Loosely based on William Steig's 1990 picture book Shrek!, the series primarily focuses on Shrek, a bad-tempered but good-hearted ogre, who begrudgingly accepts a quest to rescue a princess, resulting in him finding friends and going on many subsequent adventures in a fairy tale world.
Shrek, a solitary ogre, is angered when fairy tale creatures are sent to live in his swamp ordered by Lord Farquaad.
Once Shrek and Fiona return from their honeymoon, they find Donkey in the swamp who tells them he and Dragon are going through a rough patch.
At the end of the film, King Harold reverts to a frog after being struck with the Fairy Godmother's magic, and gives Shrek and Fiona his blessing.
Longing for the days when he felt like a "real ogre", Shrek is tricked into signing a pact with the smooth-talking dealmaker Rumpelstiltskin.
Shrek, unable to win Fiona's affection, turns himself in and offers to trade his life to free the captured ogres.
As the twenty-four hours are almost up and Shrek lies dying, Fiona kisses him, breaking the deal and reverting everything back to normal.
After finding himself back at his triplets' birthday party where he previously lost his temper and stormed out, Shrek joyfully reunites with his family and friends realizing he has everything he ever wanted.
The film is based on and follows the character Puss in Boots on his adventures with Kitty Softpaws and mastermind Humpty Dumpty.
[2] In November 2012, executive producer Guillermo del Toro said that a couple of drafts for a sequel were already done, and that the director Chris Miller wanted to take Puss on an adventure to exotic places.
[6] In March 2021, Joel Crawford replaced Persichetti as director, having previously helmed DreamWorks' The Croods: A New Age.
[23] On November 6, 2018, it was reported by Variety that Chris Meledandri had been tasked to be the executive producer of both Shrek 5 and Puss in Boots 2, with the cast of the previous films potentially returning.
[24][25] In April 2023, Meledandri revealed that a fifth film was still in talks with Murphy, Mike Myers, and Cameron Diaz expected to return.
[31] In June 2024, Eddie Murphy announced that the project was officially greenlit by DreamWorks, and stated that it would begin production following the completion of Shrek 5.
Most of the voice cast from the film reprise their roles, with the exception of Eddie Murphy, who is replaced by Mark Moseley as Donkey.
Other characters such as Gingy, Pinocchio, the Three Little Pigs, Cookie, the Ogre Triplets, the Dronkeys, and Pied Piper appear.
[37] It was released on DVD[38] and Blu-ray[39] on August 28, 2012, as a part of Shrek's Thrilling Tales (DreamWorks Spooky Stories).
Deceased characters such as Lord Farquaad, Mongo, Rumpelstiltskin, Fifi, Fairy Godmother, Prince Charming and King Harold in his frog form appear as zombies.
[43] It was released on DVD[38] and Blu-ray[39] on August 28, 2012, as a part of Shrek's Thrilling Tales (DreamWorks Spooky Stories).
The Three Little Pigs find themselves in trouble when they ignore the warning signs of a new neighbor moving in next door who takes on a ferocious form during a full moon.
[44] The short tells a story of Puss in Boots on a mission to recover a princess's stolen ruby from the notorious French thief, the Whisperer.
[46] Far Far Away Idol is an interactive five-minute short (but with multiple endings), released on November 5, 2004 as an extra on the Shrek 2 DVD and VHS.
Shrek challenges Donkey, Puss in Boots, and his other fairy tale friends to spend the night in Lord Farquaad's haunted castle, telling scary stories to see who can resist becoming scared and stay the longest.
It is Netflix's first attempt at interactive television: during the program, the viewer is given points while using their remote control or other device to decide how the narrative should proceed.
[48][49] Peacock Kids YouTube channel (formerly known as DreamWorksTV) during 2014–2016 produced several web-series New Shrek, New Puss in Boots, Swamp Talk.
[50][51] Despite the advances in computing power over the 2000s decade, the increasing usage of novel techniques like global illumination, physics simulation, and 3D demanded ever more CPU hours to render the films.
[52] Puss in Boots, which was released only one year after the previous Shrek film, utilized 63 million render hours.
[92] The title role was played by Brian d'Arcy James on Broadway, and Nigel Lindsay on the West End.
[96] Far Far Away is one of the seven themed lands in Universal Studios Singapore, and it consists of many locations from the Shrek franchise, including the forty-meter-tall Far Far Away Castle.
[105][106] Since 2014, Madison, Wisconsin has celebrated the annual Shrekfest with costume and onion-eating contests, themed merchandise, and other festivities.