“When the first Shrek movie came out, it was pretty groundbreaking,” said Joel Crawford, co-director of The Cat Goes Out: The Last Wish, told Polygon in a recent interview. “With CG, it’s impressive [with] details that you could feel, and the audience marveled at that pursuit of realism. So to make, about 20 years later, The Cat Goes Out: The Last Wish felt like a fairy tale for our times, we were told, We need to push it.”
And he and co-director Januel Mercado made it. Unlike the first four Shrek films and the first Puss in Boots films, which all adopt a standard approach to photorealism in lighting and design, Last Wish more stylized. Lush wallpapers. The light looks less photographic and more like an impressionist painting. The movements are magnified and more eye-catching. It’s a big departure from what audiences have come to expect from the Shrek series, but it’s a departure the filmmakers are eager to make.
“It has been more than 10 years since the last time Puss in Boots, and more than 20 years since the first Shrek came out,” said Mercado. “We always talk about the amazing technology of animation and how its visual storytelling has evolved over the years. We felt like we had enough time to retain the essence of this world and these characters, but we were able to make the most of the new technology and style. [with] to share these stories. We are not going to miss that opportunity.”
Mercado and Crawford inspired animation projects like Spider-Man: Entering the Spider-Man Universe, secretAnd Bad guys, not only because of their use of stylized animation but also to celebrate the mediums that inspired their stories. Because spider verse, it’s a comic book. And for Last Wishthat means fairy tale illustrations.
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“I remember growing up with children’s books,” says Mercado. “Especially the books of fairy tales and illustrations, how come these spreads come to life and how simple they are for children, with just simple words and storytelling. But I remember as a kid, I spent hours just looking at drawings and paintings, and seeing all the details in the environment. […] We want to do the same thing with film media for Cat in boots.”
“Our production designer, Nate Wragg, was really the one directing how our particular story was presented,” explains Crawford. “Specifically in this fairy-tale style. And it was a trial and error when we looked at everything and started, Oh, so flat and graphic, or That’s too real. And so it’s really a process of finding it.”
Animation isn’t the only element that Crawford and Mercado hope to grow with Last Wish. After all, back in 2001, Shrek is a breakthrough not only for CG, but also for Sharp humor and more mature references that inspired a changing tones in american cartoons in the next decade or so. To keep Cat in boots fitting for the 2020s, filmmakers wanted to revisit that edgy wit, but also expand on the themes the film could tackle and tell a deeper story.
“With the original Shrek movies, there’s a delightful play on what we know as fairy tales and the Disney princesses we love. “There is always a smart and fun out-of-the-box experience to go through,” says Mercado. “It was always like, Oh my gosh, that’s fun. I never thought of it this way. It’s great to turn things upside down. It’s something that we want to go back to and continue as part of the fold. And the other side of it is also a genuine message, and [an] touching story to tell.”
The Cat Goes Out: The Last Wish now available on request and on DVD and Blu-ray.
