Shrek 2: Mother's cats inspired Banderas
Star of the hotly-anticipated sequel Shrek 2 Antonio Banderas took his inspiration for Puss in Boots from his mother-in-law’s 72 cats.
The 43-year-old film star revealed his secret at the film’s UK premiere last night, where he made a public appearance with Julie Andrews, the voice of Queen Lillian, and John Cleese (King Harold) in London’s Leicester Square.
He said: “We had a lot of creative input into the script. They demanded information from us about the characters, and now I know why the first movie felt so fresh.
“I have two cats at home but more dogs. My mother-in-law has 72 big cats and that’s how I did my research.”
The actors whose voices brought the animated characters of Shrek 2 alive had only met up as a team during the Cannes premiere last month, as most of their parts were recorded in tiny booths across different parts of the world.
Rupert Everett, the voice of Prince Charming, and Jennifer Saunders, the Fairy Godmother, were also at the premiere.
The movie has taken more than £200m (€299.8m), more than five times the amount it cost to make, since it was released in May in the US.
Some of the stars of the animated movie, like Mike Myers (Shrek), Eddie Murphy (Donkey) and Cameron Diaz (Princess Fiona), who reportedly picked up £5.5m (€8.2m) for their parts, failed to make the premiere.
Mary Poppins and the Sound of Music star Dame Julie said: “You never set out to make a flop, but it’s been such a huge success, I’m delighted.”
Dressed in a black suit, she said it was great to meet up with fellow Brit Cleese.
“He’s someone I’ve always admired but never met, and when we did one afternoon we had a terrific laugh. We talked about England, what we love and miss.”
The 68-year-old told a news conference earlier that at first she was in two minds about playing Princess Fiona’s mother.
“At first I wasn’t sure. I’ve never done an animated character before. Mary Poppins involved animation but there were no animated characters in it,” she said.
“Initially I wanted to make my voice sound animated or sub-normal. Eventually they said ’Please be yourself, that’s what we wanted’.”
The star added that she “couldn’t wait” to see the forthcoming Mary Poppins musical.
Cleese, 64, said: “I asked them what voice they wanted me to use, and they said we just want you to use your normal voice, and that was great. It made my life easier than if they had wanted a Bulgarian or Danish accent.”
Other celebrities at the Sky Movies Charities Premiere included Oasis star Liam Gallagher and his son Gene, Jade Jagger, and Ulrika Jonsson’s husband, Lance Gerrard-Wright, with her son Cameron.
