Dragon | |
---|---|
Shrek character | |
First appearance | Shrek! (1990 book) Shrek (2001 film) |
Created by | William Steig |
Adapted by | Ted Elliott Terry Rossio Joe Stillman Roger S. H. Schulman |
Voiced by | Frank Welker |
In-universe information | |
Species | Dragon |
Gender | Female |
Weapon | Fire breath |
Spouse | Donkey |
Children | Dronkeys |
Dragon is a fictional character from the Shrek franchise, who is initially believed to be a fearsome villain guarding Princess Fiona. In a twist, she is revealed to be female and in search of love. While she is abandoned during Shrek's escape, she later becomes his ally and the wife of his sidekick, Donkey, helping defeat the evil Lord Farquaad by eating him whole. She has since appeared in every series film in some regard, with a parallel universe version becoming a villain in Shrek Forever After . Also appearing in spin-offs, she is commonly seen as a puppet in stage adaptations of the series such as Shrek the Musical .
Dragon has gained significant recognition in popular culture and has been recognized as a satirical portrayal of animated Disney dragons. Critics have lauded Dragon's appearance and character, particularly highlighting her compassionate and heroic qualities, which offer a feminist reimagining of the traditional narrative where a male knight slays a dragon to save a princess. This unique twist has been well-received by audiences and has contributed to Dragon's positive reception among critics.
Dragon resembles most classical interpretations of European dragons. She has keeled, ruby-colored scales, leathery bat-like wings, long, crested ears, bony spikes along her jawline, a row of dorsal spines, vertical slit pupils, and a long, spade-tipped, prehensile tail. Dragon does not speak, but does employ physically expressive body language to communicate. Like her mate Donkey, she is never given a proper name in the films – in a passing line, Donkey refers to her as "Elizabeth", leading it to often be seen as her name by fans, but this may just be a gag. [1]
Dragon's personality is tender-hearted, despite having so few visitors that she incinerates any apparent knights sight-unseen. Similarly lonely as Princess Fiona, she regularly puts on lipstick in the hopes of finding a romantic partner. [2]
The animators of Shrek initially had Dragon breathe realistic fire for the film's rescue scene, similar to that used in torches and candles, but realized it looked unnaturally forced. Instead, they replaced it with a stream of roiling bubbles rendered with fluid technology, which was then coated with a skin of flame. [3]
Dragon has the task of guarding Princess Fiona in her isolated castle. While Shrek attempts to rescue the princess, Donkey finds himself at the mercy of Dragon. Upon learning that his captor is female, Donkey begins spouting flattery in order to distract her. Dragon becomes infatuated with him, despite the fact that her love is unrequited. As a result, she picks him up in her teeth and carries him to her chambers, where she wraps him in her tail and flirts with him. Shrek soon comes back to "save his ass" (a pun referring to Donkey), and the trio escape from Dragon's castle, leaving a chained and miserable dragoness in their wake. Dragon is not seen again until later in the film, having escaped and abandoned Fiona's volcanic keep. She and Donkey make amends, and aid Shrek in his quest to save Fiona from her marriage to Lord Farquaad. Dragon disposes of Farquaad by swallowing him. Dragon soon grabs the bouquet of flowers Fiona tosses at her and Shrek's marriage and presents them to Donkey. Donkey smiles lovingly, and the two nuzzle and also become wed.
Dragon is absent for much of Shrek 2 , but becomes one of Shrek's best friends prior to its events. Donkey claims at the film's beginning that she had been "all moody and stuff" recently, explaining his unannounced arrival at Shrek's swamp. Nevertheless, Dragon makes a full appearance in a post-credits scene, in which she arrives with six young "dronkeys" - dragon-donkey hybrids that meet their clueless father for the first time.
In Shrek the Third , Dragon and her young dronkeys stay behind with Fiona and the other "princess" characters to await Shrek's return. When Prince Charming attacks Far Far Away, Dragon is captured and disarmed by a large iron chain cast net; her dronkey offspring are caught and imprisoned, as well. At the film's climax, Dragon helps dispose of Prince Charming by knocking over a stone stage prop keep on top of him. She is later seen in Shrek's swamp while Shrek and Fiona are caring for their ogre triplets.
In the series' fourth film, Shrek Forever After, Dragon appears briefly at the beginning of the film, but reappears later in a parallel universe where she never met Donkey, having been captured by Rumpelstiltskin. She attempts to eat Shrek and Fiona, and despite Donkey's attempts at romance, almost devours him before he is saved by Puss in Boots. The parallel Dragon ends up muzzled and bound in chains after being stopped by Shrek and Fiona, fading out of existence as the real world is restored. She is shown to be back to her normal self in the film's finale.
Dragon helps Shrek and Donkey evade a statue of a dragon that had been brought to life. Dragon attempts to battle the creature, and succeeds, luring it into a narrow tunnel where its wings are scraped off while Dragon folds her wings against her body while traveling through it, subsequently torching Farquaad's ghost.
Dragon appeared in the stage musical adaptation of the film, which ran on Broadway from 2008 to 2010, as a puppet controlled by John Tartaglia. [4]
In a contemporaneous review of Shrek, Roger Ebert called the revelation about Dragon something "no one could have guessed". [5] Petrana Radulovic of Polygon called Dragon "sexy" and a pop-culture icon, saying that the plot twist was "revolutionary" and that she "definitely should've been featured in more movies". [1]
While initially seeming like a villainess, and therefore more similar to dragon characters like Beowulf's dragon and Smaug, Dragon was instead noted as being a satire of Disney dragons, like those featured in The Reluctant Dragon (1941), Sleeping Beauty (1959), and Pete's Dragon (1977), and one of numerous Disney figures parodied in the series. While the romance between Dragon and Donkey is "kinky", it serves the purpose to distract from the even more shocking intermarriage of human and ogre. Despite this, the interspecies romance and ensuing family is only "permitted" due to the fact that it is between non-humans. [6] The relationship was called a visual realization of the film's moral message that appearances are not important, but at the same time, seemingly impossible due to the difference in size. [7]
Dragon's femininity was noted as a "major departure" from typical fairy tale gender roles, in which most dragons are either masculine or gender-neutral. While Grendel's mother in Beowulf is one of the most prominent examples of a female monster in folklore, her gender is not relevant to the plot. [8] Dragon has been seen as reminiscent of ancient goddess figures, who commonly take the form of a dragon or serpent, such as those of Sumerian myth. As patriarchal social structures were established, the goddesses, once thought as symbols of wisdom and life, were called monsters and emblems of evil, giving rise to the trope of a knight slaying a dragon. However, in feminist thought, dragons can also be understood as the maiden's double, representing their autonomy, with the knight slaying the dragon to make the maiden his servant or wife. In Shrek, the patriarchal dragon slaying trope is "gloriously" reversed, with Dragon ultimately intervening to bring about the happy ending. [9]
Shrek 2 is a 2004 American animated fantasy comedy film loosely based on the 1990 children's picture book Shrek! by William Steig. Directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, and Conrad Vernon from a screenplay by Adamson, Joe Stillman, and the writing team of J. David Stem and David N. Weiss, it is the sequel to Shrek (2001) and the second installment in the Shrek film series. The film stars Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz, who reprise their respective voice roles of Shrek, Donkey, and Princess Fiona. They are joined by new characters voiced by Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Rupert Everett, and Jennifer Saunders. Shrek 2 takes place following the events of the first film, with Shrek and Donkey meeting Fiona's parents as the zealous Fairy Godmother, who wants Fiona to marry her son Prince Charming, plots to destroy Shrek and Fiona's marriage. Shrek and Donkey team up with a sword-wielding cat named Puss in Boots to foil her plans.
Shrek the Third is a 2007 American animated fantasy comedy film loosely based on the 1990 children's picture book Shrek! by William Steig. Directed by Chris Miller and co-directed by Raman Hui from a screenplay by Jeffrey Price, Peter S. Seaman, Miller, and producer Aron Warner, and a story conceived by Andrew Adamson, co-director of the previous two installments, it is the sequel to Shrek 2 (2004) and is the third installment in the Shrek film series. The film features Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Rupert Everett, Julie Andrews, and John Cleese reprising their voice roles from the previous films, along with new additions Justin Timberlake as Arthur Pendragon and Eric Idle as Merlin. In the film, Prince Charming is plotting to overthrow Shrek and Fiona, who have inherited the throne following King Harold's death. Shrek has no interest in ruling the kingdom and attempts to convince Fiona's underachieving 16-year-old cousin Artie to reign instead.
Princess and dragon is an archetypical premise common to many legends, fairy tales, and chivalric romances. Northrop Frye identified it as a central form of the quest romance.
Donkey is a fictional character created by William Steig and adapted by DreamWorks Animation for the Shrek franchise. He is voiced primarily by Eddie Murphy. Donkey is an anthropomorphic donkey and his appearance is modeled after a miniature donkey named Perry. He is depicted with grey fur, brown eyes, and a black mane. In the franchise, he is the sidekick and best friend of Shrek, husband to Dragon, and father to a litter of Dronkeys (Dragon-Donkeys). As the series' comic relief character, Donkey is well-regarded by critics for his wit, wisdom, and humor.
Princess Fiona is a fictional character in DreamWorks' Shrek franchise, first appearing in the 1990 book Shrek! as the magnificent princess and subsequently in the animated film adaption of the same name as Princess Fiona. One of the film series' main characters, Fiona is introduced as a beautiful princess placed under a curse that transforms her into an ogress at night. She is initially determined to break the enchantment by kissing a prince, only to meet and fall in love with Shrek, an ogre, instead. The character's origins and relationships with other characters are further explored in subsequent films; she introduces her new husband Shrek to her parents in Shrek 2 (2004), becomes a mother by Shrek the Third (2007), and is an empowered warrior in Shrek Forever After (2010), much of which takes place in an alternate reality in which Fiona and Shrek never meet.
Shrek 4-D is an animated 4D film based on the Shrek franchise created by DreamWorks Animation, itself based on the book by William Steig. It also is a 4D simulator ride attraction with motion-based effects and water sprayers located at various theme parks around the world. It is currently shown at Universal Destinations & Experiences in Japan, Singapore, and previously in Universal Studios Florida and Hollywood, where it closed on August 14, 2017, in Hollywood to make way for the DreamWorks Theatre attraction while the one in Orlando closed on January 10, 2022 and was replaced by Illumination's Villain-Con Minion Blast. Outside the Universal parks, the movie was shown at Movie Park Germany in Germany from May 2008 until July 2011, and Warner Bros. Movie World in Australia from September 2005 until August 2010. A spin-off attraction titled Donkey's Photo Finish is located at the Florida venue while Meet Shrek and Donkey is located at the Hollywood venue. In Universal Studios Japan, the attraction is shown in the same theater as Sesame Street 4-D Movie Magic, with the Shrek 4-D film shown for the first 12 hours of the day, and the Sesame Street film shown for the next 12 hours of the day.
Shrek SuperSlam is a fighting video game featuring characters from the Shrek film series. It was developed by Shaba Games, published by Activision and released in the fall of 2005 for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance, with a Microsoft Windows port following shortly after. Up to four players can participate in battle using various characters from the first two Shrek films, along with some original characters like Luna the witch, the Black Knight, Quasimodo, and Humpty Dumpty.
Shrek! is a fantasy comedy picture book published in 1990. Written and illustrated by American book writer and cartoonist William Steig, it is about a repugnant green monster who leaves home to see the world and ends up marrying an ugly princess. The book was generally well received upon publication, with critics praising the illustrations, originality, and writing. Critics have also described Shrek as an antihero and noted the book's themes of satisfaction and self-esteem. The book served as the basis for the first Shrek film.
Shrek is a fictional ogre character created by American author William Steig. Shrek is the protagonist of the book of the same name, a series of films by DreamWorks Animation, as well as a musical. The name "Shrek" is a romanization of the Yiddish word שרעק, or שרעקלעך, related to the German Schreck and meaning "fear" or "fright". In the films, Shrek was voiced by Mike Myers, and in the musical, he was played principally by Brian d'Arcy James.
The Fairy Godmother is a fictional character in DreamWorks Animation's Shrek franchise, voiced by actress Jennifer Saunders. Introduced as the main antagonist of Shrek 2, the Fairy Godmother is the mother of Prince Charming, who Princess Fiona was originally intended to wed prior to meeting Shrek. Believing that ogres should not live happily ever after, she plots against newlyweds Shrek and Fiona's relationship, using her magic and potions in an attempt to trick Fiona into falling in love with her son. Fairy Godmother is loosely based on the stock fairy godmother character in fairy tales, specifically "Cinderella" and "Sleeping Beauty", serving as a parody of the common trope.
The Magic Sword is a 1962 American adventure fantasy film directed by Bert I. Gordon that is loosely based on the medieval legend of Saint George and the Dragon.
Shrek is an American media franchise created by DreamWorks Animation, 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. It includes four animated films: Shrek (2001), Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek the Third (2007), and Shrek Forever After (2010). A short 4-D film, Shrek 4-D, which originally was a theme park ride, was released in 2003. Two television specials, the Christmas television special Shrek the Halls (2007) and the Halloween television special Scared Shrekless (2010), have also been produced. Two spin-off films were made centered around the character Puss in Boots: 2011's Puss in Boots and its sequel, 2022's The Last Wish. Additionally, a stage musical adaptation was made and premiered at Broadway for more than a year (2008–2010).
Shrek the Halls is an American animated Christmas comedy television special that premiered on the American television network ABC on November 28, 2007. The thirty minute Christmas special was co-written and directed by Gary Trousdale and produced by DreamWorks Animation. Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and Antonio Banderas reprise their roles from the feature films. This Christmas special takes place between Shrek the Third and Shrek Forever After. It grossed $16 million in home sales.
The Seven Dwarfs are a group of seven fictional dwarfs that appear in the 1812 fairy tale Snow White by the Brothers Grimm and other renditions and adaptations.
Shrek the Musical is a musical with music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire. It is based on the 2001 DreamWorks Animation film Shrek, along with elements of its sequels: Shrek 2, Shrek Forever After and William Steig's 1990 book Shrek!. After a trial run in Seattle, the original Broadway production opened in December 2008 and closed after a run of over 12 months in January 2010. It was followed by a tour of the United States which opened in 2010, and a re-vamped West End production from June 2011 to February 2013.
Shrek is a 2001 American animated fantasy comedy film loosely based on the 1990 children's picture book of the same name by William Steig. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson and written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S. H. Schulman, it is the first installment in the Shrek film series. The film stars Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow. In the film, an embittered ogre named Shrek (Myers) finds his home in the swamp overrun by fairy tale creatures banished by the obsessive ruler Lord Farquaad (Lithgow). With the help of Donkey (Murphy), Shrek makes a pact with Farquaad to rescue Princess Fiona (Diaz) in exchange for regaining control of his swamp.
Lord Maximus Farquaad is the main antagonist of the 2001 animated feature film Shrek, as well as Shrek 4-D and the musical. He is voiced by John Lithgow. He does not appear in William Steig's original picture book of the same name.
Scared Shrekless is a 26-minute computer-animated Halloween horror comedy television special, set shortly after the events of Shrek Forever After, that premiered on the American television network NBC on October 28, 2010. Scared Shrekless was based on the children's book Shrek!, by the writer William Steig, which was published on October 17, 1990.
Shrek Forever After is a 2010 American animated fantasy comedy film loosely based on the 1990 children's picture book Shrek! by William Steig. Directed by Mike Mitchell and written by Josh Klausner and Darren Lemke, it is the sequel to Shrek the Third (2007) and the fourth installment in the Shrek film series. The film stars Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, and John Cleese reprising their voice roles from the previous films, with Walt Dohrn joining the cast. The plot follows Shrek who struggles with the responsibilities and stress of being a domesticated family man, yearning for the days he was once feared and lived in solitude. He is tricked by Rumpelstiltskin into signing a contract that leads to disastrous consequences.
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