| “ | Star-light, star-bright. First star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might. Have this wish, I make tonight | ” |
—The rhyme of the Wishing Star. | ||
The Wishing Star is a cosmic entity that is the central focus in the movie Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
Appearance and Abilities
Before creating its crater on Earth, the star took the form of a traditional cartoon star, complete with shining lights and glitter. When it struck onto the ground, it keeps its shape, but changes its form to a more marble-like surface. It also has the ability to rise up as a floating platform, and can create a deadly wall.
After striking, the star created a massive explosion, causing a magical shockwave that created the Dark Forest. With the forest, the star was able to personify its surroundings depending on the holder of the map to the crater. This is what leads to the various hazards Puss in Boots and the others have to face in order to unlock the titular Last Wish.
Movies
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Long ago, cosmic dust formed the shape of a cartoon star, which then shot down to Earth. Creating a shockwave, it scorched the surrounding land, creating the Dark Forest, and within itself, locked a single wish waiting to be granted. For years, no one has been able to go through the forest alive and get the wish. The map was also likely hidden in heavy captivity before being claimed by the Serpent Sisters, who delivered it to "Big" Jack Horner. With it, Jack can use the wish to become the "master of all magic". However, Goldilocks also caught wind of the map and its whereabouts, brining the Three Bears Crime Family along to steal it. Puss in Boots overheard their conversation about the map, and tries to steal it before his old nemesis, Kitty Softpaws, took it right from him. Now with the map in hand, the two, along with Perrito, venture to the Dark Forest. Upon entering, they see for themselves the extreme power the star has. Since it knows the deepest desires and flaws of the beholder, it can manipulate the forest in order to reflect their emotional state, whether to prevent them from getting the wish, realizing their value in life, or provide for the most positive-thinking.
Thanks to the constant fighting amongst the adventurers, the lands shapeshifts with often deadly results. Even in Perrito's path, the Pocket Full o' Posies contain flowers that can mercilessly kill the more aggressive, as seen with the deaths of members of the Baker's Dozen. The only major exception of dangerous terrain was with Goldilocks' path, which seemed to be limited to one crucial area: the Nostalgic Pines. Here, the star intended to make Goldi reflect upon her past, and the happiness the Three Bears have given her. It is then fiddled with once again, as Puss and Kitty once again retrieve the map so they can grant either of their wishes. Both the Mountains of Misery and Cave of Lost Souls form, once again planting life-risking obstacles in front of them. After Puss escapes the cave (as well as Death), he makes it to the star's crater, which has a silver surface with cosmic patterns. When he recites the lines, the star slowly rises from its crater, with giant beams shooting out of it. When it goes above ground, a cosmic wall is formed, which is done to prevent anyone from escaping when the wish is being made. Anyone who is sucked into the wall will be obliterated, never to be seen again. Before a wish could be granted, the map is destroyed, causing the star to implode on itself, and is shot back into the night sky from whence it came. Once it returns, it shines as the brightest star from the farthest view.
Other Apperances
The Wishing Star manifests in several ways in the racing game, DreamWorks All-Star Kart Racing. One of the cups is the Wishing Star Cup, which contains two Puss in Boots-inspired tracks. Those being the Dark Forest and San Ricardo. The former in particular majorly features the star itself, with portals in star-shapes teleporting racers to different parts of the Forest- eventually leading to a finale where you drive through the shattered remains of the star and see the final beam in the night sky.
Trivia
- During the movie, Goldilocks, Puss in Boots, and Kitty Softpaws all initially refused to reveal what they wanted to wish for, citing the "birthday wish rule", that if one tells one's wish it will not come true. Ironically, everyone who had a wish and revealed it did not get their wish granted at all, or at least not in the way they expected:
- Puss in Boots wanted to wish back his Nine Lives, but learned his lesson that one life is all one needs to truly live.
- Kitty wanted to wish for someone she could truly trust and would never betray her, though she turned it down when she finally saw that Puss had become that 'someone'.
- Goldilocks wanted to wish for her real family, but passed up the wish to save her adoptive brother, Baby, and realized she'd had a real family all along, the Three Bears.
- "Big" Jack Horner wanted to wish to be the absolute master of all magic and keep all magic for himself, but instead met his doom in the collapsing Wishing Star after the map was ripped apart then incinerated, thus making him the only one who didn't get his wish in another way with no magic required.
- A shooting star was seen in Shrek Forever After, although whether it was the same star is unconfirmed.
- The poem associated with the star was originally a nursery rhyme entitled "Star-Light, Star-Bright."
- Another wishing star appeared in the series, The Adventures of Puss in Boots. However, this was a different character named Esteban, and functions much differently than the one seen in The Last Wish.