Fairy Godmother | |
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Shrek character | |
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First appearance | Shrek 2 (2004) |
Created by | Andrew Adamson |
Voiced by | Jennifer Saunders (film) Claudia Ann Christian (video games) Pinky Turzo (Thriller Night) |
In-universe information | |
Species | Fairy |
Gender | Female |
Occupation | Fairy godmother Businesswoman |
Family | Prince Charming (son) |
The Fairy Godmother [1] is a fictional character from 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 Shrek franchise is based on William Steig's children's book Shrek! , which mentions a witch who predicts that Shrek will meet a donkey and marry a princess uglier than himself. 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. Originally intended to reveal Fiona's backstory via prologue, the scene was discarded because it was deemed too depressing by test audiences. Wanting to incorporate some more fairy tale elements into the sequel, writer Ted Elliot reimagined the witch as Fiona's bigoted fairy godmother. Saunders recorded her role in four days and also provided her character's singing voice.
The Fairy Godmother has received mostly positive reviews from film critics, who appreciated her humor and villainy, as well as Saunders' performance, which some critics compared to her Absolutely Fabulous character Edina Monsoon. Saunders' performance earned her a People's Choice Award for Favorite Movie Villain.
Although loosely based on William Steig's children's book Shrek! , the Shrek franchise differs greatly from its source material, particularly pertaining to its main characters. [2] In Steig's story, a witch foretells that Shrek will marry a princess she describes as uglier in appearance than Shrek himself, prompting the ogre to pursue her. [3] The witch also predicts that Shrek will meet a donkey, who will play a prominent role throughout his journey. [3] Early storyboards for Shrek (2001) featured a witch named Dama Fortuna, a character originally intended to have been voiced by actress Linda Hunt. [4] The character was written for a sequence entitled "Fiona’s Prologue", [5] which was intended to depict Princess Fiona's backstory and disclose how she came to be imprisoned in the first place. [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. [6] In addition to teaching the princess about her past, [7] the witch is responsible for giving Fiona a potion that alters her curse, initially offering her a choice between two potions, one of which promises to turn Fiona beautiful once consumed, while the other guarantees Fiona's happy ever after. [6] After Fiona drinks the "Beauty" to find that she is still an ogre, Dama Fortuna explains that the potion allows her to become human during the daytime, only to revert to her ogre form each sunset until the spell is broken by true love's kiss. [6]
The prologue was ultimately discarded because test audiences deemed it too depressing, [6] prompting Hunt's departure. [4] While discussing potential ideas for a sequel, DreamWorks recalled that they had enjoyed incorporating traditional fairy tale concepts into the franchise, specifically a fairy godmother "who eventually turned out to be a bit of a trickster". [6] In May 2001, Ted Elliott, screenwriter of the first Shrek film, confirmed that a bigoted version of the Dama Fortuna character would be written into the sequel. [8] Thus, the idea of Dama Fortuna was resurrected, and Fiona's fairy godmother was conceived as a magical entity whose use of magic and potions do not always benefit Shrek and Fiona. [6] Thus, the character is considered to be a parody of traditional fairy godmother characters. [9]
When developing Shrek Forever After (2010), the filmmakers wanted the film's villain, Rumpelstiltskin, to be as different as possible from previous Shrek villains. [10] Compared to Fairy Godmother, Rumpelstiltskin was envisioned as a "ratty, childish, scummy man" to contrast with Fairy Godmother's eloquence as a businesswoman. [11] [12]
Fairy Godmother is voiced by English comedian and actress Jennifer Saunders. [13] [14] [15] The character was designed with Saunders in mind. [16] Saunders recorded her entire role in only four days over the course of one year. [17] The actress found working on an animated film to be liberating and found the experience to have several advantages as an actor, describing voice acting as a "perfect" career "because you get all these perks ... but you don't have to do any of that other, you know, filming ... no one's going to say, 'That movie didn't work because Jennifer Saunders' voice wasn't good'". [17] Saunders concluded that performing in Shrek 2 (2004) "has been one of my favourite jobs in the world", [17] additionally appreciating that critics and viewers were not able to judge her physical appearance. [18] Saunders recorded her dialogue solely opposite director Andrew Adamson, who temporarily fulfilled all other characters' roles during Saunders' sessions. [17] Saunders elaborated, "You feel that you've just done some stuff, and they then go away and pull it all apart and make this fantastic thing. Everyone in the cast has the same experience of the film ... It's like you haven't really been in it". [17] Decca Aitkenhead of The Guardian believes Saunders "must have been the obvious choice for the producers of Shrek 2, for this ambiguous sensibility is the very essence of the film - a Hollywood send-up of Hollywood". [17] At Saunders' request, the filmmakers allowed her to record a line of her character promising to return despite her death scene, as Saunders insisted that they would surely want to bring back Fairy Godmother in further installments, but the decision to kill off the character remained. [19]
Saunders provided all of her character's singing, [20] recording two songs for the film. [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. [24] Saunders also recorded a cover of Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero" (1984) for the film's soundtrack, [25] which her character performs towards the end of film. 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). [26] [27] As Saunders had recorded most of her part in isolation, it was not until the film's premiere at Cannes Film Festival that she met her castmates, including Antonio Banderas and Julie Andrews, who voiced Puss in Boots and Queen Lillian, respectively. [28] The Dallas Observer journalist Robert Wilonsky found it interesting that Saunders, as opposed to Andrews, received two songs in the film. [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". [30]
Christopher Fiduccia of Screen Rant believed Saunders closely resembled her character, describing their facial features as "pretty much identical". [31] Saunders described her character as "an attractive blonde with blue eyes, a tan and a nice smile". [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". [32] Michael O'Sullivan, writing for The Washington Post, described Fairy Godmother as "as far from the benign, Disney-fied wand-waver as possible". [33] Comparing the character to Sleeping Beauty 's Maleficent, Beliefnet described Fairy Godmother as villainous despite her "sweet and motherly" outward appearance. [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. She has her own ulterior motives and isn’t afraid to manipulate, threaten, or blackmail to reach her objectives". [34] The author concluded that the character can be used as "an example of the negative effects of forcing our own goals onto someone who trusts us. If we manipulate them for our own ends, we violate that sacred trust, and rob them of their ability to follow their own best path". [34]
Josh Larsen of the Chicago Suburbs News wrote that the character behaves "like a magically powered plastic surgeon". [35] The character's bubble motif references Glinda the Good Witch from The Wizard of Oz (1939). [26] [36] James Kendrick of Qnetwork.com deemed the character "a perfectly distilled satirical jab at corporate ruthlessness". [37]
Fairy Godmother first appears in Shrek 2 as the mother of Prince Charming, who had originally planned to rescue Fiona and become heir to the kingdom of Far, Far Away. [38] Newly married Shrek and Fiona visit Far, Far Away to meet Fiona's parents for the first time, who are surprised to learn that Fiona has both married an ogre and remained one herself. [39] When Fairy Godmother discovers that Fiona has married Shrek instead of Charming as originally intended, [40] the character plots to manipulate Fiona into marrying her son, [32] conspiring with Fiona's father King Harold to uphold a deal they had once made and kill Shrek in the process. [41] [42] [43] Fairy Godmother also manages a potion factory, [37] from which Shrek steals a potion in hope of becoming handsome to win his father in-law's approval. Shrek, Puss, and Donkey stop by her office and Shrek tells Fairy Godmother that Fiona is not feeling happy. She went to her library of Fairy Tales and for every book she went through she said "no ogres". She said to Shrek that ogres don't live happily ever after. Shrek got angry and insulted Shrek for pointing his dirty green sausages at her. She asks them to leave. [44] [45] After Shrek consumes the potion that turns both him and Fiona into attractive versions of themselves, [46] Fairy Godmother tries to trick Fiona into believing that Charming is Shrek but she resists his new personality. [32] Partnering with Charming and King Harold, [47] Fairy Godmother instructs Harold to give Fiona a potion that, once consumed, will force her to fall in love with the first person she kisses, [48] intending for it to be Charming. [49] At Shrek and Fiona's wedding ball, Harold reveals that he intentionally did not give Fiona the potion. [49] Angered, Fairy Godmother punishes Shrek and aims a blast from her wand at him, which is deflected by Harold who ultimately turns into a frog in the process and turns the Fairy Godmother into bubbles, killing her. [49] Fiona chooses not to kiss Shrek in favor of the pair returning to their ogre forms so that she can remain married to the ogre she fell in love with. [50]
In Shrek the Third (2007), the Fairy Godmother was seen in a picture on Prince Charming's vanity that said "mommy's little angel". In Shrek Forever After, the Fairy Godmother was not seen but she was mentioned in a flashback when King Harold told Queen Lillian that Fairy Godmother said that true love's kiss can break Fiona's curse. Lillian told him she does not trust Fairy Godmother and thought that Rumplestiltskin could end Fiona's curse. The character also appears in the video game adaptations Shrek 2 (2004) and Shrek Forever After: The Video Game (2010). [51]
Teen Ink hailed Fairy Godmother as "the perfect villain", [49] while Angie Errigo of Empire described her as a fun character. [43] ReelViews ' James Berardinelli described Saunders' performance as "perfectly nasty". [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 ". [55] Joe Morgenstern, film critic for The Wall Street Journal , cited Fairy Godmother as an example of the film "match[ing] vivid vocal performances with engaging new characters". [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." [57] Jon Niccum, writing for the Lawrence Journal-World , reviewed that Fairy Godmother especially "adds flavor" to the film. [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. [60] The Spinoff 's Josie Adams considered Fairy Godmother "the only part of [the film] worth pissing yourself for." [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." [62]
The Washington Post 's Michael O'Sullivan wrote that Saunders "brings a deliciously nasty edge to her role". [33] Scott Chitwood of ComingSoon.net wrote that the actress "delivers a fine performance", concluding, "If you liked her in Absolutely Fabulous, you’ll enjoy her in Shrek 2." [63] Pete Vonder Haar of Film Threat observed that Saunders "seems to enjoy giving voice to the Fairy Godmother", preferring her over Charming. [64] Kevin Lally of Film Journal International wrote that Saunders steals "the rest of the show ... bringing her Absolutely Fabulous haughtiness and wicked wit to the role", [65] while Rick Groen of The Globe and Mail reviewed Fairy Godmother as some of Saunders' best work, hailing her character's entrance as "a gorgeous piece of animation". [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. [17] Variety film critic Todd McCarthy wrote that Saunders did "her best to elevate" the film via a performance he described as "worthy of the most cunning storybook characters." [32] McCarthy also identified the addition of musical numbers to Saunders' performance as a bonus. [32] Logan Raschke of The Daily Eastern News concluded the character "wouldn't be who she is if it wasn't for Jennifer Saunders (and fantastic writing)", describing the actress's portrayal as "stern, controlled and yet gentle when need be." [67] The A.V. Club 's Tom Breihan said Saunders "has audible fun" in the role. [68]
Christian website Crosswalk.com deemed some of Fairy Godmother's behaviour "objectionable" and "unnecessary", particularly the scene in which she "writhes on a piano, singing a sexy song." [69] Despite believing that Andrews could have voiced the character well, Bill Beyrer of CinemaBlend felt that Saunders "did a bang up job", but found the character's appearance to be too realistic at times. [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." [70] However, LaSalle enjoyed Fairy Godmother's performance of "Holding Out for a Hero" nonetheless. [70] Michael Sragow, film critic for The Baltimore Sun , wrote that "Not even ... Saunders can add zing to the script's rough sketch of a sorceress", dismissing her as "a female impersonator caught in a female body, promoting specialties that are the fairy-tale equivalents of super-extreme makeovers." [45] The Seattle Post-Intelligencer 's Paula Nechak felt that Fairy Godmother grew "tedious", believing that she "exist[s] solely to drive the plot." [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. [73] The author crowned her "one of the most memorable villains in the history of Dreamworks". [73] Saunders won Favorite Movie Villain at the 31st People's Choice Awards, [74] [75] one of five awards Shrek 2 won at the ceremony. [76] Allison J. Scharmann, contributing to the Harvard Crimson , believed the "franchise would not be complete without the sequel’s introduction of Fairy Godmother". [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. [79]
Her Campus ranked Fairy Godmother the second "Top 10 Female Villains in Animation", with contributor Lilivette Domínguez writing, "instead of hating to love her, you love to hate her because she is a likable villain ... you can’t really hate her because she was smarter than everyone else". [80] Entertainment Weekly recognized Fairy Godmother as one of "13 who have us under their spell". [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. [82] [83] Fans also suggested that the actress play the character in a live-action adaptation of the film. [84]
Jennifer Jane Saunders is an English actress, comedian, singer, and screenwriter. Saunders originally found attention in the 1980s, when she became a member of The Comic Strip after graduating from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama with her best friend and comedy partner, Dawn French. With French, she co-wrote and starred in their eponymous sketch show, French and Saunders, for which they jointly received a BAFTA Fellowship in 2009. Saunders later received acclaim in the 1990s for writing and playing her character Edina Monsoon in her sitcom Absolutely Fabulous.
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.
In fairy tales, a fairy godmother is a fairy with magical powers who acts as a mentor or parent to someone, in the role that an actual godparent was expected to play in many societies. In Perrault's Cinderella, he concludes the tale with the moral that no personal advantages will suffice without proper connections.
Prince Charming is a fairy tale stock character who comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress and must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell. This classification suits most heroes of a number of traditional folk tales, including "Snow White", "Sleeping Beauty", "Rapunzel" and "Cinderella", even if in the original story they were given another name, or no name at all.
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. One of the film series' main characters, Fiona first appears in Shrek (2001) a beautiful princess cursed to transform into an ogre 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 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.
Shrek 2 is a 2004 action-adventure video game published by Activision, based on the DreamWorks Animation film of the same name. The game was developed by Luxoflux for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube platforms, while a version for PC was developed by KnowWonder.
Shrek is an American media franchise of 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).
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.
Shrek the Third is an action-adventure video game based on the 2007 DreamWorks Animation animated film of the same name, developed by Amaze Entertainment, 7 Studios, Shaba Games and Vicarious Visions. The game was published by Activision in May 2007, for Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable.
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.
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.
Descendants is an American musical fantasy television film directed and choreographed by Kenny Ortega. The film stars Dove Cameron, Sofia Carson, Booboo Stewart, and Cameron Boyce as the teenage children of Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Jafar, and Cruella de Vil, respectively. The film follows these teenagers adjusting to life outside their island prison, while on a mission to steal the Fairy Godmother's wand and free their parents from captivity. It debuted on July 31, 2015, as a Disney Channel Original Movie, to positive reviews and 6.6 million viewers.
In theory, Shrek was adapted from William Stieg's 1990 picture book Shrek! — but apart from the titular ogre, pretty much nothing survived in the transition to the big screen.
Puss in Boots and Fairy Godmother, who became villains, are some of the new parody
they are soon mixed up with a wily super-agent like Fairy Godmother (Jennifer Saunders), whose spoiled and loutish frat-boy son, Prince Charming (Rupert Everett), was once betrothed to Fiona.