One of the SHREK universe’s most thoughtful adventures has padded onto a new streaming home: PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH is now available on Netflix.
“I think what’s been surprising people is the new layer of depth that this movie has and how it can take on big themes about our life, the one life we all have and how it can be a gift,” director Joel Crawford told the Academy in 2023. That unexpected depth helped turn a swashbuckling cat’s latest adventure into something families could keep talking about after the credits rolled.
Netflix added the DreamWorks Animation movie to its US lineup Sept. 10, alongside a fresh batch of animated family picks. The PG-rated adventure is also listed on its own Netflix title page, so subscribers can stream it now. Netflix grouped the title with seven September selections that include THE PRINCE OF EGYPT, ANTZ and FLUSHED AWAY.
The story finds Puss in Boots, voiced by Antonio Banderas, learning that his reckless exploits have burned through eight of his nine lives. He sets off to find a magical Wishing Star, hoping to restore what he squandered, while Kitty Softpaws and the relentlessly cheerful Perrito join the hunt.
Salma Hayek Pinault returns as Kitty, and Harvey Guillén voices Perrito. Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone, Samson Kayo, John Mulaney, Wagner Moura and Da’Vine Joy Randolph round out a cast big enough to make the enchanted forest feel wonderfully crowded.
Related: PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH
What begins as a brisk fairy-tale chase soon presses Puss to face fear, mortality and the cost of treating life like an endless supply. His swagger gives way to humility as he learns that friendship, trust and sacrificial love matter more than applause — or another eight lives.
Movieguide®’s review praised the story’s strong Christian, moral worldview and its clear rejection of selfishness and egotism. The movie encourages viewers to care for others, value family and recognize that a meaningful life grows through love rather than self-glory. It won a Teddy Bear Award® in 2023.
Parents should still know that the story’s treatment of death carries real intensity. Movieguide® advises caution for younger children because the Wolf, presented as Death, can be frightening; the movie also includes frequent cartoon action, sword fighting, peril and some characters falling to their deaths.
The movie’s staying power is not just a matter of nostalgia. PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH earned a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the 95th Academy Awards and finished its theatrical run with more than $480 million worldwide.
Its Netflix arrival also gives SHREK fans something substantial to watch during the wait for more trips to Far, Far Away. DreamWorks’ official franchise site currently lists SHREK 5 for June 30, 2027, while Universal and DreamWorks have set the Eddie Murphy-led DONKEY origin story for June 30, 2028.
For family movie night, then, PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH works as more than franchise homework. It is lively, funny and visually adventurous, but its best trick is quieter: a fearless hero learns that one life, received with gratitude and shared with people he loves, is already a gift.
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