As a WMG subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
- It could just be Continuity Snarl or this could be like that theory that explained Rumplestiltskin’s change in appearance between Shrek the Third and Shrek Forever After: there are different individuals that have these names.
- Confirmed with the Wolf. He is never referred to as the Big Bad Wolf, and is actually Death himself.
- In the trailer, she seemed to recognize Puss, when she claimed that he was supposed to be dead, almost as if she was aware of what happened to Puss.
- Likely she heard about Puss getting crushed by the bell… or one of his many other deaths.
- Confirmed. They initially attempt to hire Puss to help them steal the map for the star. Goldilocks initially seeks the star to wish for a real family, but eventually comes to realize the bears are her real family.
- Confirmed. Despite being criminals, Goldi and the bears are a loving family. By the end, as Goldi comes to accept the bears as her family, they team with Puss and friends in a final battle against Jack Horner.
- Rumors flew around early in production that the ogre would have appeared in the film. It’s not out of the question that Shrek could still appear.
- It is possible that the end of the movie could lead into Puss's first encounter with Shrek and Donkey in Shrek 2 and that a third movie could be set sometime after.
- Gingey makes an appearance during the final trailer, lending some credence to the idea.
- The film is actually set after the Shrek movies. Shrek briefly appears in a flashback, and the gang heads to Far Far Away at the end of the film.
- Jossed. This wolf is actually Death.
- Jossed. The story was actually Lighter and Softer than even the modern interpretation, with them taking Goldilocks in as a member of the family after discovering her in Baby's bed.
- Jossed. Kitty ended up being alive.
- Jossed. Puss does give up the wish but it's to overcome his fear of Death rather than for Kitty's sake.
- Jossed. The film takes place after the Shrek films.
- Jossed. He not only never faces an ogre, but the film takes place after the main series, so Puss already knows Shrek at this point.
- Jossed. The antagonists are all pursuing their own agendas and are not working for a Greater-Scope Villain.
- Confirmed. The bears consider her their adopted daughter and she reciprocates by the end of the film.
- Confirmed. Perrito tells Goldi that she “hit the orphan jackpot” with the bears and it helps her come to accept them.
- Confirmed. She was an orphan taken in by the bears.
- Jossed. The film is set after the main series and these are different bears.
- Jossed. Goldilocks genuinely loves the bears and comes to accept them as their family. All of them come to aid Puss in the final battle. That said they don't give up their criminal ways and are last seen coming up with their next scheme.
- Partially confirmed. The Wolf turns out to be Death himself and abandons his pursuit of Puss after observing his character development, and Goldi comes to realize she doesn’t need the wish. Only Jack Horner, the card carrying, irredeemable villan, dies when the wishing star collapse beneath him.
- Confirmed, the film ends with Puss, Kitty, and Perrito sailing to Far Far Away to meet up with Puss's old friends for a new adventure.
It's also Hilarious in Hindsight considering Disney's upcoming film is about the Wishing Star.
- I don’t know about “making fun of”. It takes itself very seriously, so maybe less mocking, more deconstruction?
- If he was working for the Devil, why would he let Puss go? Also, I do not keep up to date with Dreamworks, but is the Devil an established character, or…?
- Not to my knowledge? We get close with some very wicked characters like Lord Shen and Horde Prime, but I dunno about the Devil himself.
In a world where even someone from a minor nursery rhyme exists as an actual person, it makes sense for the concept of Death itself gaining a body after people tell stories about meeting the Grim Reaper and the widespread belief in a psychopomp. His seemingly playful and sadistic personality could be a reflection of how so many people feel death is unfair or a kind of cruel joke.
- So, kind of like the New Death (the Death of Humans) from Discworld. Not much like the original Death since he is actually benevolent, and loves cats.
- While it’s clear that Death is perceivable to everyone when he appears, his physical form is specific to whomever he’s targeting. Since Puss is a cat, Death took the form of a wolf to intimidate him further.
- So when Death showed up at the climax, it’s likely that Kitty, Perrito, Goldi, and the Bears each saw him as something different?
- Maybe not for the bears, since wolves are major competitors to them.
- This is supported by the fact that Death, like Puss, lapses into Spanish at times. It would be strange for a raceless, universal embodiment of the concept of death to specifically speak Spanish, unless this particular avatar was personalized as a rival for Puss.
- So when Death showed up at the climax, it’s likely that Kitty, Perrito, Goldi, and the Bears each saw him as something different?
- Also, like Death, each of them takes the form of an anthropomorphic animal: a lion (War), a vulture (Famine), and a plague rat (Pestilence).
It's likely that he assumes Puss would be just like the three young men in that tale and try to beat him just so he can easily win.
Him saying "Everyone thinks they'll be the one to defeat me. But no one's escaped me yet." is likely a subtle reference to that tale.
He seems cunning and malicious enough to have planted a large hoard of gold coins so that they can kill each other with.
- The Three Bears we saw in this movie are actually relatives of the family in the first film. Lord Farquaad's men attacked the bears' homes and destroyed them. Maybe during that event, those bears of the first film sacrificed themselves to protect Goldi and Goldi ever since blamed herself for her aunt's death because she wasn't as capable as the bears.
- Depending on the Time Skip between this film and the main Shrek series, Goldi's Papa or Mama Bear might actually be the Baby Bear that lost his or her mother in the original film. So when starting their own family, they decided that becoming hardened criminals would better prepare their children to defend themselves from people like Farquaad and Jack Horner in the future.
- The dark forest that surrounds the star changes by someone looking at the map reflecting their hearts desire and insecurities as well as leaving messages in the map, basically forcing the person holding the map to reflect upon themselves and see how to change for the better without magic. So, the wishing star knowing people would come after its wishing power grew the dark forest so it could help them grow without using up the wish.
- Given his MO, Death would hunt down the pup's former owners and kill them Final Destination-style.
- After seeing how happy Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey were, Puss decided to give marriage a try himself and proposed to Kitty, then invited his new friends from Far Far Away to Santa Coloma to see his marriage. If Kitty didn't turn up either, as she claims later in the film, she may not have gotten the chance to meet Puss' other friends yet.
- She's aware of the fact that her love, Puss, has only one life. In order to prevent being left alone by his death as long as possible, she takes up a very active defense.
- It's likely Puss decided to avoid going on dangerous adventures to keep his last life and decided to work in a safe job at a theater, meeting Goldilocks & The Bears who would have moved on from committing crime and do normal things as a family.
- The patrons flee from the family and Puss still refers to them as a crime family.
- The patrons probably fled because they're bears and Puss probably still thinks they're running a crime family.
- Puss was completely miserable at the place but continued staying there (presumably for weeks or months given his beard) out of fear for his life. It's only once he leaves in an attempt to reclaim his lost lives that Death starts appearing again and does so several times over the course of a few days. Death was likely content with Puss being afraid and miserable for the rest of his days and only came back to make sure he didn't return to being "An arrogant legend who thought he was immortal".
- It was just a matter of getting him to properly respect the value of his life that was the trick. The whole unavoidable death, sadistic streak, etc was a show to get someone who clearly needed it to start respecting his life so he would die pointlessly. Granted he did enjoy it, the 'laugh in the face of death' boast was angering him, and was a bit annoyed the fun ended earlier then anticipated but getting Puss to respect death and the value of life was his actual goal the whole time. After all he's Death; he had to know exactly what would happen/ being a force of nature who has seen this sort of story play out since the dawn of time.
- This one is actually "borrowed" from a comment on Know Your Meme, where the following points and observations were made:
- Jack runs a ludicrously wealthy company inherited from his family (Symbolic of Disney execs taking over the wealth and fame that was attributed to Walt)
- He collects magical artifacts (Disney's continuous desire to have a monopoly on the "magic" of what makes people attached to film and television)
- His wish is to have all of the world's magic (Disney is obsessed with attempting to create a media monopoly)
- Mass production of pies, all of which are plum pies (Disney releasing similarly-plotted movies for the past decade)
- He actively abuses and sacrifices his workers to reach his goals (Self-explanatory, as Disney has done this nonstop since the '90s; in fact, that was why Dreamworks was founded in the first place)
- Tumblr user starleska also made a lengthy essay that delves into this interpretation.
- As a child, he refused to change his overused act, boring his audience. This could represent how Disney now focuses on huge franchises and live-action remakes at the expense of original properties, leading to fan backlash.
- Not to mention that he has many parallels with Farquaad, who we know is meant to be a satire of Disney.
- Death takes a different form for anyone, and for the arrogant legendary Puss in Boots, the fitting form is a sadistic bounty hunter who mocks him at every turn. However:
- Death never actually goes in for a kill, no matter what opportunities he has.
- He never shows up at the Cat Refuge, even when Puss tries to fight back.
- When he says he can end Puss in the cavern of lost souls, one soul says "but that's cheating", before Death destroys that image and says "don't tell".
- In their final duel, Death seems to actively restrict himself, going for more of a flashy duel than for the more pragmatic routes, like he is playing.
- The final moment when they lock eyes during the duel, Death says he came to reap an arrogant little legend.
- The Wishing Star is implied to not want to be found by anybody, and it changes its layout in accordance to whoever is holding the map. This change is always meant to not just reflect the person's wishes, but to allow them to appreciate what they have. When the map changes for Kitty, Puss and Goldi, it provides them with a lot of challenges, but also gives them chances to self-reflect on what they have and reevaluate whether they want to actually make their wish or not (the cabin Goldi and the Bears find help her to realize that she already has a family, and Puss confronting his past lives allows him to face down Death properly in the end). Jack, on the other hand, is completely incapable of such self-reflection, so such a change to the environment would not work on him at all. Instead, had Jack gotten the map, it would have simply kicked him out of the forest to avoid the wish falling into the wrong hands.
- It's also simple math. Puss, Kitty, Goldi and the Bears all have somewhat selfish but ultimately small scale wishes that only really effect themselves, and as such, the Dark Forest, while difficult to navigate for them, doesn't make it impossible to get the Wishing Star because if they do get it, it ultimately won't be that bad for the world at large. Perrito, someone who doesn't have any wish to make, is given the easiest path because the Wishing Star knows he's not interested in the slightest. Jack is on the opposite extreme; he has an insanely selfish wish that would not only alter the fate of the world for everyone, but do so extremely negatively, and the Forest would theoretically retaliate in full.
- Counterpoint: We never learn what would have actually happened if Jack got all the magic in the world. Perhaps Jack's forest would have been extremely easy... right up until Jack actually used the star and spectacularly blew himself up using his stolen magic.
Horner holds an intense hostility to and jealousy of magical fairy tale creatures and beings, much like Farquad. It would make sense for Horner, as part of his efforts to acquire magical artifacts, to go hunting for animals and other beings with magical abilities to take their stuff and why not get a little extra money on the side by taking the beings in question prisoner and turning them in to a somewhat local, like-minded monarch?
A place inhabited by an army of Jack's flaws made manifest: an impossibly vast desert symbolizing he's empty inside. Giant plums all singing his nursery rhyme hanging from trees symbolizing his insecurities that just spawn more the more he burns, crushes, or smashes them. And an indestructible gate house run by a cheerful, immortal, invincible, business lady who Jack can't kill, intimidate, bind, avoid, etc, and forces Jack to experience helplessness, and the toll always being manipulated ... trapping him in a metaphysical prison he could only escape if he learned empathy.
- Puss' wish for more lives would've been utterly pointless because of Death's relentless pursuit of him, as well as his own tendency to squander them.
- Kitty's wish for a person she could trust would've simply granted her a mirror; her failure allow herself to take down her walls and let people in would ensure that the only person she could trust would be herself, and she would be no better off than she was before.
- Goldi would be reunited with her birth family...only to discover that they were all a bunch of abusive assholes and she was far better off with the bears.
- Horner would receive all the magic in the world, which would end up being Too Much for Man to Handle and he would either die or become an unstable Humanoid Abomination like Tetsuo from Akira.
Furthermore, when Puss spots him a second time, while fleeing, the Wolf places two gold coins over his eyes, while gesturing to Puss that he’s watching him. This was a funerary custom in Ancient Greece, where gold coins were placed above the closed eyes of a person’s body, in order to pay the ferryman of the Underworld, Chrion, in order to cross the River Styx.
He’s enacting the age old Greek god custom of knocking a hubristic mortal down a few pegs, so they learn how to become better people and avoid tragedy (or die trying).
- In Greek myth, the Wolf’s weapons, the sickle, is a symbol of Chronos the God (and personification) of Time. And in his hands, it symbolizes the end of one’s life.
No matter where he appears, nobody else notices him, except during the climax, where everybody's surrounded by the Wishing Star's barrier where one wrong move could spell their doom.
With this in mind, perhaps The Wolf is physically invisible to those who still have some life left in them, or are stuck in a situation where death is very much a possibility.
- Anubis is the Egyptian Mythology God of the Dead. Similarities include:
- Both are Canines.
- Both judge people.
- Both use sickle/khopesh and halberd with a sickle.
Evidence:
- When Death first appears, he says "everyone thinks they'll defeat him, but no one has yet" and doesn't make a move until Puss raises his sword first.
- After Puss gets cut and loses his sword, Death keeps telling him to "pick it up" and keep fighting.
- For the rest of the movie, Death keeps appearing to intimidate Puss but never attacks.
- In the Cave of Lost Souls, the only time Death uses his sickles are against the past lives in the crystals, never against Puss himself.
- Even when chasing Puss out of the cave, the most he does is grab at his cape, never swipe at him with his blades.
- Finally, when they meet at the Wishing Star, Death asks if Puss is "gonna take the coward's way out and run away to more lives, or fight" Death then returns Puss' sword and demands him to pick it up. Death had plenty of time to just kill Puss before he could read the spell, but the dialogue implies he couldn't actually stop Puss from making the wish.
- Death only starts fighting after Puss finally says he's done running and picks up his sword. If he had wanted to, he probably could have still killed Puss right after telling him he'd never stop fighting for this life because he still had his sword raised at him.
It knew its only hope to get Jack to not destroy the world with his wish was lethal force, but the Baker's Dozen are just employees, kept in line through paychecks and abuse. What loyalty they have is misguided at best, and doesn't run deep.
As the Forest killed them, they each woke up outside, none the worse for wear except for a very vivid nightmare and, after the human bridge incident if not the unicorn crossbow into melee incident, the knowledge that Jack really wasn't worth it.
Once the Star was freed and the Bears came out, they enthusiastically jumped at the chance of having a better boss, maybe even branching out into savoury pies - or at least anything other than plum...
It's common for the Shrek franchise to have evil versions of normally good fairytale characters and Perrito somewhat resembles Toto.
While Dorothy is nice and friendly to people, this girl would be mean and abusive.
And after throwing Perro down with a sock, she would receive a Karmic Death in an Expy of Oz.
We see only Nostalgia Pines because they got the map once they were two-thirds of the way into the forest, past their first two obstacles. Note how when Kitty or Puss get the map, it shunts them to the corresponding obstacle, not the beginning of the journey.
The first obstacle would have been some reference to the Crying Tears Orphanage, perhaps the "Sea of Tears" or the "Storm of Tears" or something like that (and it would have been sunny, because orphan's tears). The second would have been some funhouse mirror zone, like the Cave of Lost Souls, but showing Goldi some glimpses of 'proper' families - including all-human ones that aren't really all that good and mixed species ones that are just as good as the Bears.
This also explains why the map took the time to speak to Goldi directly: she had missed most of her journey and the character development it would have given her.
- First are the 4 easy ones.
- The Red crystal is life 1. He's wearing the bandanna from the Running of the Bulls, and talks about having Gazpacho like when he flirted and got killed.
- The Dark Green Crystal is life 2. He's still got the playing cards from when he was gambling and cheated at poker.
- The Teal crystal is life 3. He's wearing the odd green cape, and holding the milk from when he stepped off the tower.
- The white crystal is life 4. From when he was his most muscular, including weights and his flamboyant mustache from that life.
However after this things get trickier as there aren't as many connections to how Puss died visually in the other 4 crystals. So, here's where I see the back 4 lives landing.
- One is dark purple and holding a mirror, representing his vanity. I see this as his 7th life. Where he insisted he was "A master of the baking" even when Gingy knew he would get a face full of fire by setting the oven too high.
- One is blue with a rose for his "dancing". I see this as connected to Life 6. Where his own pleasure and disregard of his personal health to continue getting pleasure from eating the shellfish is his way of not taking care of where he stepped while living his life.
- One is yellow with a sword for his "heroic legend". I see this as his 5th life where after being rescued by Kitty, his refusal to admit he needed to be saved is his letting "the legend" get in the way of being sensible. And hence his claiming that being shot out of a cannon would "revolutionize travel".
- And the last one is pink and has a lute to represent his singing. I see this as his 8th life for the simple reason that he was holding his instrument when he was crushed by a bell. And was about to play another song for the crowds.
- Or she's throwing the Wolf a bone because it's someone who disrespects them both. Disrespecting death means you don't value life either.
- Rather than go for the scare tactics right away, Death chose a softer approach, hoping to get through to Puss that he needs to be more careful with his life. Perhaps recommending him to Mama’s Luna’s house was the more merciful option before he realized that he needed to do something else to get through to Puss.
- If this is true, the doctor character still exists. Others were in the waiting room.
- Perro
- Goldilocks and The Three Bears
- Given the natural trend of DreamWorks sequels, Perrito and Goldi’s original families might come into play.
- The Wolf
- Puss In Boots: The Forty Thieves
- Alternatively, it could be the fifth Shrek where we see Arabian mythology come into play.
- Perrito:
- Goldi and The Three Bears:
- After taking over Horner's Pies, Goldi and the Bears are closer to each other than ever. But with their newfound fame and success, Goldi's biological parents suddenly show up wanting to reconnect with their long-lost daughter, creating a conflict where Goldi's tries to figure out whether they or the Bears are her "real" family.
- Death:
- A Day In The Life (no pun intended) story showing him visiting different folks and how he interacts with them in their final moments. It could even have flashbacks showing his perspective of other death scenes in the Shrek movies (King Harold, Humpty, the villains, etc).
- Another idea is an adaptation of Godfather Death as this depiction of Death already has some similarities to Death in that story. Though they would obviously either have to change the circumstances of why Death is the godfather or excise it entirely.note
- A third possibility is an adaptation of one of the various fairy tales where Death is trapped or tricked by a person, like in the fairy tale Aunt Misery.
Plus, this still isn’t the end for Puss In Boots since it could happen after Shrek 5 or after the events of Forever After.
- Abu Hassan and The Forty Thieves
- If they have them as supporting characters, the villain would be a genie.
- Hansel and Gretel
- Queen of Hearts
- Little Red Riding Hood (just like The Bears she would be a different version that the one in Shrek 2 & Shrek The Third)
- The Sorceress
- The Sorcerer
- Since the irredeemable villains in the first movie were nursery rhyme characters, and the irredeemable villain of the second version is a nursery rhyme character, it's likely the villain of third film would be a nursery rhyme character, who would likely be either:
- Little Miss Muffet
- Mary from "Mary Had A Little Lamb" who is basically a child friendly version of Amanda the Adventurer who constantly mistreats her lamb sidekick.
- Little Bo Peep who's foreshadowed in the Second Movie by Jack Horner and is depicted as very creepy and sadistic.
- The Grand Old Duke of York
- The Black Sheep from "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" who's a massive slave owner and trader
- Doctor Foster
- Mary from "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary" who's name is literally "Mary Q. Contrary"
- Old King Cole
- The person that killed Cock Robin in "Who Killed Cock Robin?"
- The butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker
Let's say this theory is true. The sequel will have the Pleasure Island Coachman tracking Donkey down in order to recapture him, forcing Donkey to spill the beans on the whole conspiracy. Much like how The Last Wish was Break the Haughty for Puss, this story will be Break the Comedian for Donkey, as it turns out all along he has used singing as a way to cope with the trauma and guilt. Pinocchio of course would also have a big role in this, being under the same threat as Donkey. The story's lesson will involve opening up about your fears rather than keeping them secret and lying, a nice follow-up on The Last Wish and its lesson about trauma.