Puss In Boots appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. From start to finish, this was a stellar presentation.
Sharpness appeared absolutely immaculate, so no matter how wide the shots became, they always seemed crisp and perfectly detailed. Not the slightest hint of softness ever marred the presentation.
I witnessed no examples of jaggies or shimmering, and I also detected no signs of edge enhancement. As expected, source flaws also remained absent in this clean transfer.
Most of the time, Boots emphasized a reddish orange palette, though it went for a teal impression when the characters dealt with the beanstalk and the castle and it threw in some purples and pinks at times. These colors came across well and fleshed out as expected, with a nice jolt from HDR.
Black levels also appeared dense and deep, and shadow detail was solid. HDR added oomph to whites and contrast. I felt totally pleased with this terrific presentation.
While not quite as strong as the picture, the DTS X soundtrack of Boots also seemed positive. Downconverted to DTS-HD MA 7.1, the mix presented a nice soundstage, as the front three channels presented a broad spatial orientation and smooth panning across speakers.
The rear speakers got a nice workout, especially in the various action scenes. These allowed for a fair amount of movement and involvement, all of which created an engrossing soundfield.
Audio quality appeared strong, as dialogue remained distinct and natural and suffered from no signs of edginess or problems related to intelligibility. The score was warm and rich, as the music showed fine dimensionality and dynamics.
The effects also came across as concise and accurate. They presented clean highs and some deep lows, as bass response was consistently tight. All in all, the audio of Boots seemed pretty impressive.
How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray version? The UHD's DTS X track added a little involvement to the BD's mix.
As for visuals, the UHD offered stronger delineation, blacks and colors. While the BD looked great, the 4K topped it.
For those with the necessary TV equipment, matters complicate due to the existence of a 3D version of Puss in Boots. If that group includes you, should you go 3D or 4K?
The 3D Boots added a terrific sense of depth. It always brought out a nice feeling of immersion, and some scenes – mainly those connected to the beanstalk – managed to really involve the viewer. Throw out the occasional “pop-out” effect and this became a pleasing 3D image.
Because of this, I'd give the marginal nod to the 3D version. However, with superior sharpness and colors as well as the more immersive DTS X mix, the 4K UHD worked very well, too, so viewers can't go wrong either way.
On the 4K disc, we find a short created for home video in 2012. The Three Diablos goes for 13 minutes, 10 seconds.
It gives us a Puss adventure that brings back Antonio Banderas as the lead. “Diablos” becomes a fairly amusing tale.
A featurette called Purr-fect Pairing runs nine minutes, 21 seconds and offers info from director Chris Miller, producers Joe M. Aguilar and Latifa Ouaou and actors Salma Hayek, Antonio Banderas, Zach Galifianakis and Billy Bob Thornton.
“Pairing” looks at cast, characters and performances. It offers a decent glimpse of these topics, especially when we see the actors in the recording booth.
Three Deleted Scenes appear: “Humpty Plots with Jack & Jill” (2:16), “Humpty Repays His Accomplices” (1:22) and “Puss in Boots Fights the Giant” (3:52). All come as story reels, so don’t expect finished animation.
The first two scenes offer some fairly minor character/story bits, but “Giant” brings out more interesting elements. All three come with intros from Ouaou, as she gives us basics about the sequences and why they got the boot.
A featurette called Kitten to Cat goes for 12 minutes, one second. It offers info from Ouaou, Hayek, Wheeler, Thornton, Miller, Banderas, Aguilar, screenwriter Tom Wheeler, producer Aron Warner, Shrek directors Andrew Adamson and Conrad Vernon, choreographer Laura Gorenstein Miller and supervising animator Olivier Staphylas.
“Cat” looks at the Puss character and aspects of his execution. It turns into a fairly good overview.
With Glitter Box Dance Off, choreographer Laura Miller leads a five-minute, one-second reel. We see a demonstration of various dance steps used in the movie. Kids might find this fun.
During the three-minute, 42-second Klepto Kitty, we learn about a “real-life cat burglar”. Apparently a California feline named Dusty regularly steals items around town. This has not direct connection to the movie, but it’s a cute piece.
More extras appear on the included Blu-ray copy, where we open with The Animators’ Corner. It offers a picture-in-picture feature that occasionally concentrates on a commentary from director Chris Miller and producers Joe M. Aguilar and Latifa Ouaou.
In addition to their comments, we see art, storyboards/previs and interviews. In the latter domain, we hear from production designer Guillaume Aretos, art director Christian Schellewald, crowd supervisor James Thornton, head of story Bob Persichetti, visual effects supervisor Ken Bielennberg, supervising animator Sean Sexton, head of layout Gil Zimmerman, executive producer Guillermo del Toro, head of effects Amaury Aubel, rigging supervisor Nick Augello, sound designer/supervising sound editor Richard King, and actor Antonio Banderas.
Throughout “Corner”, we get notes about story/characters, various design areas and animation, music, audio, editing, and related domains. “Corner” covers these in a satisfying way that makes it a fine examination of the filmmaking topics.
The disc also supplies a Trivia Track. This gives us basic movie facts along with a “Meow Meter” that keeps track of various feline utterances. It’s not a great text commentary but it comes with a smattering of decent notes.
Along the lines of “MadLibs”, A DreamWorks Fairy Tale lets you create your own rhyme. It offers a mix of choices among characters, locations and actions, all of which eventually to make narratives in the vein of “Jack and Jill”, “Little Boy Blue” or “Humpty Dumpty”. It offers minor fun.
A game, Puss’ Paw Pouncing Challenge forces you to move a cursor around the screen to “capture” laser spots. This becomes clunky and tedious.
An unusual extra, Kitty Keyboard presents the option to hear four nursery rhyme songs like “Three Blind Mice”. When selected, we see movie characters and listen to a cat “sing” the tunes. It’s even more annoying than it sounds.
A Fairytale Pop-Up Book comes next and offers four options. These give us basic views of Puss, Kitty, Humpty and Jack and Jill. It’s an innocuous addition.
Kitty Strikes Again offers a visual game in which players need to look at two movie images and determine the differences between them. Meant for kids, these are pretty simple, but the target audience may enjoy “Strikes”.
The Blu-ray opens with ads for Madagascar 3 and the “How to Train Your Dragon Arena Spectacular”. Previews includes those clips plus reels for DreamWorks Dragons: The Television Series, The Adventures of TinTin and a Puss in Boots videogame.
World of DreamWorks Animation adds more promotional material. No trailer for Puss appears on the disc.
An extension of the Shrek franchise, Puss In Boots fails to capture any magic. It moves at a slow pace and lacks the life and story development it needs to succeed. The 4K UHD boasts excellent picture along with very good audio and a decent array of supplements plus a lively 3D rendition. We get occasional fun from Boots but it wears out its welcome well before it ends.