Product: The Wonderful World of Puss 'N Boots (1969)
Rating: 4.0
Dated, but PURR-fectly entertaining!
If THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF PUSS 'N BOOTS was theatrically released in today's era, it probably wouldn't hold a candle to any of America's other animated features and disappear without a trace. But this is a Japanese Anime, and, in its native land, it was a huge box office success. Titled as "Nagagutsu o Haita Neko", the production was released in 1969, and the title character, Puss 'N Boots himself, named Perro (or Perrault), became a mascot character for the animation studio, Toei. An interesting fact about this film is that Anime pioneer Hayao Miyazaki is credited as one of the animators -- in fact, he was responsible for the key animation of the climactic, hang-on-to-the-edge-of-your-seat finale. Fans of Miyazaki's work will notice how similar it is to the climax of THE CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO.Compared to today's standards, the animation is poor, but at the same time interesting to look at. The entire story is expanded, altered, and spiced up similar to a Disney treatment of a classic fairy tale, but its artistic style is somewhere between a Hanna-Barbera or a Warner Bros. cartoon. This almost sounds like a drawback, but it provides for some silly, funny, and occasionally slapstick moments. It also feels perfect for this kind of movie, even if at times it screams Disney. (Not that I think of it as a bad thing; I'm rather fond of Disney movies even to this day. ^_^)Don't expect a faithful retelling of the classic fairy tale PUSS 'N BOOTS -- this adaptation adds -- and sometimes embellishes -- a lot of cute, funny elements which make it a lot of fun. The hero, Perro, a cat musketeer pursued by three chief-of-police felines (he committed the ultimate "crime" of saving a mouse's life), befriends a young miller, Pierre; soon the two are off to seek their fortune. With clever scheming (and a lot of tall "tail"-telling) the cat manages to help Pierre pose as the Prince of Carabas in order to woo the lovely Princess Rosa. But the wicked ogre, Lucifer, also wants Rosa, and kidnaps her on the night of the full moon. Perro and Pierre set off to Lucifer's creepy, macabre castle to save her and outsmart her captor. Given that this is a fairy-tale, the ending is very predictable -- yet watching it unfold is only half the fun. Instead of just simply killing Lucifer off by having Perro pull the "trick him into changing into something edible" trick, the script (written by Hisashi Inoue and Morihisa Yamamoto) extends the climax into a series of chases, slapstick gags, and, as mentioned, a final confrontation scene which is breathtaking to watch, even if the artwork is dated. (Incidentally, director Kimio Yabuki was also responsible for another fairy-tale Anime, the little-known SWAN LAKE.)I understand that there are Disney haters in the world, and will probably look for things to complain about this loose retelling; particularly the comic mice sidekicks and four incidental musical numbers. But there are others (like me) who won't mind at all -- especially if they're fans of Disney and their adaptations of fairy tales. The mice provide a lot of humor, and, although the lyrics in the English version sound awkward and uninspired, the songs never feel intrusive and are fun to bounce to. (The only exception is Princess Rosa's number, which is as slow and as lovely [but not sappy] as any romantic ballad.)THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF PUSS 'N BOOTS was given a limited U.S. release to the Saturday-morning kids' market, along with other productions Toei produced, including JACK AND THE WITCH and TREASURE ISLAND. The English dubbing was produced by Titan Productions, Inc., with direction by Fred Ladd. Available from HI-TOPS VIDEO (where I first saw the movie) as well as MEDIA VIDEO and VESTRON VIDEO, the voice acting is very lively, but there are problems. For one thing, the voices, with the exception of Princess Rosa, all sound like they're being acted by one actor. (And Perro sounds, oddly, like Al Jolson.) In other words, it's not very high quality. The words don't always fit the mouth movements well, and some lines occasionally come off as stilted and a little too fast. Such flaws are probably best to be expected, since this is an early dub -- recent English track productions have far outclassed past efforts. Still, considering that this is probably the only dub of the film available in English (and that the Japanese language track has not been around in the U.S.), it's not so bad -- unless you count the occasionally sloppy lyrics in the songs and Perro's sometimes grating voice.Unfortunately, the movie may be hard to find -- since its 1988 issue, the video has fallen badly out of print and I have heard no news of any new U.S. company planning to give it a second release. Let's hope it does happen someday. THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF PUSS 'N BOOTS may be a dated Anime when compared to more recent efforts (and U.S. folks probably may consider it too "cartoony" for their tastes). Nevertheless, it is 80 minutes of fun, laughs, and action, and a must-see for longtime history buffs, especially if they're interested in seeing traces of Miyazaki's earlier years as an animator before he became a big name. It is a great "cat's meow", indeed.