The Shrek franchise has done an incredible job remaining in the public sphere of pop culture over the years. The last movie with Shrek's name in the title was Shrek Forever After, which came out back in 2010. Somehow, despite how long it has been, everyone still seems to know and love Shrek.

A fifth Shrek film is currently on the way, which might feel like it's a little bit late. Since Shrek Forever After, the only Shrek movies to release have been Puss In Boots spin-offs. However, one of those, Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, released as recently as 2022 and was a massive post-pandemic success. With this movie as a stepping stone, the whole original cast is set to return. With Shrek's unique advantages as a series, this new Shrek movie is in the perfect position to take the world of animation by storm.

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The Shrek Series Skewers Fairy Tales

One of the Shrek series' greatest strengths is the balance of humor and sincerity. All the best Shrek films thus far have incorporated their humor naturally into the way the characters interact. In many properties aimed at children, the humor feels like a series of one-liners rather than genuine dialogue. It doesn't feel natural to the way that people actually speak, and it can often interrupt the flow of a scene. The MCU, for instance, has a big issue with pausing to tell jokes. And of course, many children's animated movies are plagued with unfunny references and lowbrow humor.

Shrek avoids this problem beautifully. There is some gross-out humor, but it is incorporated into the world of the films. Shrek himself sometimes makes disgusting jokes, but they make sense within the context of the movie, as other characters also find him disgusting. Feeling gross is a part of his ostracization, and his self-acceptance is part of his character arc. The films also do an excellent job making humor feel natural and part of a realistic conversation. When Shrek asks Donkey if he thinks Lord Farquaad's enormous tower is compensating for something, it's plenty funny. But Donkey's not understanding the joke and Shrek moving on in annoyance is even funnier.

The Shrek series is, at its core, a series of animated comedies making fun of fairy tale tropes. In spite of their focus on comedy, however, Shrek maintains a quality that keeps the public invested in it. That quality is its sincerity. In recent years, a lot of popular culture has shied away from being sincere, from taking pride in itself. The MCU, for example, constantly throws shade back at itself. Characters laugh at corny superhero titles, alliterative comic book names, and even at the very concept of being a superhero. A series mocking its own existence can be funny, but it gets annoying quickly, and can come across to the audience as cowardly.

Shrek has no such problem. While the mockery and parody aspects of Shrek are always there, the emotional beats and character arcs are treated with respect. The first Shrek movie serves as a scathing critique of classic fairy tale romances. Tropes such as the helpless, beautiful princess falling in love with her captor and a traditionally handsome prince being the one to save the day are pointed out as ridiculous and cast aside.

But the love that blossoms between Shrek and Fiona is very real. The two grow to care for one another slowly, after getting to know the real souls inside each of them. They may not be on the exact same page at every moment, but they are fiercely in love and dedicated to each other. Shrek's character arc of learning to respect himself and let others into his heart is similarly taken seriously. Shrek is worthy of respect not only because he is not a stereotypical handsome prince who breaks the mold. He's worthy of respect because he is a person. Shrek may be all about making fun of fairy tales, but the series is kindhearted at its core.

Shrek 5 Could Be a Takedown of Current Animated Movies

Animation is currently in an interesting place currently. There seems to be an equal amount of stagnation and innovation. The enormous critical and commercial success of Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse has given birth to an influx of animated films taking after its breathtaking, flashy style. This includes not only the sequel, but other movies such as Nimona, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, and Shrek's own Puss In Boots: The Last Wish. In addition, a new Studio Ghibli film directed by the legendary Hayou Miyazaki is on its way, featuring a voice performance by Robert Pattinson.

On the other hand, each of these victories seems to have its match in failure somewhere in the industry. Hollywood continues to hire big-name celebrities rather than seasoned voice actors. This has been most notable in Chris Pratt leading a number of animated projects, such as The Super Mario Bros Movie and The Garfield Movie, in which he more or less uses his regular speaking voice to disappointing effect.

Meanwhile, Walt Disney Animation, once the front-runner of the industry, has recently lagged behind. Many of their recent animated projects have been seen as stylistically dull and overly familiar. Some, such as Raya and the Last Dragon and Strange World, have massively underperformed at the box office. With negative general perception and poor box office tracking, Disney's next animated movie, Wish, may continue the trend.

Now might be a perfect time for a new Shrek movie to take advantage of the current situation, both by building on what works and making fun of what doesn't. Making fun of Disney is familiar territory for Shrek, as the first movie was spawned as a sort of revenge piece against the company. Shrek could make fun of overly safe animation style, boring songs, live action remakes, and shifting away from traditional villains, some of Disney's most popular aspects as of late. There's certainly plenty to make fun of. In an interview with Variety, Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri said:

Shrek is also looking to build on the success of Puss In Boots: The Last Wish. The Shrek spinoff was massively successful and built up a lot of excitement for Shrek, which is impressive given how relevant Shrek stays in the public consciousness. The fifth Shrek movie should follow the blueprint used by Puss In Boots: The Last Wish. If it employs the same bold animation style and focus on emotional beats, the next Shrek movie could conquer the industry.