saw fanart yesterday that i was ehh on

but it brought me to the conclusion that, if shrek was a lesbian, if shrek was a woman, i think she would be exactly the same as canon movie shrek, actually, and in fact. to the point, she would be so indistinguishable, that i can no longer be convinced that canon movie shrek isnt a he/him lesbian, and im excited to rewatch all the movies through the lens of percieving shrek this way. i think it will be based. excited.

Why it Worked: Shrek

Intro: Shrek is a 3D animated film directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, produced by Jeffery Katzenberg, Aron Warner and John H. Williams and written by Ted Elliot, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S. H. Schulman. Based on the 1990 children’s book of the same name by William Steig, the film is about a green ogre tasked to rescue a princess with his donkey companion. The film stars Mike Myers as the title character, Eddie Murphy as Donkey (yes, that’s his name), Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona and John Lithgow as Lord Farquaad. First screened at the Mann Village Theatre on April 22, 2001 before official being released on May 18 of that year, the film was a financial success earning a worldwide total of $484 million dollars on a budget of just $60 million. The film was met with critical acclaim with an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes (177 out of 201 critics giving an average score of 7.8/10) a 7.9/10 on IMDb and an 84% on Metacritic (based on 34 critics). The film won the first ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, beating Disney/Pixar’s Monster’s Inc. and Nickelodeon Movie’s Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius respectively. It went on to spawn 3 sequels (with a fourth in development as of this post), a spin-off and tv show centered on it’s direct sequel’s standout character, Puss in Boots, a musical on Broadway (yes, really), a 3 issue mini-series written by Mark Evanier for Dark Horse Comics, and a slew of video games. Oh and also memes...lots and lots of memes. 18 years after becoming a juggernaut of a franchise, it makes one wonder how the film holds up today. Was this film truly lightning in a bottle? Well let’s look into that in detail, shall we?

The Plot: Shrek begins with the reading of a fairy tale in a storybook, in the same vain some of the early Disney movies (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Sleeping Beauty, etc.). On the second to last page, our title character then rips the page out, laughs at the idea of a happy ending and proceeds to wipe his backside with it. This is immediately followed with the iconic pop tune, All Star by Smash Mouth, and the film just kicks off from there. The way the film is presented is in the style of a parody, specifically on Disney’s classic adaptations of fairy tales. It tells the age old “rescue the damsel in distress” plot and flip it on it’s head and it just keeps going. It wastes no time to subvert the most obvious cliches as well as taking notable pot shots at the Mouse House. In one of the film’s most memorable scenes, Robin Hood and his Merry Men snag Fiona from Shrek and Donkey thinking she was captured by the accused “beast.” Whilst in song, Robin Hood is about to stab Shrek when Fiona kicks him in the face, knocking him out like a light. She then proceeds to beat the living tar out of the Merry Men before our heroes can continue on their way.  The scene goes against the stereotype that the “damsel in distress” has to watch idly by as our hero saves her and that’s all for the better. You see, here’s the thing about damsels in distress: while it’s nice that the hero saves them, it becomes frustrating when it’s always the hero that has to save them. This is all the more refreshing when we see Fiona save Shrek instead of the other way around.

The Characters: The characters in this film are not just funny in their own right, but they’re actually well developed throughout the film. Starting with the big green guy himself, at the start of the movie he’s very territorial and protective of his privacy. As we learn later in the film, the reason why he’s like that is because people didn’t give him a chance to show he’s really a nice guy deep down. This makes Shrek relatable and helps the audience understand where he’s coming from. Donkey, meanwhile plays the role of the comical sidekick (much to Shrek’s annoyance) and while he’s a funny character, it’s ultimately him that brings the film together (Robobuddies does an excellent analysis here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_VIK6qeFcg). Fiona has starts out as a princess waiting for her true love, playing the role of the optimistic damsel in distress to a tea. Once she realizes that this isn’t the fairy tale she had in mind, she starts showing her true self: a spunky, funny and fierce woman who shares alot in common with Shrek. Especially the fact that she’s an ogre, as revealed later in the film. Then we have Lord Farquaad, the malicious dictator who puts all the fairy tale creatures in their place and mounts himself as the big boss (despite being 4 feet tall). Farquaad only wants perfection in his kingdom, where only humans live evidently. By the end of the movie, due to his massive ego and lust for power, he ends up being eaten alive at his wedding to Fiona. Lastly, the supporting characters all leave a lasting impression with their well timed jokes and memorable interactions with our heroes. You got the Gingerbread Man, the Dragon, the 3 Blind Mice, and of course Robin Hood and his Merry Men. The film makes elegant use if these characters as brief as their appearances may be.

Let’s Talk Animation: It’s hard to believe this was made in 2001. Let me provide you with some context. At the time of the film’s release, only 4 other animated films were computer animated (Toy Story, Antz, A Bug’s Life, and Toy Story 2 in that order), so it was still a relatively new medium. And yet, DreamWorks Animation utilized the medium to it’s full advantage at the time and the result still holds up to this day. The design of the characters have this distinct look that make them appear quesdo-realistic. They still maintain their animated appearance, yet the smoothness of the textures make them stand out from its competition. Shrek, for example, feels like a real character with his skin having a smooth and soft appearance. His clothes also feel like they’re made of real fabric and when he moves it feels natural, like how a character like him would and should move. The hair physics should also be commended as each strand of hair on Fiona and Farquaad’s heads move in rhythm as real hair does. There’s also the accomplishment in making all the environmental elements realistic and lifelike: dust, water, grass, wood, stone, metal, fabric and so much more. The animation of this film is unlike anything that was made in the past and animation studios took note on how to improve their craft from this film (and yes, even Disney).

Music: This film incorporates pop songs into its soundtrack, particularly from Smash Mouth. The opening, All Star, kicks the film off with a catchy tune as Shrek goes about his daily routine. The song itself is a such a jam to listen to with the lyrics and melody sticking with you long after you’ve heard it once. John Cale’s rendition of Hallelujah is used to great affect during the down time of the film, bring out the sadness our characters feel with it’s simple yet powerful piano play and the dowerness in the tone of Cale’s singing. Then there’s the closing number, I’m a Believer (Smash Mouth’s pop cover of the 1966 song by The Monkees). This song caps of the film with a big dance party at Shrek and Fiona’s wedding, the characters rightfully celebrating the happy ending our two leads earned and the downfall of Farquaad. Lyrically the song fits with Shrek’s character as it shows he’s changed ever he met Fiona and now he believes in happy ever after. Joan Jett’s Bad Reputaion was expertly used in Shrek’s brawl at Duloc, with the hard rock brilliantly adding to the comedy of the scene. Lastly there’s the True Love’s First Kiss score by the film’s composer, Harry Gregson-Williams. This song is beautifully crafted with a choir just making it sound majestic and awe inspiring. It’s so good in fact it became the official theme for DreamWorks Animation from then on.

Where it Falters: The misunderstanding the characters have to go through, while narrativly is necessary, still could have been resolved if the characters were to just talk it out. The song, I’m On My Way by The Proclaimers, is by no means a bad song, it’s just not utilized as well as all the others. Lastly, this has been bugging me for 18 years: who’s in charge of Duloc now? After Farquaad got gobbled up, the kingdom was without a ruler. Did someone else take over? Did the kingdom fall apart? The films never addressed this question and it wouldn’t be so nagging if the fairy tale creatures didn’t come return to the subsequent sequels. Don’t they have their own homes to go back to?

Conclusion: It’s no secret that Shrek is a great film and it’s easy to see why. The story was well executed with clever and well thought out jokes, funny and well defined characters, realistic and expressive animation that still holds up today and brilliant uses of hit songs that add to the comedy and story. This film made set a new standard for animated films in the 2000s and to this day. While the Internet can have it’s fun making memes out of the big green guy, there’s no denying that life would be much different without Shrek. Thanks for reading, be sure to like, share and follow me and I’ll see you soon ;)