A unique tribute to Dreamworks’ Shrek has disappeared — and like an onion, the mystery is proving to be layered. According to statements from the police in Hatfield, Massachusetts, a 200-pound cement statue of Shrek, the titular ogre character from the animated franchise, has been reported missing. The statue was previously positioned on the town’s Mountain Road, and has been regarded to be an “iconic” part of the community. The owner of the statue reportedly told the police that while the statue is worth roughly $500, it is “priceless” to him.
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“It’s not something that could be easily moved around,” a police spokesperson told Boston.com. “There are evident drag marks that he did not go willingly… The owner is devastated that he’s gone and would really like him to come back.”
Will there be a new Shrek movie?
Shrek recently made headlines in another way thanks to the recent release of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. That film dropped a major tease of Puss in Boots possibly reuniting with his “old friends” in the kingdom of Far Far Away, and although a fifth Shrek film has yet to officially be confirmed, fans are definitely excited for the possibility.
“I’ve been with this cat for almost 20 years,” Puss in Boots star Antonio Banderas explained in an interview late last year. “The first time I did Puss In Boots, I was working on Broadway, so I did my first session there. I’ve done five movies now. There is probably gonna be another, and Shrek is probably coming back.”
Why do people love Shrek?
As the franchise’s original director, Vicky Jenson, revealed to Comicbook.com in 2021, the accidental success of Shrek was nothing short of a surprise.
“It was sort of a parody of these kinds of movies, animated fairy tales, and the only one doing that at the time was Disney over the years,” Jenson explained. “The Disney model was still very reverential, and very aspirational, and inspirational and the musicals were composed for the movie, so you would never have this indie influence of existing songs dropped in for score, to set a mood. So no one, as far as I know, had done that in an animated movie and relied on that to hit the key emotional moments in the movie as a live action movie would. And then the tone, the reverential irreverent humor, was also a bit different. Not taking itself too seriously, but at the same time letting real feelings come through. Shrek used humor to keep everybody away, but he had a broken heart and when he revealed it to Donkey, you felt it. So yeah, finding the balance, it was trial and error. That’s the benefit of animation.”
What do you think of Hatfield, Massachusetts’ Shrek statue being stolen? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
