The Wonderful World of Puss 'n Boots

This article is about the 1969 Toei Animation film and its sequels. For the 1986 Famicom game and it's 1990 US Nintendo Entertainment System counterpart, see Nagagutsu o Haita Neko: Sekai Isshū 80 Nichi Dai Bōken. For other uses, see Puss in Boots (disambiguation).
The Wonderful World of Puss 'n Boots
Japanese DVD cover
Kanji長靴をはいた猫
Revised HepburnNagagutsu o Haita Neko
Directed byKimio Yabuki
Screenplay byHisashi Inōe
Morihisa Yamamoto
Based onPuss in Boots
by Charles Perrault
Produced byHiroshi Ōkawa[1]
Starring
Cinematography
  • Sanki Hirao
  • Yōichi Takanashi
Edited byYutaka Chikura
Music bySeiichirō Uno
Production
company
Distributed byToei Company
Release date
  • March 18, 1969 (1969-03-18)
Running time
82 minutes[2]
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

The Wonderful World of Puss 'n Boots (Japanese: 長靴をはいた猫, Hepburn: Nagagutsu o Haita Neko, literally "Cat Who Wore Boots") is a 1969 Japanese animated action comedy musical film produced by Toei Animation and directed by Kimio Yabuki. The screenplay and lyrics, written by Hisashi Inōe and Morihisa Yamamoto,[2] are based on the European fairy tale character Puss in Boots by Charles Perrault, expanded with elements of Alexandre Dumas-esque swashbuckling adventure and cartoon animal slapstick, with many other anthropomorphic animals in addition to the title character. The Toei version of the character himself is named Pero, after Perrault.

The Wonderful World of Puss 'n Boots was released in Japan on March 18, 1969. The film is particularly notable for giving Toei Animation its mascot and logo, and for its roll call of top key animators of the time: Yasuo Ōtsuka, Reiko Okuyama, Sadao Kikuchi, Yōichi Kotabe, Akemi Ōta, Hayao Miyazaki, and Akira Daikubara, supervised by animation director Yasuji Mori.[2] They got relatively free rein and adequate support to create virtuosic and distinctive sequences, making it a key example of the Japanese model of division of labour in animation by which animators are assigned by scene rather than character. Most famous of these sequences is a chase across castle parapets animated in alternating cuts by Ōtsuka and Miyazaki,[3] which would serve as the model for similar sequences in such later films as Miyazaki's feature directorial debut Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro and The Cat Returns (2002).[4] Miyazaki is also the manga artist of a promotional manga adaptation of the film originally serialised in the Sunday Chūnichi Shimbun during 1969 and republished in 1984 in a book about the making of the film.[5] The film was re-released 9 years later in the 1978 Summer Toei Manga Matsuri on July 22. It was released straight to television in the United States by AIP-TV.

Since becoming Toei Animation's mascot, Pero's face can be seen on the company's primary logo at the beginning or ending to some of Toei's other animated features, both from Japan and some of their outsourced work for other companies. In 2016, a new 3D on-screen logo featuring Pero was revealed in celebration of the company's 60th anniversary. The 3D on-screen logo without the 60th anniversary wordmark and the company's motto was used since 2019. The former on-screen logo is currently used as a print logo.

  1. ^ "Puss 'n Boots Anime Classic from Miyazaki". YouTube. 2006-03-23. Archived from the original on 2021-12-14. Retrieved 2016-09-18.
  2. ^ a b c "長靴をはいた猫 (1969)". Allcinema.net. Retrieved 2016-09-18.
  3. ^ "Toei Doga - pt. 2". Pelleas.net. Retrieved 2016-09-18.
  4. ^ "Ghibli Blog - Studio Ghibli, Animation and the Arts: Puss in Boots Now on DVD". Ghiblicon.blogspot.com. 2006-06-27. Retrieved 2016-09-18.
  5. ^ Ryoko Toyama, Jorge Hernández Valiñani. "Nagagustu wo Haita Neko - The Miyazaki Web". Nausicaa.net. Retrieved 2016-09-18.