Half-Zorro, half-Pepé Le Pew, Banderas toyed with his Latin lover image like a cat with a mouse, milking every second (though admittedly, it's the animators who provide the highlight – Puss's saucer-sized, pleading eyes).
The most sharply drawn character, Humpty Dumpty (voiced by Zach Galifianakis), Puss's erstwhile best friend turned enemy, is also the most complex.
And he does have a point, though Mr. Banderas's campy suavity and Puss's convincingly animated fur add some new looks and rhythms to the formula.
"I'm a huge Shrek fan, and he's No. 1 at the box office," she said in a brief interview, hailing Puss's first-place finish with moviegoers with the same reverence most financial power players have for a top spot in the deal tables.
However, Puss's shambly long hair is not unlike the evil entity BOB as portrayed by the late Frank Silva in Twin Peaks.
There were also two holiday specials called Shrek the Halls and Scared Shrekless, a spin-off called Puss in Boots (a prequel to the Shrek series, exploring Puss's origin story and his life before meeting Shrek and Donkey) and several shorts.
