In the film, the Fairy Godmother is the mother of Prince Charming, who Princess Fiona was originally intended to wed prior to meeting Shrek.

Early drafts of the first film included a character named Dama Fortuna, a witch from whom Fiona receives the potion that modifies her enchantment, forcing her to alternate between her human and ogre forms on a nightly basis.

[3] Early storyboards for Shrek (2001) featured a witch named Dama Fortuna, a character originally intended to have been voiced by actress Linda Hunt.

[6] Having originally been born an ogre to human parents who lock her away, Fiona escapes her tower and seeks assistance from the elderly "gipsy-like" fortune teller Dama Fortuna.

[21] Saunders sang the "Fairy Godmother Song",[22][23] a scene that parodies Disney's animated film Beauty and the Beast (1991) by featuring dancing furniture.

During the sequence, Fairy Godmother sings while lying atop a grand piano, referencing Michelle Pfeiffer's sultry rendition of "Makin' Whoopee" in the film The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989).

[29] In terms of animation, Shrek 2 featured more human characters and complex costumes than its predecessor, among them the Fairy Godmother, who wears a floor-length one-piece gown.

[30] The final design was assembled using a combination of "an upper portion deformed by the character technical drawing and a lower section simulated by the clothing department".

[28] Writing for Variety, Todd McCarthy wrote that the character's appearance consists of "stylishly swept-back gray hair, glasses perched skeptically down her nose and constantly whirring wings keeping her airborne like a hummingbird".

[34] Likening her to a stage mother by "looking to advance her own child’s status, and thereby her own, through cut-throat methods", the author observed that the character "fulfills wishes as a business, with little heed to consequences.

[52] Hugh Hart of the San Francisco Chronicle believed Saunders had won most of the film's "big laughs",[53] while JoBlo.com's Berge Garabedian described her as a "nice rendition" of the classic character.

[54] Dan DeMaggio of Metro Times wrote that the character was "forever stealing the show", describing her as "a cross between a Mary Kay cosmetics saleswoman and Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate".

[56] Sympatico's Angela Baldassarre cited Fairy Godmother as an appealing character who "provide[s] the fodder needed to make this the must-see comedy of the season.

[58] Writing for Slate, film critic David Edelstein deemed Fairy Godmother a "remarkable creation, like the sugary/steely face of the modern Disney",[59] while the Deseret News' Jeff Vice observed that the character constantly steals the scene from Shrek and Fiona.

"[61] Writing for Game Rant, Victoria Rose Caister called the character a smart, fun villain who is "evil but also entertaining to watch and kind of likable.

"[63] Pete Vonder Haar of Film Threat observed that Saunders "seems to enjoy giving voice to the Fairy Godmother", preferring her over Charming.

[66] Also comparing Fairy Godmother to Saunders' Absolutely Fabulous character Edina Monsoon, The Guardian journalist Decca Aitkenhead described her as "an ambitious fag hag who bullies the royals as if they were her family in Ab Fab", believing that her performance, humor and delivery can only be rivaled by Eddie Murphy's Donkey.

[36] In a more negative review, the San Francisco Chronicle film critic Mick LaSalle found the character too distracting from Shrek and Fiona's storyline, continuing, "The filmmakers invest too much time and faith in the idea of the fairy godmother as being wickedly amusing, but she's no Cruella De Vil, and the movie suffers.

"[71] While reviewing Shrek Forever After (2010), Beth Patch of the Christian Broadcasting Network expressed gratitude that Fairy Godmother was "no longer part of the cast", having been replaced by Rumpelstiltskin as the film's villain.

[72] Screen Rant ranked Fairy Godmother the third best DreamWorks villain, with author Matthew Wilkson attributing her high placement to her deceptively kind nature.

[77] The Daily Edge ranked Fairy Godmother the seventh reason "we need to appreciate Shrek more than we already do", with author Rachel O'Neill describing the character as "a STUNNING villain" who is "constantly fixing all the problems the men in her life cause her".

[78] Bailey Rymes of Her Campus called Fairy Godmother the main reason she considers Shrek 2 the second best film in the series, describing her as an icon.

[81] At the 90th Academy Awards in 2018, several fans compared actress Meryl Streep's red gown, up-do hairstyle and glasses to Fairy Godtmother's on social media.