The Wonderful World of Puss ‘n Boots[html]
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am delighted to announce we’re returning to the venerable films of Toei Doga, this time screening the much-loved Wonderful World of Puss ‘n Boots, one of the final films of the studio’s original golden age. Coming out shortly after the landmark Horus, Puss ‘n Boots was actually something of a step back in terms of dramatic content – Isao Takahata’s first masterpiece was a true outlier in its era, and it would take some time for projects like the World Masterpiece Theater to catch up with his vision of a more tonally somber, morally ambiguous medium.
That’s not meant as a jab against Puss ‘n Boots, though! There’s no shame in offering a rip-roaring adventure, and Puss ‘n Boots further benefits from involving most of Toei Doga’s best animators at the peak of their powers. The legendary Yasuji Mori is once again handling animation direction, meaning I’m sure we’ll be able to admire the fluid sensitivity of his character acting scattered throughout the film, while Yasuo Otsuka, Reiko Okuyama, and Hayao Miyazaki all stand among the film’s formidable slate of key animators. Otsuka described his time on Puss ‘n Boots as something like a playground of unbound animation, and Miyazaki’s contributions here are so legendary that he himself would end up echoing them in later projects like The Castle of Cagliostro. Hell, the film’s so iconic that its protagonist still stands as Toei’s mascot, half a century down the line. I’ve rambled more than enough about the film’s unimpeachable credentials, so let’s get to it!
The Wonderful World of Puss ‘n Boots
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We open on a scene of dramatic action, as our heroic feline is chased through a graveyard by a cadre of equally furry assailants, all while lightning cracks in the background. I like how this lightning is used to play with the color palates here – everything is momentarily lit in brighter, more colorful hues as the lightning strikes
Ooh, and a dynamic transition here, with the glow of the lightning morphing into the sheen of this official’s knife
“You freed the mice!” “Well, that’s because the moon was so blue tonight.” The context for this chase is established in moments, alongside a clear indication of our protagonist’s irreverent personality. The pacing already feels more “modern” compared to the early Toei Doga films, similar to how Horus started with a sequence of frantic action. You generally can’t start slow in more modern adventure films, particularly those intended for children
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Our hero’s name is Pero
And another dynamic transition, as Pero cuts through both his bindings and the screen to reveal the film’s title. The direction feels extraordinarily confident and propulsive here, and also more directly aligned with the animation – a clear change from the earlier Toei Doga films, which involved more standout displays of character acting on top of a flat background than this sort of fusion of animation and overall storyboarding
Love the playful designs of this big boss cat and his three subordinates
And more excellent flourishes of composition, with these three nooses dropping down and briefly being filled with silhouettes of the minions being hanged. Just so much creativity and fun art design in every moment!
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It’s funny, this extremely confident and altogether familiar articulation of a children’s adventure is making me appreciate all the more how strange Toei Doga’s earlier films were, how melancholy and frequently unconcerned with child-friendly payoffs
Even the opening credits echo this transition, offering an energetic chase between Pero and pursuers in the background, rather than the stately procession of title cards that preceded prior films
Also like how Pero and his pursuers remain eminently cat-like, frequently stopping to nap or chase butterflies
You can definitely sense the seeds of Castle of Cagliostro’s Lupin in Pero’s behavior. He even sounds like Lupin
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Pero looks into a nearby cabin, wherein two brothers are plotting to deny their third brother Pierre his share of the inheritance. Their designs call back to Little Prince’s collection of geometric shapes, though somewhat softened, with the characteristic tapering of form indicative of Mori’s designs
The brothers pile on poor Pierre in various other ways, insulting his cooking and demanding he remove his ugly face from their vicinity
Pierre invites Pero inside. An interesting twist here – Pierre would have been the protagonist in earlier Toei Doga films, but here the animal companion takes center stage
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Love how the smallest of these three pursuing cats can barely fit in his robes. Delightful character animation as he shuffles along, almost lost within his sleeves
He’s too short to even draw his sword, and instead falls out the window. Top shelf stuff
Oh my god. The first pursuer gets his sword bent on a pot, and then immediately whips out an anvil to start hammering it back into shape. Even the humor feels like delightful proto-Lupin nonsense
Meanwhile, the tiny cat is still outside, repeatedly trying and failing to leap onto the windowsill. I can see exactly what Otsuka meant – this film is already proving a pure celebration of animation’s whimsical, naturally amusing capacity for comedy and storytelling. Every movement is playful and full of energy
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Lots of great gags predicated on pacing too – a variation on that classic “Duck Season, no Rabbit Season” bit with this cat preemptively dodging an apple then getting hit by the next one, plus the inherent humor of the two brothers attempting to distribute their ill-gotten gains while this chaotic action scene goes on around them
Pierre’s design is more rounded and realistic than his brothers, an aesthetic distinction that also carries through to his more grounded style of character acting. He feels the most like an obvious Yasuji Mori character, standing out similarly to Helga in Horus
Having divided their father’s fortune, the nasty brothers kick Pierre and Pero out of their home
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A classic Mori Moment as Pierre stands utterly still, incapable of reckoning with this hideous change in fortunes while Pero inspects his bag of belongings. The following sequence of character acting is similarly excellent, Pierre’s body crumbling against the door as he begs to be let in. This discordance in Toei Doga films has become one of my favorite things about them – in the wake of something as utterly farcical as that last scene, a moment of genuine grief and despair
A held shot on his crumbled bag and loose potatoes emphasizes his destitution
“I don’t see any sense in sticking around this shack. The world is a vast place, you know?” Echoes of Gulliver’s Journey to the Moon in Pero reviving Pierre’s spirits
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Lovely backgrounds as the two set off on their adventure. I think Little Prince’s unique modernist style will always be my favorite among the Toei Doga aesthetics, but all of their films are beautiful in their own ways
The two seem to be journeying through a fantastical European countryside, another shift from the generally Chinese and Japanese legends of early Toei Doga films, and another indication of the evolving interests of Toei’s key artists
“It says here that the richest and strongest man in the country will be given Princess Rose as his bride!” Quite the energizing pitch here – are we actually in for some kind of tournament?
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Nice depth-rich compositions that peer through several levels of scenery within this castle town. Earlier Toei Doga films frequently employed foreground debris to create a sense of depth in spite of the action all still taking place on one plane. Here, we see characters moving across all the levels of the scenery, a trick that Miyazaki will embrace for most of his future projects (even the TV-bound Sherlock Hound offers some of them)
Princess Rose passes by in her carriage. A funny contrast between her rounded, somewhat more realistic Mori-style design, and the exaggerated, angular caricature of her driver
Pero promises to hook his good buddy Pierre up with the princess
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Remarkable breadth of distinct costumes in these crowd scenes. Unlike many prior Toei Doga films, there’s no real “set costume” for the king’s subordinates, they all have their own form of regal dress
The various princely suitors all introduce themselves with a representative form of dance. Movement is characterization here, and the entire film is infused with a musical sensibility that extends beyond its overt musical theater sequences
Suddenly a great gust of wind blows all of the suitors out of the audience hall, and a terrible, looming figure appears!
He introduces himself as Lucifer, Prince of Darkness. Seems like an upright sort of fellow
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Always amused by the contrast of Christian iconography generally being used for stuff like children’s villains or goofy inversions like Mr. Satan in Japanese media, which of course plays havoc on their adaptation into countries that see Satan as anything more than a fairy tale. Christianity is an imagery gold mine if you can accept that certain audiences are going to take your plundering a little too seriously
Lucifer recreates the king’s palace in diamond, which is more than enough evidence of his suitability for the king. Echoes of Little Prince’s crystal palace here
I like how Lucifer’s skin color reflects his mood – pink for his romantic ardor, green with bitterness when he gets rebuffed
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Excellent color choices as the scene shifts to a decaying ruin, Lucifer exploiting his powers to convey the consequences of defying him
The king is given an ultimatum: three days from now, he must bring his daughter to Lucifer’s castle to be wed. A clear timer to impart a greater sense of urgency, another departure from earlier Toei Doga’s more freewheeling narrative approach. It kinda felt like the team weren’t even sure how to end Anju to Zushiomaru, with its story devolving into a series of fight scenes that departed heavily from the source material
Pero sees all of this as a great chance for Pierre, who need simply defeat Lucifer in combat to gain the hand of the princess
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The Castle of Cagliostro parallels are only stacking as the film continues; this is essentially the main plot of Cagliostro, and Rose’s castle even resembles Cagliostro’s lonely home
As Rose sings of her hopes and misfortunes, a group of mice appear to steal Pero’s fish, offering another opportunity for more goofy character acting. Another odd tonal contrast that’s common within these Toei Doga features: the animal mascot characters engaging in goofy shenanigans while the human characters lament their terrible fate, a feature of both Horus and Anju to Zushiomaru
Gotta love this mouse leader’s tuna can hat, though. Where did he even find a tuna can in this era?
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The mice pulling down their hats into conical disguises is another beat you see all the time in anime, but would never see in American media. Even Redline had friggin’ “Lynchman” as a character
The three cat minions urge Pero to eat these mice and repent his crime. I like the implication that they’ve just been hanging out in the bushes for the last several days, enjoying the adventures of Pero and Pierre until duty rouses them to action
Pero defeats his assailants with a gag anyone can appreciate: the two of them run off a cliff into open space, only falling once they realize they’ve left the ground behind them. Truly the essence of cartooning
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Even Pero feels bad about sending the baby cat off the cliff, but such is the fate of his cruel oppressors
The mice decide to become Pero’s followers in gratitude. Wouldn’t be a Toei Doga film if we weren’t stacking mascots on top of mascots
Excellent sight gag as the mice whip out measuring tape to take Pierre’s measurements, apparently always prepared to fit a young man for a princely new outfit
More excellent layouts as the mice investigate the town. This castle town is so inviting, and this whole film is so energetic; I’m not surprised this film essentially became Toei’s statement of purpose
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Ooh, inventive cut reintroducing Pierre’s brothers. We seem them approaching on a horse-led wagon, and then as the camera pans up an inn, they reappear opening the window at the top. A playful way of conveying their movement without movement, as if we’re scanning across a picture book and seeing them appear time and again
I like how even the inanimate objects are given ways of “dancing” along with the rhythm of the music. Previously they had the bouncing potatoes in Pierre’s bag lend the bag a sense of rhythm, and here the uneven wheels of the mice’ wagon make it so it essentially nods along with the beat
The mice gallantly sing of their bravery and willingness to challenge anyone, even a big dog
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They’re doing a bit of a Cyrano de Bergerac conceit here too, with Pero providing the romantic entreaties while Pierre just stands on the castle wall staring at the princess
Unfortunately, he is again interrupted by the three cat pursuers, leading into a genuine Scooby Doo-style chase among the castle corridors. Lupin indeed!
You can really appreciate the loose mandate offered to these animators in the frequency of these wacky chase sequences. The film frequently digresses for a few minutes simply to celebrate the energy and comedy of these cats in contest
Another classic gag sequence as the lights go out, and Pero’s pursuers find themselves accidentally dueling each other
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Pero stumbles into the king’s chamber. The king is apparently not surprised to receive a cat as an envoy, but I suppose kings would be accustomed to such things
Pero claims he is the envoy of Duke Caraba
With Pero indisposed, the mice sub in as Pierre’s new hype men
Ooh, lovely animation of the white rose falling from Pierre’s hands. Also an interesting effect used to convey this overwhelming light as he considers his feelings – it looks like they shined light through layers of colored paper or glass beneath the animation cels
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The castle looms high above, its towering peak emphasizing Pierre’s feelings of unworthiness. And so he flees, unable to rise to the title of Duke Caraba
Excellent flourish of Pierre’s brother pounding his hand on the railing in fury, then immediately blowing on his poor bruised hand
Pero’s angry fist serves as our next energetic transition, leading us to the two brothers touting their accomplishments to an unimpressed and suspiciously cat-shaped gate guard
This is quite a funny film in the context of Castle of Cagliostro; it’s basically just “what if Lupin was played by a cat,” meaning all of his seductions must be transposed into evidence of “Duke Caraba” being worthy of the princess
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Pero now employing his army of mice to strong-arm peasants into praising Duke Caraba. An echo of Horus’ dramatic stills, here naturally paced to the beat of the drum
More playful alignment of the musical beat and the animation, as a gramophone recording of Duke Caraba’s theme song is played forward, backward, and with a stutter-step, each variation matched to the marching of the king’s procession
This film has such clear unity of intent; playful animation of animal companions has always been a staple of Toei Doga films, but never before has it been such a central priority, facilitated by both the direction and the persistently animation-timed soundtrack
Pero manages to snag Pierre a second set of fancy court clothes, truly a wingman beyond compare. Love his self-satisfied whisker twiddling, another very Lupin flourish
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Really, for as much as this cat reminds me of Lupin, he’s also revealing how much Lupin is like a cat. Supremely confident and agile, prone to fucking with people just because he can, kinda stupid
Pero always moves with such a distinct strut, as if he is approaching for a dance, each leg crossing dramatically over the other. His natural movements strongly imply his confident, somewhat performative personality
“Everything will work out? But I’m going against the devil
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Topic: The Wonderful World of Puss ‘n Boots (Read 224 times)