- "You know, I've only ever had one life, but sharing it with you and Kitty made it really special. Maybe... one life... is enough."
- ―Perrito explains to Puss how one life is enough to really live.
Perrito is one of the two deuteragonists (alongside Kitty Softpaws) of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. He is voiced by Harvey Guillén.
He's a therapy dog to Puss in Boots. He started out as one of Mama Luna’s pet cats, because he disguised himself as a cat. He met Puss, and they became fast friends, at least in Perrito's eyes. He then followed Puss and Kitty to find the Last Wish before Goldilocks and "Big" Jack Horner, even though he himself didn't have a wish of his own. Through their journey, he would ultimately touch the hearts of the cats and fully form their unity, known as "Team Friendship".
Appearance
Perrito is a tiny teacup mutt. His coat is white, black, and brown fur and has blue eyes. He has large turquoise eyes that reflect his trusting and innocent nature. He has a small gray muzzle, crooked teeth, and a goofy smile. He has one bent ear. He wears a dirty white and blue sock as a sweater. Underneath his sweater, he has a round pink belly with fur wearing away. There are two visible scars, one of which has stitches, possibly a remnant from getting thrown into a river with a rock inside.
Personality
Perrito is a happy-go-lucky, optimistic dog whose goal is to be a therapy dog in the future. He is easily trusting and naive, but he never fails to see the best in everyone and everything. He views his abandonment as a game, and willingly tells his tragic story as if it were a funny anecdote. He makes the best out of everything, shown by how unfazed he was when talking about his backstory, in which he was thrown off to a river inside a sock and he made the best of it by getting a "free sweater" out of the sock.
He is appreciative and grateful for the little that he has, expressing disinterest in the wishing star even when Kitty suggested that he deserved the wish most.
Perrito has a pure heart that allows him to reach out and connect with others, such as Puss, Kitty, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, swaying them with his kindhearted and selfless character. He is endlessly loyal and persistent in his desire for friendship, even in the face of others' hostility. He has proven to be sympathetic when he helped Puss calm down during a massive panic attack; making Kitty more trusting and considerate of others; and even helping Goldi realize that, while she didn't have her birth family, was lucky to have the Three Bears as her adoptive family by relating to Goldi as a fellow orphan.
The only one who wasn't touched or swayed by Perrito was "Big" Jack Horner, due to being a sociopath and claiming to be "dead inside."
Though sweet and puppy-like, Perrito has quite a potty mouth, given his naive trash-talking (which included several censored swear words). He left Goldi and the Three Bears shocked and mildly disturbed by how he ran his mouth at them.
History
Perrito and his littermates were born to a family with "prankster children" who, according to Perrito, enjoyed Hide & Seek, when in actuality they kept trying to abandon him. But Perrito kept finding them and coming back. Eventually, Perrito was stuffed into a sock with a rock and thrown into a river, preventing Perrito from seeing anything or going back. Thankfully, Perrito gnawed his way out of the sock and managed to swim to the surface and save himself. He kept the sock and grew into it, wearing it like a sweater, and thinks he's still "it".
Since then, Perrito never had a home or even a name of his own, and seemed to drift around-- trying to find a place to belong. Eventually, Perrito wound up disguising himself as a cat in order to live in Mama Luna's Cat Rescue, after living under her porch for a while until the rats and centipedes drove him out. According to Perrito, the cats did not like him either. The reason for this may be because dogs like to go after cats, and the cats are trying to defend themselves.
Movies
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Perrito meets Puss in Boots for the first time when they are eating the cat food provided by Mama Luna. The dog introduces himself as a "talking cat" and engages a conversation. After some banter, Perrito reveals he is not actually a cat, but a dog in disguise. He reveals that he lived underneath Mama Luna's house, which he usually leaves due to it being infested with rats and centipedes. When learning a bit about Puss' emotional trauma, he urges Puss to rub his belly, to which the cat firmly declines. He confesses that he wants to be a therapy dog in order to help those who need emotional support.
The two are then trying to hide from the Three Bears Crime Family, who are trying to track down Puss in Boots in order to help them in a heist. Perrito slowly comes to learn that Puss is a legendary cat, and helps him retrieve his buried hat, cape, and boots (the sword was lost after Puss' first encounter with a "bounty hunter"). While initially told to remain at the house, he follows Puss to the Jack Horner Pie Co. in order to give Puss a new sword (a "stick-sword") and help him claim the map to the Wishing Star. He wishes Puss luck, and stays at the front entrance of the pie shop, eventually finding a tuna sandwich in the Serpent Sisters' wagon. Puss and Kitty then hijack the wagon with Perrito controlling it. Perrito introduces himself to Kitty as "Puss' best friend" and therapy dog.
Perrito shows more of his optimistic (if arguably blissful) behavior, as he tells Kitty about "believing in yourself" and his casual mentioning of rude names given to him (i.e. bad dog, butt nugget, s*** for brains, etc.). When he, Puss and Kitty enter the Dark Forest, he is overwhelmed by the cuteness of the cats' performing their "big eye" tactics. Later, when the cats catch a glimpse of their paths to the Wishing Star, Perrito wants to see his path despite not having a wish of his own. His personalized path includes the Pocketful of Posies, the River of Relaxation, and the Field of Quick-and-Easy Solutions, eventually leading to the star. While insisted on not interfering with their quest, he is encouraged to hang onto the map so the cats don't have to go through their perilous paths.
Going through the Pocketful of Posies, Perrito stops to smell the living flowers, realizing that you have to "stop and smell the roses" to go past them. This ignites the frustrations of Puss and Kitty, now wanting to know of his story before he met them. Perrito claims it was a "funny story" that involved him growing up with a "family of pranksters" when he was a puppy. They would always play "hide and seek" and the pup was "always it", being thrown into places such as a dumpster. He would always end up finding them, until one day, the pranksters decided to shove him into a sock with a rock, and throw him in a river. Perrito gnawed a hole in the sock and swam to the surface, but never found his way back home. Despite the traumatic events, Perrito was able to move on from the incident, and turned the sock into a comfy sweater. Kitty enforces the idea that Perrito should get the wish, but he objects saying he's happy with his sweater and "two best friends".
Now streaming through the River of Relaxation, Perrito talks to Kitty about the topic of trust. She tells him that he made a mistake of trusting the cats, as it would only get him in trouble (not unlike the events of Santa Coloma, which caused Puss and Kitty to separate). He then witnesses Kitty shaving Puss' beard, to which he laughs at one of the hair trims. After Puss receives Kitty's Gatito Blade, he throws the stick-sword, which Perrito (by instinct) fetches. Kitty teases Puss that he's "ready to name him", as the two are beginning to become real friends. Soon, the dog is captured by "Big" Jack Horner, who threatens to shoot Perrito with one of the unicorn horns if they don't give him the map. While the Three Bears throw a couple of the Baker's Dozen at Horner, the dog makes a quick run to escape the crossfire. Once Goldilocks grabs a hold of the map, the land shapeshifts into the Nostalgic Pines, leading to all of the characters separating from each other.
Perrito eventually catches up to Puss, who just escaped an encounter with the "bounty hunter". The dog notices Puss feeling fear, and rests his head on his chest, which calms him down. Learning of the reasonings of Puss' phobias, particularly the events of Santa Coloma, Perrito urges him to tell Kitty about him abandoning her at the altar before they were due to be wed. Kitty finds the two, and continue on their journey, now on their way to find Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Before the two made their way to get the map, Perrito tries to encourage them with a "go-team" gesture, where he first coins the name, "Team Friendship". Puss finds the name ridiculous, but Perrito reassures that he's still workshopping.
After a battle between the cats and the crime family, both Kitty and Puss' paths overlap, causing Perrito to be kidnapped by the criminals. Puss urges Kitty to go find him while Puss makes his way out of the Cave of Lost Souls. Perrito ended up in a makeshift trap, which would be triggered unless he tells them where the map is. He is greatly amused by the family's bickering however, which distracts all of them. Encouraged by the insults, he begins spouting swears (almost all of them censored) to the amusement of Papa Bear. The dog then laments that he wants a family like the Three Bears, which helps make Goldi rethink her personal wish. Before the group could have a greater heart-to-heart, Kitty saves Perrito, and makes the family fall victim to their own trap.
Trying to catch up to Puss, the two eventually find him running away with the map, seemingly from them. Kitty finds Puss at the star, infuriated with his selfish action of trying to get his lives back. Perrito remains silent during this exchange, heartbroken at the sight of his best friends arguing with each other. He stays primarily out of the way during the final battle on the star, but is relieved when Puss and Kitty ultimately win. However, he is thrown off and almost hurt by giant red flames ignited by the bounty hunter, who was revealed to have been Death himself. Puss then fights the spirit, eventually winning the battle, but says he will continue fighting for his one life with Kitty and Perrito. The cat is spared, and Perrito runs up to him, happy that he is alive, and proud of his breakthrough. Their emotional moment is soon cut short by Jack Horner suddenly growing huge after consuming an "Eat Me" cookie. Right before Horner could make his wish, Perrito makes an effort to distract him by performing the "cute eyes" trick. This appears to succeed for a moment until Horner reminds him that he is "dead inside", also noting the dog's nose bleeding from the effort. However, Perrito reveals that he was actually "buying time for Team Friendship," and is then aided by Puss, Kitty and the Three Bears Crime Family, who attack from behind and take down the giant Jack Horner. They all destroy the map, causing Horner to be swallowed by the crater and the star to shoot back up into space, creating a beautiful explosion of cosmic glitter.
Perrito then gazes at the sight with Puss and Kitty, who are now ready to give him a real name. Ideas included "Chomper", and "Jeff", the latter of which was objected by Puss because he "doesn't have a Jeff's face". Perrito then admits that he would like to keep the nickname "Perrito", because that's what his friends call him. After the events of the film, he steers the stolen ship of the Governor, and officially names the trio "Team Friendship", much to the annoyance of Puss and Kitty. He wonders where they are going, to which Puss responds "Off the find new adventures, and to see some old friends", as it is quickly revealed that the ship is sailing towards the coast of Far Far Away.
The Trident
Perrito asks Puss to tell him about at least one of his previous deaths, and is told the story of the time Puss and Kitty tried to retrieve Poseidon's trident from pirates, and how it led to Puss' fifth death. Due to his extreme excitement, Perrito keeps interrupting Puss jumping to conclusions of how he died. These include the close calls of Puss getting stabbed into a bloody mess, being eaten by a hungry shark, getting mauled by the Three Bears Crime Family, and many other near-death experiences. Puss then tells him to be quiet for the rest of the story, and he is able to keep his mouth shut. After hearing the true cause of Puss' death, exploding from a failed cannon fire, he jokingly calls Puss and Kitty "Gatos locos. Insane even."
Quotes
- "It doesn't matter, as long as you believe in yourself."
- ―Perrito when Kitty Softpaws tells him she doesn't trust him.
- "You’re all a bunch of knuckle-dragging honey scrounging grump (BLEEP) oafish (BLEEP) (BLEEP) munching mangy (BLEEP) nugget (BLEEP) (BLEEP) and your schnooter! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
- ―Perrito getting in on the The Three Bears Crime Family's trash talking, though they were shocked by his swearing
- "Speaking as one orphan to another, Goldi, you won the orphan lottery!"
- ―Perrito telling Goldi how luck she is to have the Three Bears for a family.
Trivia
- Perrito is both Spanish and Portuguese for puppy.
- Perrito appears to be the Puss in Boots equivalent to Donkey. He and Donkey have similar bonds with the protagonist, they both like to mess around various characters and they are named after their respective species.
- John Mulaney was initially cast to portray Perrito, but instead landed the role of "Big" Jack Horner.
- In early concept art, Perrito was designed as a chihuahua.
- This is referenced in the film, when Kitty asks him if he is associated with the Chihuahua Gang.
- He is multilingual, as shown when he talks to Puss in Spanish.
- He is the fourth major Shrek character to swear on-screen (following Donkey, Shrek, and Puss in Boots).
- He is also the first one to be directly censored for how excessively vulgar his words got.
- In the Brazilian Portuguese dub, his vulgar words are uncensored.
- He is also the first one to be directly censored for how excessively vulgar his words got.
- Perrito is the first dog to pull off the cute wide-eyed look used by Puss, Kitty, and the Three Diablos, though it took some practice and motivation to get it down.
- Ironically, this is usually called puppy dog eyes
- Perrito serves as a Foil to Death:
- Both are canines (as Death manifested himself in the form of a wolf)
- Both have some kind of relation with Puss in Boots (Death as an antagonist and Perrito as an ally)
- Both teach Puss lessons about life and death that coincide with each other and ultimately help Puss become a better person.
- A subtle running gag involves him eating random sandwiches during visually dramatic moments.