Puss in Boots: The Three Diablos was unsolicited and sent to me by Deluxe Media Management for Paramount Home Entertainment, free of charge. It was part of a DVD combo pack along with the Puss in Boots feature film.

The Three Diablos is an 11 minute cartoon included on its own DVD as a part of the Puss in Boots Combo pack. I want to call it an episode, because that’s about the length of it, although I’m not sure if there will be more. At any rate, it stars Puss in Boots from the original Shrek and Puss in Boots movies as he attempts to help a queen recover her stolen prized jewel.

The story begins with Puss meeting with the queen and being informed that her jewel was stolen by a thief named The Whisperer. While her guards were unable to apprehend him, they were successful in catching his three accomplices, who are very devious and very dangerous. Puss agrees to get information from the accomplices and to get them to help him retrieve the jewel. The queen and her guards are afraid to accompany him on the visit, claiming that the accomplices are extremely dangerous.

Upon entering the cell, Puss finds three adorable little kitties. Thinking that this job will be easy, he befriends them and they set off. While traveling, the three kittens turn on him and ultimately bury him alive in the sand of the desert. Puss manages to escape, and finds the kittens to make them pay. It is during this time that he discovers that they are orphans, as he was, and he develops a soft spot for them. He takes them under his wing, trains them, and creates a bond with them to help put them on the right path.

The kittens lead Puss to The Whisperer, who actually whispers every word he speaks almost inaudibly. Puss ends up fighting The Whisperer and tells the kittens to run and not look back, for fear of The Whisperer’s revenge for turning on him. While fighting Puss loses the advantage, but just as he is about to be finished by The Whisperer, the kittens return to help him. In a flash The Whisperer is defeated, Puss gets the jewel back, and they head off for the queen’s castle.

Puss returns the jewel and collects his rewards, shares some heartfelt words with the kittens and offers them to the queen as her personal bodyguards, and rides off into the sunset.

I liked the story, and although it was very short, it was entertaining and believable (well, as believable as talking cats and whispering thieves can be). There was nothing I found objectionable for kids of any age.

Some of the scenes, however, seemed contrived- like they were trying to make Puss be “more” of himself. It seemed like certain lines were forced, and that ruined those moments for me. A good example of this occurs at the end where Puss is appearing to be humble in his acceptance of the reward for finding the jewel, but when some spills he immediately chastises them for dropping some. I also didn’t like how quickly the retrieval of the jewel was resolved- it literally just popped into Puss’ hands, and that was that. I found that kind of hokey. Nevertheless if you need a short cartoon to keep the kids enthralled while you wash some dishes or put a quick load of clothes in the wash, this may just be the movie for you.

Overall Rating: B+

Rating for kids who love the character/ have an interest in the subject: B+

Best Age Guesstimate: 3+

Caveats/ Concerns: none