Though DreamWorks treated it like a green-skinned black sheep throughout its decade-long development — so much so that animators considered working on it a punishment — the Shrek franchise quickly became beloved by families everywhere when the first movie debuted in 2001. While Disney filled people’s heads with fairy-tale definitions of love and hope in movies like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, Shrek was easily seen as the edgier adult fairy-tale cousin. It featured profanity and fart jokes, and instead of the graceful animal companion typical of Disney films, it had an annoying talking donkey voiced by Eddie Murphy.
A totally different vibe, which quickly made Shrek a pop culture icon that felt cooler to talk — and meme — about. Hell, it even got a Broadway adaptation, which, if you ask us, is the epitome of cool. Shrek became a household name by parodying Disney’s whimsical stories and exploring themes such as friendship and family.
Now, 26 years later, the idea that it may have become the very thing it swore to mock has Shrekiciandos worried that Shrek 5 could be nothing more than a soulless cash grab. From the very beginning, Shrek has always had something to say. Later on in the run… Who could forget the original Shrek’s iconic, backhanded opening?
A storybook flips open, revealing a fairy-tale as choral music swells in the background. It’s a picture-perfect opening for your average Disney movie. That is, until seconds later, a gigantic hand rips the page out, and we hear a toilet flush as Shrek, in all his green glory, appears from the outhouse outside his home.
Throughout most of Disney’s earlier movies, true love was simple: A woman meets a man, she's in extreme distress because she’s oh so hopeless, and he inevitably rescues her. They fall in love, and there’s marriage and kids for everyone. The man and woman were almost always thin, able-bodied, and ethereally beautiful.
If you were fat, had a big nose, or just weren’t conventionally attractive, then your only hope was to be maternal enough to be the fairy grandmother. You’re evil, and you have to like it. Shrek, however, dared to get creative, asking several controversial questions throughout the film: What if ugly people fell in love?
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