After the success of Toy Story, Dreamworks Animation decided to follow suit and move from 2D to 3D animation and the result was the start of their biggest franchise, the Shrek franchise. The series has seen four films and one spin-off, with a Puss in Boots sequel in development for next year too. The longevity of the series is thanks to the characters, and how memorable they are.
Shrek is a story based on a fairy tale, and as a result, the world the characters inhabit is all part of fairy tale creatures, such as Dragons, Pinocchio, Fairy Godmother’s, the Three Blind Mice and a whole lot more. Shrek, as a character, is the “hero” of the world that these other creatures inhabit. I use the word loosely as the first film emphasises the fact that he is no Prince Charming and no hero, he’s just an ogre who wants to live day by day on his swamp.
Over the course of the first film, Shrek bumps into a talking Donkey and a Princess who turns into an ogre during the night. The characters are highly entertaining and very original in how they’re portrayed. They don’t fall into any stereotypes or typical hero tropes, which is fun as it makes the film much more unpredictable. In the second film, we are introduced to Puss in Boots, who is more of an anti-hero than anything else, as he has some bad qualities. This is also explored in his own film, Puss in Boots.
The villains of the films are all different versions of their fairy tale counterparts. The Fairy Godmother in the second film is usually a serene motherly figure, but in this version, she is a manipulative mother and a conniving villain. In the first film, Lord Farquaad is just trying to get a Princess, with no other sinister motives apart from the fact he’s not a nice guy. By bucking traditional storylines the Shrek villains aren’t after power or money, they’re after their own selfish needs. Apart from Humpty Dumpty in Puss in Boots, he wanted golden eggs so I guess that counts as money.
So in a traditional sense, the Shrek gang and the bad guys they go against aren’t exactly your average group of heroes and villains. They’re just flawed characters pitted against each other with extraordinary circumstances stopping them from being themselves, whether that’s turning into human creatures, reversing time to stop meeting their loved ones, or just meeting their in-laws. These human stories do feel magical and have left an impact on everything that has come after.
Thanks for reading today’s blog!
Alex Murray, the Head of Eyesight Productions
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