Shrek/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Shrek

  • Adaptation Displacement: You probably won't find a lot of people who have even heard of Shrek! by Willaim Steig. So much was added to this little story that about the only thing it and the movies have in common is... a grumpy ogre named Shrek, a donkey, and an "ugly" princess.
  • Non Sequitur Scene: Monsueir Hood's appearance in the original movie.
  • Ensemble Darkhorse: The Gingerbread Man.
  • First Installment Wins: The first film is considered by fans as the best due to the satirical tone and simpler plot.
  • Fountain of Memes: Since the 2010s, the franchise as a whole has generated tons of memes.
  • Fridge Brilliance: Farquaad chose Shrek's swamp for his Fantastic Ghetto because he knew there was an ogre there and decided it's easier to move every other fairy tale creature to his place rather than taking pains to move him anywhere else.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: One of the first things Shrek said to Fiona was "You were expecting Prince Charming?" And then...
  • Moral Event Horizon: Lord Farquaad is mostly a pompous asshole with a mean streak for most of the first movie, but he really crosses the line during the film's climax when he sees Fiona's ogre form. He freaks out and orders for Fiona to be dragged back to her tower and locked up for life while having his knights Haul off Shrek to be executed via getting drawn and quartered. Thankfully, he gets his when Dragon crashes in and devours him.
  • Nightmare Fuel: Shrek's roar. Video here.
  • The Problem with Licensed Games: Many of the games based on Shrek franchise aren't exactly critically acclaimed.
  • Seinfeld Is Unfunny: When the first Shrek movie came out, it was considered a witty and refreshing break from the then-formulaic Disney Animated Canon fare, and it put Dreamworks Animation on the map. Nowadays Shrek's often blamed for killing traditional animated films and starting a trend of rather mediocre CGI fims overly reliant on Anachronism Stew and Getting Crap Past the Radar. It didn't help that Dreamworks would not only give Shrek four sequels, but rehash the formula for most of their other films until they Grew the Beard with Kung Fu Panda.
    • And after Dreamworks themselves grew the beard, other studios followed suit - instead of making Shrek ripoffs, they themselves started more frequently producing original and well-liked CGI movies.
  • Signature Song: "All Star".
  • Woolseyism: The Polish version is arguably funnier than the original, at least to Poles.
    • Same applies to the Hungarian version (and every other localization, I'm inclined to believe), with an extremely clever choice of voice actors and well-adapted cultural references.
    • Banderas does the Spanish version too - with an Andalusian accent.
      • That, however, doesn't prevent the Latin American localization from largely being a subversion, as it sports heavy Mexican accents, idioms, and at times jokes a little too localized, which made the movies right down unbearable for many of the non-Mexicans (arguably most of the targeted audience)...
        • The same problem occurred with the French version; while very well-localized for the French, it was considered incomprehensible by people in Quebec and even some parts of France (to the point that one Québécois politician attempted to pass a bill requiring Quebec French dubbing for all movies after seeing Shrek the Third in French).
    • The Hebrew version is god-awful. But, then again, the only thing that's better in Hebrew is Crime and Punishment, and that's because they replaced Crime with Sin.
    • The Dutch version was also pretty good with the Woolseyism. Whether the original is better than the translation is subjective, though.
    • The Austrian version had a different voice Actor for the Fairy Godmother than the German version.

Shrek the Musical

  • And the Fandom Rejoiced: "A musical of Shrek? Oh c'mon! Haven't they milked the franchise enou-- wait, what? John Tartaglia's in it? As a puppet?! Where're they selling tickets?!"
    • Same goes for the new and vastly improved Dragon puppet created for the tour.
  • Crack Pairing: Quite a few. And within the actual show no less!
    • In earlier performances, the White Rabbit and the (female) Ugly Duckling were frequently seen together; in the finale, he'd propose to her.
    • Even Pinocchio and the Shoemaker's Elf - and the Sugar Plum Fairy and Tweedle Dum later - were sometimes given Last Minute Hookups.
    • Later, in one of the promotional materials, it was revealed that Gingy has a crush on the Elf.
  • Crowning Music of Awesome: "Who I'd Be", the "Defying Gravity" of Shrek.
  • Ensemble Darkhorse: Pinocchio. The mere fact that he was originally played by John Tartaglia may or may not have a lot to do with it.
  • Ear Worm: "I think I got you beat, I think I got you beat! Yea-ah! Yea-ah! Yea-ah!"
    • "Sing a song, yes a travel song, when ya' gotta go somewhere~"
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: It wasn't until a friend pointed it out that John Tartaglia, who has been a puppeteer most of his life, realized and appreciate the irony of playing Pinocchio, a literal puppet character.
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks: The initial reaction to the song "Donkey Pot Pie" being replaced with "Forever." This has died down since then.