The Wonderful World of Puss 'n Boots

The Wonderful World of Puss 'n Boots is a Japanese animated adventure about Pero, a swashbuckling cat in long red boots who is condemned by his own kind after saving a mouse. Fleeing the cats who hunt him, he meets Pierre, a young miller's son mistreated by his brothers and left with nothing. The two set off together, and when Pierre falls for Princess Rosa, daughter of the king, Pero schemes to pass his friend off as the wealthy Marquis of Carabas so he can court her. Standing in the way is the sorcerer Lucifer, a determined rival for the princess's hand.

Directed by Kimio Yabuki, who also produced, the film was his second feature after The World of Hans Christian Andersen the previous year. Hisashi Inoue and Morihisa Yamamoto wrote the screenplay, and the voice cast includes Susumu Ishikawa as Pero, Toshiko Fujita as Pierre, Rumi Sakakibara as Princess Rose, Asao Koike as Lucifer, and Kin'ya Aikawa and Isamu Tanonaka as a pair of killer cats.

Released in March 1969 by Toei Animation and running eighty minutes, the film mixes action, comedy and music in a loose adaptation of the European fairy tale. On TMDB it holds a rating of 7 out of 10 from 36 votes, a small sample that suggests a modest but generally favourable response from those who have seen it.