Papa saving both Puss and Kitty from being sucked into the Star's Uncertain Doom, helping to defeat Jack Horner, etc.) And by the end, while they did help Puss, they're still a crime family. However, given how the Ethical Bug was present for most of these encounters (even if indirectly), he was shown that the Bears are the perfect people for his job — Because they are still criminals like Jack Horner but unlike him, they have proven to Ethical Bug that they are capable of redemption.
  • Given how the Ethical Bug is a talking animal and witnessed the abuse Jack put other talking animals, it clearly put him off. In contrast, Goldi has shown to be in a loving relationship with the Bears and parted amicably with Puss' group. As such, the Ethical Bug can trust Goldi isn't the abusive tyrant like Jack was.
  • Finally, he just hated Jack. The bug already doomed Jack by having the likewise resentful Phoenix burn the last piece of the map, so helping the people planning to take over his business after his death would be a final insult towards his abuser.

Other Aspects:

The Wishing Star

• The people seeking the Wishing Star state that it works on the “birthday wish” rule - if they reveal what their wish is to anyone else before making it, it won’t come true. Given that this is a fairytale setting, this rule is pretty much confirmed to be in place. This foreshadows how no one seeking the Star got their wish at the end, because throughout the film, they each told their wish to someone else - Puss told his to Perrito and Kitty, Kitty told hers to Puss, Goldilocks told hers to the Three Bears, and Jack Horner told his to the Ethical Bug.
  • Technically, someone's wish was granted... the star's own. It's subtly implied that the Wishing Star is not only sentient... but actively doesn’t want to be found. Destroying the map means that no one can ever seek the Star out for their own selfish ends again. When Puss and Kitty held the map, they noted that all the obstacles in front of them gave off the feeling that the star doesn't want to be found.
  • In a way, everyone's wish gets granted. Goldie gets her family, Kitty gets someone she can trust, Puss gets to live his life, and even Jack gets all the magic of the star all to himself.
  • This even applies to the Three Bears. Papa and Baby both tell the others their rather generic wishes for power and prestige, and they don't get their wishes either - although with Jack Horner dead, there is a power vacuum they decide to exploit - but Mama doesn't tell anyone her wish, and in the end she alone gets hers outright: To have Goldie recognize them as her family.
• Everyone who touches the map gets a path that's either perilous or meant to discourage them from reaching the Wishing Star. ...except for Perrito. Sure, the star did it because he doesn't have a wish, but it's later revealed that Perrito had a rough life where his family didn't want him and even tried to drown him. The Wishing Star didn't give him a hard path because his whole life already was a hard path.
• The map changes the layout of the Dark Forest based on the personality of the one who’s holding it. For Puss, a daredevil thrill-seeker filled with fiery passion, it becomes a Lethal Lava Land. For Kitty, she gets a gloomy swampland reflecting how alone and miserable she truly feels. And for Perrito, a Cloud Cuckoolander, it becomes a colorful land of rainbows and flowers with no hazards at all (save for the posies), giving a straight shot to the Star. Why? Perrito already got what he wanted in making friends with Puss and Kitty, so the Wishing Star gives him the easiest route. Why bother setting up obstacles for someone who’s not even interested in using it?
  • It's similar to the spell Dumbledore places on the Mirror of Erised to guard the Philosopher’s Stone: As he told Harry, “Only a person who wanted to find the Stone- find it, but not use it - would be able to get it”.
    • Although it should still be noted that the Pocket Full Of Posies was still incredibly dangerous to anyone that wasn't willing or able to ignore the dangers of the giant flowers and appreciate them. Something Perrito has no problems with but treasure hunters after the wish would be very unlikely to do. Presumably the river of relaxation would have followed similar rules were Puss, Kitty and Perrito not already relaxing and having fun while on the boat.
    • There's more reasons to believe that all of Perrito's path is something of a Crapsaccharine World though. After all the Pocket Full Of Posies is a reference to a line from the nursery rhyme ''Ring Around the Rosie'… a rhyme which, despite it not being true, is famously attributed to the Black Death. The River Of Relaxation seems harmless… until you remember what nearly happened to Perrito. The Field of Quick and Easy Solutions also seems pleasant… until you remember that people who die by suicide are often criticized for taking the “quick and easy solution” rather than living and facing their problems. Considering how Perrito never realized what exactly his family tried to do to him, these implications would go right over his head.
  • And Goldi? All she wanted was a “proper” family, but she thought it had to be a human family. When she finally got the map, the Dark Forest changed into “Nostalgic Pines”, the forest cabin that she and the Three Bears live in, with no path to the Wishing Star. Much like with Perrito, why give her a path to the Star when she already had her wish?
  • Another hint of the map trying to guide Goldi: Despite traveling to the Wishing Star as a group, Puss, Kitty, and Perrito each have separate icons, but Goldi and the Bears have a single icon containing the four of them. The map acknowledged them as a family from the beginning.
  • The star continues to guide Goldi in the final battle twice: (1) Mama and Papa Bear are arguably the strongest characters during the fight, and they still couldn't pull Baby out of the Star's wall without Goldi's help despite her being a human (albeit one who can hold her own against a bear). It's only the entire family working together that rescues Baby. (2) As shown with the last of the Baker's Dozen, crossing the wall is an Instant Kill despite holding objects outside the wall. Why wasn't Baby automatically disintegrated the second his entire body went through? The star was waiting for Goldi to rescue him.
  • Both of the last obstacles we see also reinforce the idea that the Wishing Star doesn't want to be used. The Nostalgic Pines seems to be tailor-made to either get Goldi to realize she already got her wish through the projection of how she met the bears or to make them never want to continue on by making a perfect recreation of their home. The Cave Of Lost Souls, on the other hand, is either meant to make Puss either not want to leave the neverending party with his past lives or, after being forced to spend time with them, reflect on how self absorbed he was (and how his pursuit of solo fame and glory alienated him from others and the belief he’d always have another life to spare caused him to squander them in the first place), realize he’d just squander it all over again if he actually got his wish, and give up.
• The map changes based on whoever is holding it and reflects their heart's desires or insecurities. One of Kitty's locations is an "Abyss of Eternal Loneliness". This reflects in her wish to have someone who was there for her so she wouldn't be alone.
• Whoever holds the map, their eyes turn star-shaped and blue. And then the Black Forest changes its landscape and obstacles accordingly. This makes sense given how eyes are said to be windows to the soul.
• The Wishing Star made everyone's journey to it difficult for some and thought provoking for others, in an effort to keep them away from them from their selfish and/or pointless wishes, so why make Perrito's journey incredibly easy? To grant Perrito's wish that he felt was already granted, have Puss and Kitty be his friend. By the time they reach the Posies, Puss and Kitty more or less saw Perrito as a means to an end due to his easy mode journey, but Perrito already considered them his friends. The Wishing Star was not making it easy for them to reach it, it was giving Puss and Kitty the opportunity to bond with Perrito and come to truly see him as their friend.
• When they enter the Dark Forest, They start with the colorful version of it before we see the other forms it can take when Puss and Kitty touch the map then it returns back to its initial form when Perrito touches it. Why is Perrito's version of the Dark Forest the first one we see? Because Perrito entered it first.
• The star bares an uncanny resemblance to the color scheme of a certain character: The Fairy Godmother, a being who was in the business of granting wishes herself. The source of her power — her Magic Wand — even has a blue/lavender star on it. In the Fairy Godmother's case, her star is much smaller and much simpler, as are her methods of "wish-granting" (intent on only giving a traditional fairy tale Happily Ever After). While the Fairy Godmother gives people what they want in exchange for being in her debt, the Wishing Star and the forest that surrounds it has a vested interest in showing people what they need and already have. It's especially appropriate since Puss in Boots was introduced into the franchise in the same film as the Fairy Godmother.

Foils and Similarities

• While Perrito could be considered the perfect foil to the Wolf, as the former is a lovable and funny little dog and the latter is a ruthless big scary wolf, these characters are more similar than what meets the eye.
  • Puss meets the two as they pretend to be something they are not, with Wolf not correcting the cat when he calls him a bounty hunter and Perrito trying to bond with Puss claiming he is a talking cat.
  • They have a great appreciation for life, as Perrito treasures it despite having a rough lifestyle before meeting the cats, and Wolf is outraged when someone wastes their life for nothing, let alone eight lives.
  • Both are the only characters who arrive at the wishing star but don't have the need to make a wish.
  • The Wishing Star allows the two to pass through it without interfering like the others (giving Perrito the easiest path and letting Death walk through its vaporizing aurora).
  • In a Freeze-Frame Bonus moment during the final confrontation between Puss and Death, Perrito is the only other person to have a direct interaction with the latter, getting hit by the same hellfire that surrounded the two. Strangely enough he appears fine, only shoved aside. Reflecting his backstory, Death avoids him purposefully because he simply was not meant to die yet.
• The films show a past version of Jack, Goldi, and Puss sometime in the film - for Jack it's a brief flashback but for the latter two they see literal past versions of themselves. As such, by seeing themselves from some point in their life, they are able to re-examine their current selves. In other words, unlike Jack, both Puss and Goldi could literally self-reflect.
• Like with the Perrito and Wolf comparison above, Puss and Goldi may seem different, but they have a lot in common when going deeper.
  • Both were abandoned orphans living in an orphanage and being Happily Adopted by family that was a different species than them — Puss was brought into an Orphanage of Love and lovingly raised by Imelda (a human) and became blood brothers with Humpty (a sentient egg); Goldi was living in an (implied) Orphanage of Fear before running away, broke into the Bears' cottage, and was taken in by them.
  • Both are small, agile fighters who wield a weapon in battle — Puss uses a sword; Goldi uses a wooden staff.
  • They both unknowingly committed a crime that caused a shift in their respective families — Puss was tricked into stealing from a bank by Humpty, which forced him to abandon his home and mother; Goldi, as a child, broke into the bears' cottage but instead of being chased away they adopted her.
  • They are known by their fur/hair color that coincidentally happens to be a primary color - Puss is a ginger cat; Goldilocks, as her name suggests, has yellow hair.
  • Both have a rocky relationship with their respective adoptive siblings — Puss with Humpty for the latter tricking him; Goldi with Baby over usual Sibling Rivalry and the latter constantly making disses at Goldi being adopted.
  • Their relationship with their respective mother figures is a loving one, with said mothers being one of the few to get them to be more vulnerable.
  • As stated above, both of them see a past version of themselves that would help with their respective realization into the journey for their own wishes — Puss sees each version of each life he loss and comes to be disgusted over his past arrogance and how he wasted each life because of his ego; Goldi sees a flashback on the day she met the Bears, which is one of the reasons she comes to realize they were the family she was looking for all along.
  • Both have notable fangs — Puss because he's a cat; Goldi has four sharpened teeth that resembles bear fangs.
  • They (and their respective teams) are criminals in name but prove to have their redeeming, even heroic qualities — Puss and his group don't actively commit crimes unless they must; Goldi and the Bears are explicitly a crime family but are more Anti Villains.
  • At the end of the movie, both gain a small animal companion that act as moral guides — Perrito (dog) for Puss; the Ethical Bug for Goldi, though that's left up in the air if said bug decides to stay.
  • At different times, both are given their own lesson to their respective character arc by Perrito's advice but the key commonality was in valuing their loved ones — Puss learns that even if he has one life, it can still be a meaningful one with the people he loves and that his I Work Alone attitude is not a good thing to live by; Goldi learns that the family she's always wanted was right in front of her and she shouldn't be looking for an imaginary one from her childhood.
  • Both committed some form of betrayal, but it was never out of malice just understandable (though still selfish) desperation coming from a source of trauma. They are each called out and filled with shame and regret. However, both ultimately give up the wish for their loved ones.
    • Puss fully intended to reunite with Perrito and Kitty but was then confronted and nearly killed by the Wolf who revealed himself to be Death. And on impulse and freshly re-lived trauma from their previous encounters (in which one led to a panic attack), he leaves his companions behind but looks hurt at doing so. When confronted by them, Kitty calls him out for supposedly taking advantage of her trust and after some attempts, Puss admits that Death is after him. In his last confrontation with Death, Puss gives up his wish to restore his 9 lives, realizing he can't keep running away from Death with the memory of only his loved ones being his main motivator.
    • After being hounded by Baby on her true goals with the wish, Goldi she wants a proper, human family and has been likely planning this from the moment she came up with the plan to obtain the map. However, before the reveal, whenever some mention of the wish or the family was brought up, she looked bothered and conflicted, visibly showing her not fully thinking her hidden plan was a good idea and/or being guilt-ridden over deceiving her family. As for the trauma, it's more inferred than Puss' but as stated below in the Fridge Horror section, she very likely grew up in an abusive Orphanage of Fear, ran away from said orphanage, and the book where she doodled her "proper" family is also implied to have been a sort of emotional comfort to keep her going despite the hardships. The Bears are hurt by the revelation with Baby and Papa giving their own call out to Goldi's selfishness which she attempts to reason that she doesn't belong with them because she's not a bear. However, it is Mama's tearful promise to get her the wish to make her child happy that humbles Goldi. When given the chance between making her wish and saving Baby, Goldi chooses the latter, and she doesn't even bother with reciting the words, implying that was her realization that the Bears are her true family, something she states verbatim after the battle.
• Perrito and Jack are a notable Foil in the backstory department, and how those backstories did (or did not) affect them. Perrito's past was surprisingly dark, as his owners tried to get rid of him in disproportionately mean-spirited ways, right down to trying to drown him. ...and yet the experience neither robbed his optimism nor his good heart. By comparison, Jack tells the Ethical Bug he had a rather decent childhood with loving parents and a lucrative baking empire to provide for him, but he still turned out a rotten, sociopathic megalomaniac with no redeeming qualities.
  • There's also the company they keep, said-company's philosophy, and how they misconstrue their character based on that philosophy. In Jack's corner (no pun intended), you have the Ethical Bug. The little guy is a firm believer that "there's good in everyone" and tries to find any redeeming qualities in Jack but is ultimately disappointed when he comes to the conclusion, he's "an irredeemable monster". And in Perrito's corner, you have Puss and Kitty. They're more accustomed to people being selfish or treacherous to them in one form or another and expect more of the same from Perrito, only to learn he's really a pure and trusting soul who wants for nothing.
• Like with Perrito being a foil to Jack Horner, Goldi also is a foil to the latter.
  • Both are the human leaders of their respective criminal team (Jack with the Bakers' Dozen, Goldi with Crime Bear Family) and have some connection to magical creatures (Jack Horner being an evil collector of them, Goldi being Happily Adopted by talking bears). However, the difference comes from their connection to both — Jack has a parasitic relationship, as he is All Take and No Give, taking every one of them for granted and not caring if they get hurt, even refusing to help the lone survivor just to get the map, even though it wasn't in his possession; Goldi has a more symbiotic relationship with the Bears, as despite her flaws, she genuinely cares for the Bears, and they work in tandem together, she ultimately gives up the map even though it was in her grasp to save Baby.
    • Continuing on from the above, Jack's henchmen are loyal, but they also are dumb Yes-Man, doing all of his tasks without thinking for themselves. In contrast, while Goldi is the leader, the Bears (at different points) aren't afraid or unwilling to call her out when her behavior or selfishness gets bad.
  • How they hold Perrito when both capture him at different points — When Jack holds Perrito hostage, he holds him by the neck, which in Real Life is not how you should hold a dog. He also points a lethal arrow at Perrito and threatens to shoot him and given his hatred of Talking Animals, he would've done it even if Puss and Kitty complied; when Goldi holds Perrito hostage, she holds him by the waist, which is a preferred to hold a dog and she (with the Bears) quickly build a makeshift bear trap for Puss and Kitty, and when it's used on themselves (thanks to Baby), it doesn't kill them, showing they only planned to trap the team. As such, Perrito helps take down Jack but bonds with Goldi (and the Bears).
  • Hiring Kitty Softpaws — When Jack hired Kitty to steal for him, he backstabs, which is implied to be because of his prejudice for Talking Animals; Goldi and the Bears initially hired Kitty to get the map only for her to backstab them, with it implied Goldi and the Bears weren't planning to betray Kitty. In fact, even after finding out Kitty backstabbed them, Goldi only asks for the map, not threatening them until she becomes annoyed at her family losing focus.
• As the two most prominent members of the Big Bad Ensemble^note Goldie and the bears are more sympathetic antagonists than outright villains, Death and Jack Horner make perfect foils to each other for multiple reasons.
  • First, there's the mood of their respective scenes. Death is a Knight of Cerebus who is played completely seriously, bringing nothing but horror and drama whenever he shows up, whereas Jack is Laughably Evil and most of his scenes are played for Black Comedy. However, their very last scenes switch it up a bit, with Death's tantrum in Spanish after Puss outsmarts him being his sole funny moment, while Jack becomes a lot more dangerous and threatening due to consuming the "eat me" cake and enlarging to a massive size.
  • While Death has a sinister and scary appearance, speaking in a threatening tone with a low growling voice, he's ultimately revealed to be a Noble Demon who follows a basic code of honor. Conversely, Jack Horner has a very goofy appearance that resembles an overgrown child with pink hair and chubby cheeks, and speaks in the high and nerdy voice of John Mulaney with a lighthearted and silly tone, but lacks any redeeming qualities whatsoever.
  • Death takes life and death very seriously, and is after Puss and Puss alone thanks to Puss insulting him for so long. Conversely, Jack takes the lives of his minions for granted, and casually murders every single one of them without a second thought, not caring who lives or dies as long as he gets his wish.
  • Death only appears to his current target, in this case Puss, and is invisible to everyone else, save for the final confrontation where both Kitty and Perrito can see him. Conversely, Horner is one of the most infamous and well-known crime bosses in the land, and plans on gaining power and becoming even more famous.
  • Death is an Invincible Villain who’s unable to be defeated physically no matter how hard Puss tries, being literally Death and all. However, Puss is able to defeat him morally by showing that he's learned to value his remaining life, which results in Death deciding to leave him alone for now. Conversely, the Ethical Bug does his best to see the good side of Jack, only to learn that Jack is Beyond Redemption and unable to be reasoned with, and thus helps to defeat him physically in the end by stealing the last piece of the map and leaving Jack to be killed by the star.
  • Death comes for people at the end of their life, usually when they've grown old, whereas Jack is a Psychopathic Manchild who refuses to mature and move on from his childhood, and even retains childlike physical features such as his chubby cheeks.
• Puss and Jack Horner both share a trait: lack of respect towards the concept of death. While Puss puts himself in reckless danger and wastes eight of his lives on shenanigans, Jack sacrifices the lives of his Baker's Dozen to further his own plan and clearly doesn't care about any of their lives beyond what they do for him, and some even die by his own hands because of his recklessness. Once Puss is faced with his own mortality and grows to value life without being stupidly reckless, Death backs off. However, Jack never learns this lesson, only growing more violent and cocky so he can get what he wants... and is killed by the film's end. In other words, Jack suffers the fate Puss would have suffered had the cat not gone through his Character Development.

Miscellaneous

• Everyone who got a "Wanted" poster (Puss, Kitty, Jack Horner, Goldilocks and the Bears) wanted to use the Star to get their wish. Perrito had an "Unwanted" poster; while he wants to help his friends reach the Star, he personally doesn't want to use it. The Wolf doesn't get a poster and doesn't care about the Star at all - he only wants to kill Puss.
• We know that while fairy tales are real in the setting, it's also known that they are fairy tales (after all, somebody once told us, 'attention, all fairy tale... things'). Thus, there's probably a Clap Your Hands If You Believe type deal going on, one with decidedly lower standards than on the Discworld. This film explores the question: what are the oldest, most primeval legends turned real? And so we see one of the oldest of fabled forbidding places, the Dark Forest, one of the oldest magics, the Wishing Star, and, of course, perhaps the first villain ever told of and dreaded: Death.
  • Death is often depicted as a skeleton - a reminder of what will become of everyone currently alive. But before ancient humans made a deep connection between human remains and their own inevitable fates, they would have associated death more with its causes - like, say, wild animals...
• Whenever one of the flowers in the Pocketful of Posies is cut down, two grow in its place, like the heads of the Hydra in Classical Mythology. Ultimately, it was defeated by cauterizing the neck stumps, so of course Jack's improvised flamethrower attack with his phoenix would be effective.
• Why are the Lilliputians kept in a ship in the bottle, rather than a dollhouse in a terrarium or something like that? Because Lilliput, like all the other lands Gulliver travelled to, is across the sea!
• Why did Puss, Kitty and Perrito appear on the map as three separate icons, yet Goldi and the bears all appeared as one? Because Goldi and the bears were all united by the same goal: getting Goldi the wish she wanted. Even prior to knowing what it was, they were fully dedicated to working together as a family, while Kitty and Puss were not only constantly fighting with each other, but also suspecting and distrusting Perrito, effectively splitting all three of them apart. It's not until the finale when they start working together and understanding at each other, at which point the map is destroyed anyway.
  • Likewise with Jack Horner. He enters the Dark Forest with his Baker's Dozen and a team of de-horned unicorns, yet the map only marks him. Jack is the one with a wish to make. Everyone else in his entourage is there to help him get to the Star to make it.

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