DreamWorks, MK2 have Puss in Boots

(Source: www.variety.com)

Sharpen your claws, gentlemen. There's a new Puss in Boots in town.

French animation studio MK2 announced that they are currently working on their own animated Puss in Boots movie. Entitled The True Story of Puss in Boots, this French animated film adheres more closely to Charles Perrault's original fairy tale than DreamWork's Shrek spinoff. But it isn't literal.

"We aren't jumping on the bandwagon," claims Nathanael Karmitz, MK2's managing director. "Our film has been in development for more than two years. It's just fortunate for us that we'll be ready first."

This movie, which has a budget of $24 million, is "in the spirit of the original story but it is a loose adaptation," says Karmitz. "It's more modern, with lots of action."

According to co-director Pascal Herold said: "A lot of traditional animation films are far too politically correct. Our puss isn't like that."

MK2 will also be launching an aggressive marketing and merchandising campaign to promote the flick.

The True Story of Puss in Boots is due in theatres in early 2009. DreamWorks' Puss in Boots is slated for a 2011 release, but it might not get made if the upcoming Shrek the Third tanks in theatres.

Fun Fact: Charles Perrault (1628 - 1703) was one of the originators of the fairy tale. Like the Brothers Grimm, he adapted peasant stories for the salons of the wealthy, changing some of the morals and removing earthier elements from the tales. In addition to Puss in Boots, he also developed Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Bluebeard, and Hop o' My Thumb.

The character of the Wolf in Little Red Riding Hood is believed to be a thinly-veiled caricature of Louis XIV's bisexual younger brother, le Duc D'Orleans.

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