Given that the fierce fighter Puss, from the fairy tale mashup world of the Shrek franchise, is returning to screens for a new adventure later in December, I thought it fitting to check out some of this famous cat’s other adventures. “Puss in Boots” is unusual as an animal helper-type story because it’s much more common for the hero of a tale to aid an animal in some way, and then later have that aid returned. Puss, however, doesn’t just render aid in one moment of need, but pounces on the plot like it’s a runaway mouse, and drags it kicking and squirming to present at his master’s feet, a proud hunter providing for his family.
In case you aren’t familiar with the original tale: A miller dies, leaving three sons behind. To the eldest he leaves the mill, to the middle son, a donkey, and to his youngest son, he leaves only his cat. The youngest son bemoans his bad luck, complaining that he can’t make anything of his inheritance, at which point Puss promises him that if he will simply get the cat a pair of boots and a fine hat, Puss will assure both their fortunes are made. Perhaps it is simply the fact that the cat is talking, but the young man does as the cat asks, and once he’s equipped with his new finery, Puss sets off to make good on his vow.
First stop, doing what a cat’s got to do: catching some fine pheasants, and then, of course, leaving them beside someone’s bed in the middle of the night for them to find with their foot first thing in the morning. No, just kidding (that’s what my cats would do). Puss takes his gift of pheasants to the king, offering the birds to him as a gesture of goodwill from his master, the Marquis of Carabas. The king and his beautiful daughter are both impressed by the gifts, and Puss invites them to join the Marquis at his own estate, which they agree to.
Puss races away; when the king and princess pass by a river on their way to the castle he’s picked out for his purpose, the cat ensures that they come across his young master, who has been convinced to wait naked in the water. When the king’s carriage comes along, Puss calls out that they were beset by bandits, and that his master’s clothes were stolen and he was thrown into the river. The king’s guards fish the lad out of the water and he joins king and princess in borrowed finery.
Once again, Puss races ahead of the party toward the castle, which is inhabited by the local evil ogre. He instructs all the farmers along the way to tell the king as he passes that the lands belong to the Marquis of Carabas. When Puss reaches the castle, he flatters the ogre’s might and magical prowess, and the ogre starts showing off. He transforms into a lion! And Puss is suitably impressed, but does wonder if the ogre can also transform into a small and delicate creature—perhaps not, since that’s an entirely different skill set. The ogre objects, insisting such a transformation is well within his power! He changes into a mouse, which Puss immediately pounces upon and eats.
King and company reach the castle and Puss is there to greet them. The cat’s young master takes over the title of Marquis of Carabas and marries the princess, and Puss spends the rest of his days chasing mice only when he feels like it.
So without further ado, here are five modern retellings, told with various degrees of cattiness….
Boots by Julian Greystoke
In this light but in-depth retelling, Levi is the unlucky youngest son of a poor miller who, as a young man, was given two blessings and one curse upon his family. The curse fell to Levi, who is catastrophically clumsy. But his fortunes begin to change when he rescues a young cat from being drowned by village ruffians. The real mover in this tale is the princess, who is determined to be the People’s Protector even against the wishes of her father. With no interest in marriage, Princess Joanna realizes that she’s the only one who can free the land from the terrible Ogre who has drained all the magic from the land. I won’t spoil the story, but the cat plays a more subtle role, here, and the curse plays out with a clever twist.
“Cat Pictures Please” by Naomi Kritzer
If you haven’t read this story already, you absolutely should, and if you have already read it, you may be feeling a bit skeptical about my classification of “Cat Pictures Please” as type of fairy tale retelling. But take another look, and I think you’ll see Puss in Boots at the base of this delightful tale of an AI learning how to properly interfere with people’s lives. And of course, the cat appreciation is strong with this one, which is available online for free from Clarkesworld Magazine. (I should also note that the wonderful story continues in Kritzer’s Catfishing on CatNet.)
Cat’s Tale by Bettie Sharpe
This sweet and light romantic version casts Lady Catriona as the feline in question when the king’s wizard turns her into a cat and tries to drown her in the castle moat. She escapes and enlists the miller’s youngest son, Julian, into her quest to get revenge on the wizard and return to her old life. Cat’s cursed feline form isn’t full time, and as she gets to know Julian things heat up between them; she starts to question her own goals as she grows close to the kind-hearted man.
“Puss” by Esther M. Friesner (from Snow White, Blood Red edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling)
Poor Puss, in this vicious, elegant retelling, is inherited by a youngest son who is a selfish drunkard and puts the boots on the cat himself, which she does not appreciate in the least. Unfortunately, this Puss is bound to the lad’s father, who made an offering to a spirit who took the form of a cat so that she could fulfill their bargain. Puss is bound to the young man through a blood oath, but as she carries out a plan to elevate her cruel master to wealth and privilege, she finds a chance to destroy another brutal monster and save another soul—who, if not exactly innocent, has certainly become a victim of the darkest side of mankind—all while keeping her oath intact.
A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine
Gail Carson Levine is probably best known for her take on Cinderella in Ella Enchanted, but it’s far from the only fairy tale adaptation she’s turned her skillful hand to, and this delightful adaptation uses Puss in Boots as the starting point for a much more complex story. Elodie goes to the city of Two Castles to become an actress, but when things don’t work out as she’d hoped, she joins forces with the dragon Meenore and becomes a spy in the nearby Ogre’s castle. More transformative than most of the other versions listed here, Levine adds delightful complexity to the original tale’s cast of characters, and while the ending may not be a complete surprise, our arrival there is nonetheless wonderful.
Bonus! “Puss Reboots” by Rachel Ayers
If I can throw my own hat in the ring, here: In this short, near-future retelling of the tale, the young lad’s father was a bit of a tinkerer and hacker and enhanced his cat with some high-tech gear. Puss is, of course, exceptional, and stars in his own tale, leaving the young lad and his love interest somewhat in the background while he deals with the online ogre harassing his new startup tech company.
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As a cat person, I’ve always liked “Puss in Boots,” but it holds up for me as a folklorist as well, and while Antonio Banderas’ animated Puss doesn’t go on the same adventures as the original tale, he does manage to capture the spirit of Puss: the ultimate con artist, hauling others along in his wake as he champions his hapless young charge, defeats the evil ogre, and wins the princess. Clearly, Puss knows that the true hero of any story is, naturally, the cat. Which are your favorite versions of the tale?
Rachel Ayers lives in Alaska, where she writes cabaret shows, daydreams, and looks at mountains a lot. She has a degree in Library and Information Science which comes in handy at odd hours, and she shares speculative poetry and flash fiction (and cat pictures) at patreon.com/richlayers.
