Director Chris Miller saw potential in this fierce feline a long time ago. "While we were creating the story for Shrek 2, everybody wanted to work on the Puss in Boots character," he said.

"He was a cool, dynamic sidekick character, and we infused him with as much weird history as we could, but we knew that in his heart he was a fiercely loyal and honourable cat. He was so much fun to write for and he had a huge impact on audiences.

"While we were making the second film, we asked ourselves, what would his life story be? Where did he get the boots? Where did he get that accent? Why does he talk like that? We built his life story, creating a small cat with a larger-than-life presence.

"After the Shrek franchise ended, DreamWorks decided to make a movie with Puss in Boots as the star.

"In this film he is a notorious fighter, lover and outlaw and - of course - he is voiced by Banderas. It was obvious he needed a suitable companion, and we created the street-smart Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), who joined the cast.

"There's the mastermind, Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis), who is threatened by notorious outlaws Jack and Jill (Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris), who are planning a heist. Puss and Kitty get onto their case and that's where the adventure begins."

•  Puss in Boots opens on December 2.