The cover for the second English dub
The True Story of Puss 'N Boots (La véritable histoire du Chat Botté) is a French animated film released for cinemas on April 1, 2009 in France and Belgium. The film is an interpretation of the classic fairy tale Puss in Boots. While this version of the story uses the original fairy tale as its basis, it adds a great deal more subplots and characters and tries to give it a hip and modern twist. In this story, the miller's son Peter often rows his boat to just under the Princess's tower window to hear her singing. When his father passes away, his brothers get the mill and he gets a cat with instructions from his dying father to "trust in your cat". Also to make him fine leather boots. Once Peter does, the cat gains the power to talk, becoming Puss 'n Boots, who's mission is to help Peter marry the Princess he's fallen for. Meanwhile, the dastardly Chamberlain is conspiring with a depressed, squid-shifting ogre to ensure he marries the Princess himself, but his plans start to go awry when he's suddenly being upstaged by the "Marquis of Carabas"... Peter's new identity crafted by the sneaky cat.While the original release of the film in French was in 2009, thus beating Dreamworks' Puss in Boots to theaters by two years, it's clear that it was made to capitalize on the popularity of the Shrek version of the character and the Fractured Fairy Tale storytelling of that franchise. The English dub was released in 2011, a few months before Dreamworks' Puss in Boots.
The True Story of Puss 'N Boots provides the following tropes:
- Adaptation Expansion: The film adds scenes to flesh out the characters. For example, the Ogre has his own chef and servants as well as a backstory.
- Adaptational Heroism: Some of the more villainous acts Puss does in the fairy tale are either toned down or transferred to other characters. For example, his threats towards the countryfolk are instead serious warnings from the Queen's retribution.
- Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?: When Puss points towards the Princess (who is in her disguise) and asks Peter for his opinion, Peter says "not bad". Puss clarifies he meant her performance, and Peter reassures his thoughts.
- Ascended Extra: The Princess has more presence and contributes a bit to the story.
- Based on a True Story: The title is a slight jab on Dreamworks' version of Puss in Boots which took the character in a different direction instead of being truer to the source material.
- Big Brother Bully: Peter’s older brothers kick him out of the windmill after their father’s death and they mock him by telling him that he’ll end up in the Ogre’s castle.
- Boyish Short Hair: The Princess sports a pixie cut.
- Brick Joke: Puss' introduction has him asking Peter if he could get boots with higher heels. Peter angrily says no because it's his last day in the mill and doesn't want to spend it making boots. At the end, Peter makes custom heeled boots for the Princess and gives her old heels to Puss as a farewell present.
- Bright Castle: Placed in the middle of a lake with a thin land bridge connecting the small island to the main land.
- But Now I Must Go: Peter leaves with the Princess to an unknown location with Puss staying behind.
- Cannot Spit It Out: The Princess pressures Peter to tell the truth once she finds out he's not really the Marquis. When he tries to do so, he's interrupted by someone else enforcing his lie and appeasing the Queen.
- Cassandra Truth: The Chamberlain is the first one who knows that Puss and Peter are lying and frequently tells the truth in front of the Queen, but because he has a horrid reputation and is annoying, the Queen dismisses him.
- Chekhov's Skill: The Princess's singing helps out in calming the Ogre down.
- Clark Kenting: The Princess’s public disguise is a black version of her normal clothes plus gloves, boots, and a domino mask. Her guards are worse; they wear palette swapped versions of their uniforms and sunglasses. Peter is fooled by it until the Princess reveals her mask during the ball.
- Clothes Make the Superman: Puss' boots enable him both Super-Speed and large leaps.
- Court Jester: A supporting character and the Princess's companion. Puss doesn't find him funny.
- Digital Destruction: The version originally uploaded on Tubi was less colorful and had green lines placed on the bottom on the screen. However, it was fixed sometime in 2022.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Lying to the King and Queen results in one's body to be grinded into hamburger meat. The castle even has a banner with a meat grinder imprinted to prove their point.
- Evil Old Folks: The Chamberlain's age is not given, but he explicitly says that he hates young men.
- Fairytale Wedding Dress: The Princess wears one at the end. The bottom of her dress has multiple butterflies that fly out from it.
- Fattening the Victim: The toads are thrown food scraps from the chef before they're served to the Ogre.
- Fourth-Date Marriage: Peter and the Princess marry a few days after they meet. They do get a few scenes together instead of the Princess immediately falling in love with him.
- Gonk: A few characters are this with the Chamberlain being the most prominent example.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The Chamberlain eats one of his transformation candies out of desperation to get away from the Queen.
- Impossible Hourglass Figure: The Princess has wide hips, a sizable torso, and a tiny waist.
- Incessant Music Madness: Doctor Marcel's music is used to calm the Ogre down. It's always the same ditty despite the Ogre's frequent requests for a new song. Eventually, he gets sick of it and continues his rampage. He calms down again when he hears the Princess sing and is relieved to hear something new.
- Hated by All: No one likes the Chamberlain due to his annoyance and incompetency. The Hunchback is the one who isn't bothered by him, and the Queen still has him employed for some reason. Once the Chamberlain spills his plans, the Queen finally gets fed up with him and the Hunchback doesn't intervene.
- Horse of a Different Color: Ostriches are used in place of horses.
- Hypocrite: The Princess spends the second half of the movie trying to get Peter to admit that he isn’t a marquis. However, she’s guilty of sneaking outside of the palace with only her guards (and later Peter) knowing her secret.
- Love at First Note: Peter's fell in love with the Princess' singing and would often ride his boat close to the castle so he could hear her songs better.
- Maintain the Lie: Puss and Peter spend the second act lying about being royalty. Once the Queen insists in visiting Peter's castle, Puss orders the country folk to tell the Queen that Peter owns the land. Like in the fairy tale, both characters succeed in convincing the royal couple.
- Mockbuster: It's obvious from Puss' character design that the Shrek version of the character was the inspiration and while the French release was in 2009, a full two years before the Dreamworks film came out, this was well past the wildly popular Shrek characters introduction in Shrek 2 and the production of the solo project featuring said character had already been well underway in 2004. It's hard to argue this movie would even exist without Shrek 2 making the character so popular and thus appealing to get to market quickly to capitalize on the familiarity this incarnation of the character. The English dubs of this film weren't even released until just a few months before the Dreamworks film came out, clearly intending to capitalize on the long-delayed solo project finally coming out. Like many mockbusters using public domain characters that are currently popular from a more prominent adaptation, the film uses the original fairy tale as its source material to get around legal complaints, but the Fractured Fairy Tale version this movie tells is another reference to the Shrek franchise. Besides, the point of a Mockbuster is to trick grandma at the supermarket, the content of the film is secondary to the lure of box art using characters that look suspiciously similar to a famous IP.
- Modest Royalty: The Princess main attire is a pair of pants, a shirt, and a cropped jacket. Her parents are dressed in robes and have a fair amount of jewelry on them.
- Moving the Goalposts: When the Jester informs that the Princess can only marry an excellent dancer, the Chamberlain insists her future husband to be a royal or perhaps a Chamberlain. The Queen is repulsed by his idea.
- Ms. Fanservice: The Princess and the tavern's owner have an Impossible Hourglass Figure and large rears. The film is not shameful in emphasizing them, especially on the Princess as she has tighter clothing.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: The Chamberlain's method of disposing the Princess' potential male suitors is to transform them into toads and give them to the Ogre to eat.
- Police Are Useless: For once it's deliberate! Everyone in the castle calls out on the Chamberlain for his terrible job at maintaining the police force.
- Public Domain Soundtrack: Most of the music are remixes of various classical music, such as the kazoo version of "Fur Elise" that opens the picture and the Princess singing a pop version of Mozart's "Queen of the Night Aria."
- Out of Focus: Characters tend to fade in and out from the story. Some of them don't even show up for the wedding.
- King Incognito: The Princess often disguises herself as a commoner and performs in public areas.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Despite her drunk and spaced out mannerisms, the Queen is astute in interviewing as to sniff out any liars. Averted for the King, who spends most of the film sleeping and/or dozed out.
- Same Language Dub: There are two English dubs, with the only change is Puss' actor. The US had William Shatner and Richard Dumont for Canada.
- See-Thru Specs: The Princess uses special eyeglasses given by her godmother to reveal Peter's true self.
- Smooch of Victory: Peter and the Princess share one at the end after the Queen is convinced and the Chamberlain runs away.
- Spared by the Adaptation: The Ogre does not get eaten by Puss. Instead, he's tricked into transforming into a duck and walks free. Ironically, given that he's been killing and eating the Princess' suitors, this arguably makes him a Karma Houdini.
- Staff of Authority: A regal flyswatter for some unknown reason.
- Surprise Witness: The Chamberlain second-to-last attempt to expose Peter is by bringing his brothers to the Queen. This ultimately fails as Peter confidently continues his lie with his brothers' full support.
- Talking Animal: Alongside Puss in Boots, there's Doctor Marcel the talking monkey.
- Tricking the Shapeshifter: Unlike in the fairy tale, Puss fails to persuade the Ogre to transform into a mouse. Puss does convince him to eat one of the candies to turn into a duck.
- Villain Has a Point: While the Chamberlain is only doing this to acquire the Princess’s hand for himself, he is correct in suspecting Peter and Puss of lying.
- Villainous Breakdown: The Chamberlain freaks out after realizing the Ogre is not in the castle anymore, and blurts out in front of the Queen that he's been doing all of the misdeeds.
- Villainous Crush: The Chamberlain has an obvious crush on the Princess and he plans to turn any potential suitor for the Princess into a frog. Once Peter starts courting the Princess, the Chamberlain does everything he can to keep him from succeeding.
- What Does She See in Him?: The Jester asks the Princess this with her responding that it's Peter's niceness. The Jester retorts that no one just marries someone because they're nice.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The Ogre's servants and chef disappear after Puss turns the Ogre into a duck.
- What's Up, King Dude?: Downplayed. Visiting the castle requires someone of high importance, however the royal ball is a first come first served basis regardless of social standing, such as Peter's brothers.
- Youngest Child Wins: Peter eventually gets the best deal out of the three brothers. The eldest two aren't much bothered by it at the end.
- You Have Waited Long Enough: The Chamberlain first piece of dialogue is informing the Queen that the Princess should already marry someone. The Queen not only is confused by his idea, but she never pressures her daughter about it.
