“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” is nominated for an animated feature film Oscar.

The Academy Awards, with nominees announced Jan. 24, will be presented at 8 p.m. (EST) March 12 in Los Angeles and televised on ABC-TV.

Will it be “Wish” fulfillment for “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” which is deserving of the nomination. The animation is spectacular. At times, it’s as though the movie-goer is watching an impressionism painting put into motion.

“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” is a sequel to “Puss in Boots” (2014), a spinoff of the “Shrek” animated feature film franchise, which has the main characters of Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers), Fiona (Cameron Diaz) and Donkey (Eddie Murphy).

Puss in Boots (voiced by Antonio Banderas), introduced as a Spanish character in “Shrek 2” (2002), was in “Shrek the Third” (2007) and “Shrek Forever After” (2010). For years, “Shrek 5” has been reported to be in development.

“Puss in Boots” (Italian: “Il gatto con gli stivali”), an Italian fairy tale about an anthropomorphic cat, was published by author Giovanni Francesco Straparola in “The Facetious Nights of Straparola” (circa 1550-1553).

“Puss in Boots” has inspired composers, choreographers and stories for centuries, appearing in, for example, the third act of Tchaikovsky’s ballet, “The Sleeping Beauty” (1889).

“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” opens in the town of Del Mar. Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) battles The Sleeping Giant of Del Mar. After getting conked on the head by a church bell, Puss in Boots is in his last of a cat’s nine lives. A doctor urges Puss in Boots to retire from his swashbuckling ways.

As he contemplates retirement, Puss in Boots encounters the Big Bad Wolf (Wagner Moura), who challenges him to a duel.

Puss in Boots, deciding to hang up his sword, hides out in a cat-rescue house run by Mama Luna (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). There, Puss in Boots befriends a therapy dog, Perrito (Harvey Guillén), disguised as a cat.

Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the Three Bears of Mama Bear (Olvia Colman), Papa Bear (Ray Winstone) and Baby Bear (Samson Kayo), depicted in the film as a crime family, track down Puss in Boots, who hears about the Wishing Star, which grants wishes to those who have a magic map. Meanwhile, Big Jack Horner (John Mulaney) is also in search of the Wishing Star.

Puss in Boots wants to ask the Wishing Star for a longer life. That would help him make amends with his ex-girlfriend Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek Pinault).

And off they all go into the Dark Forest: three competing crews, led by Puss in Boots, Goldilocks and Jack Horner, to follow that Wishing Star.

From then on, “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” becomes a quest film with all kinds of obstacles, adventures and battles along the way.

The interplay between the characters is quite good. Scenes between Puss in Boots and Peritto are funny. The dialogue between Puss in Boots and Kitty Softpaws is emotionally rewarding. Goldilocks and the three bears are amusing. Big Jack Horner is less engaging, coming off like The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in “Ghostbusters” (1984).

Antonio Banderas has the most memorable voice characterization as Puss in Boots. Florence Pugh is a hoot as Goldilocks. Harvey Guillén as Perrito the therapy dog is hilarious.

“Puss in Boots” is a mash-up of several fairy tales by Germany’s Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the Brothers Grimm, “Children’s and Household Tales” (German: “Kinder- und Hausmärchen”), 1812-1857. “Puss in Boots” is, ahem, pretty grim. It also owes a debt to Stephen Sondheim’s landmark Broadway musical “Into the Woods” (1987), as did “Shrek.”

“Puss in Boots” might be frightening for some children. Puss in Boots, with his big green eyes and tan coat, is charming. But the character of the Wolf, with big glowing red eyes, is scary. Buying a plush toy of the Wolf, if one is available, might constitute child abuse.

Director Joel Crawford (director, “The Croods: A New Age,” 2020) and co-director Januel Mercado (theatrical movie directorial debut) work from a screenplay by Paul Fisher (screenplays: “The Croods: A New Age”; “The Lego Ninjago Movie,” 2017; “Puss in Boots”) and Tommy Swerdlow (screenplays: “The Grinch,” 2018; “Snow Dogs,” 2002; “Bushwhacked,” 1995; “Little Giants,” 1994; “Cool Runnings,” 1993) and a story by Tom Wheeler (story: “Dora and the Lost City of Gold,” 2019; “Puss in Boots”).

The animation of many of the main characters in “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” is interesting in that it appears to be one pass away from completion. This is not altogether bad. It gives scenes a looser, sketch-like and more comic-book look. It’s comparable to the change at Disney decades ago to a more gestural animation style, exemplified by “One Hundred and One Dalmatians” (1961).

The quest scenes in “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” employ anime-style flashing and visuals similar to those in Marvel Cinematic Universe movies whereby surfaces give the appearance of melting ice flows and of surfing the astral plane.

Take a look at individual panels of some 171 scenes from “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” on the Internet Movie Database to appreciate the quality of the artwork. The movie is worthy of an Oscar nomination for its animation alone.

The animation in “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” is truly a work of art. I wish I could say the same about the story in the film.

“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,”

MPAA rated PG (Parental Guidance Suggested: Some material may not be suitable for children.) for action, violence, rude humor language and some scary moments.; Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy. Run Time: 1 hr., 42 mins. Distributed by Universal Pictures.

Credit Readers Anonymous:

“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” opens with a new logo for DreamWorks Animation, a la Marvel Cinematic Universe opening credits, with characters depicted from DreamWorks’ “The Bad Guys,” “How to Train Your Dragon,” “Kung Fu Panda,” “The Boss Baby,” “Trolls” and “Shrek.”

The closing credits include sketches and limited animation of characters in the film.

At the conclusion of “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” Puss in Boots and his crew sail off to a distant shore, which displays the sign, Far Far Away, a reference to the Far Far Away Kingdom in the “Shrek” movie franchise.

At the very, very, very end of the movie, with the screen dark, the voice of Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) is heard saying, “Oh, you are still here?” Yes, I was. And I was the only one. I didn’t take it personally.

At The Movies:

“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” was seen in the standard format at AMC Center Valley 16.

Theatrical Movie Domestic Box Office,

Jan. 27 - 29: “Avatar: The Way of Water” continued at No. 1 with $15.7 million in 3,600 theaters, $620.5 million, seven weeks.

2. “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” stayed in place, $10.6 million in 3,452 theaters, $140.8 million, six weeks. 3. “A Man Called Otto” moved up two places, $6.7 million in 3,957 theaters, $46 million, five weeks. 4. “M3GAN” dropped one place, $6.3 million in 3,416 theaters, $82.2 million, four weeks. 5. “Pathaan,” $5.9 million, 695 theaters, $8.5 million since Jan. 25 opening. 6. “Missing” dropped two places, $5.6 million in 3,025 theaters, $17.5 million, two weeks. 7. “Plane” dropped one place, $3.8 million in 2,850 theaters, $25.3 million, three weeks. 8. “Infinity Pool,” opening, $2.7 million in 1,835 theaters. 9. “Left Behind: Rise of the Antichrist,” $2.3 million in 1,405 theaters, $2.9 million since Jan. 26 opening. 10. “The Wandering Earth II,” $1.3 million in 142 theaters, opening Jan. 22.

Movie box office information from Box Office Mojo as of Jan. 29 is subject to change.

Unreel,

Feb. 3:

“BTS: Yet to Come in Cinemas,”

No MPAA rating: Oh Yoon-Dong directs the documentary about a concert by the South Korean, K-Pop group.

“80 for Brady,”

PG-13: Kyle Marvin directs Rita Moreno, Sally Field, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in the comedy. Female friends attend the Super Bowl with the goal of meeting NFL quarterback Tom Brady. Who knows? Maybe the film will get Brady to un-retire again.

“Knock at the Cabin,”

Rated R: M. Night Shyamalan directs Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff and Ben Aldridge in the Horror film. A girl and her parents are taken hostage and asked to make a choice to avoid the apocalypse.

“The Amazing Maurice,”

Rated PG: Toby Genkel directs and Florian Westermann co-directs the voice talents of Hugh Laurie and Emilia Clarke and the Animation in the Comedy that is based on the book. A streetwise cat has a money-making scam. No, it’s not cryptocurrency.

Movie opening dates information from Internet Movie Database as of Jan. 29 are subject to change.

Three Popcorn Boxes out of Five Popcorn Boxes