Look, we get it. Shrek is a meme machine. But when it came down to it, people went to the theaters to see what the friendly ogre had in store. And with the news that the upcoming Shrek 5 has hired Michael McCullers, a lead writer from the Austin Powers franchise, we can’t help but think about where Shrek and friends are going next. Because let’s be honest, whether you watched them all or not, the original Shrek was a gem.
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Now that that’s out of the way, let’s take a look at the reasons you should care about another sequel!
Are you excited for another Shrek film or is it time for the ogre to retire? Let us know in the comments.
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The characters don’t suffer the modern Dreamworks curse
The Bee Movie. Madagascar. Kung Fu Panda. What’s something all of these films have in common, aside from starring anthropomorphic creatures? All of the characters have the same dumb look on their faces.
But that’s not the problem. The characters in Shrek were weird takes on classic tropes. Shrek was a hero who literally lived in a swamp and didn’t care about anything. Though his hero’s journey developed him over the course of four films and you know, being all domestic, one could say he really didn’t care at much in the end either.
Donkey was smart, comedic relief, Fiona was a lead without the crutches of a male suitor (despite the love story fiddled into the saga). Pinocchio, Puss in Boots and the Gingerbread Man each stole the show every second they were on screen. And aside from How To Train Your Dragon, this Dreamworks series had the most depth out of all of its brothers and sisters. Sorry, but The Croods don’t hold a candle to Shrek and Co.
The adult humor (but also still for kids)
When the first Shrek was released in 2001, we were all a bit surprised. Based on a slightly twisted children’s book, this movie blended a classic fantasy romp with the tongue-in-cheek humor of the early aughts. Remember when Shrek got shot in the bum with an arrow and said ‘ass’? Us too, that was great. Maybe we don’t need to take it to the extreme like Sausage Party.
But it wasn’t overt, and it often contained callbacks to innuendo that only those of us with Saturday morning cartoons in the backs of our minds would realize. These films were enough for kids, but they were even more for the parents and adults that might not have been all that into the idea of watching an animated film in the first place. Here’s to you.
[H/T YouTube/Tino 2008]
The Soundtrack
Admit it. You can groove to some Smash Mouth.
We can lie to ourselves all we want, but Smash Mouth, along with the other artists on the collection of Shrek soundtracks, made the films that much more watchable. Music from David Bowie, Counting Crows, Baha Men and more perfectly encapsulated an audience the films didn’t realize they had.
I bet you didn’t know that the first film’s soundtrack was nominated for a Grammy. Yup.
Even the latter two films, which didn’t see as much critical success, had some bangers. Remember the scene in Shrek The Third where everyone is storming the castle while Wolfmother’s “Joker & The Thief” rattles in the background. I mean, come on.
[H/T YouTube/SmashMouthVEVO]
The star power, baby
Mike Myers is adventuring with Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and Antonio Banderas in a fairytale land and there’s no sign of The Love Guru. It was a different time then.
In addition to the former three, this series also starred Julie Andrews, John Lithgow, John Cleese, Justin Timberlake and Larry King. That’s a lot of talent, and it shows with just a few minutes of screentime.
[H/T YouTube/DreamWorksTV]
The series was helmed by the mastermind behind all of your favorite animated films
Producer Jeffrey Katzenberg is an animated film legend. At Paramount, he revived Star Trek. With Disney, he managed Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Aladdin, The Lion King and plenty more. Then he co-founded DreamWorks and brought us The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. All of this before heading up Shrek.
Honestly, he might subconsciously be why you cared about Shrek in the first place.
[H/T YouTube/Tue Nguyen]
Because, why not?
Yes, I did just take up some of your time defending the Shrek movie franchise, something rarely seen on the internet. But you know what, that’s OK. Shrek and Shrek 2 are classics, and while the latter two films in the franchise weren’t all that hot, we can only hope that there is an actual plan in place for the future. You do you Shrek, and we’ll be there.
Somebody once told me…
[H/T YouTube/Fangki Borres]
