Shrek
... that he is not as scary as he imagines himself to be. For example when Shrek tries to intimidate Donkey by roaring at him, Donkey ridicules his breath. He says ‘if that doesn’t do the job your breath certainly will because your breath stinks!’ he also suggests that Shrek use some Tic-Tacs. This shows that Donkey is not afraid of Shrek. This point is supported by the fact that Donkey follows Shrek to his swamp ignoring the ‘Beware! Ogre’ signs. He rushes all excited into the Shrek’s home and bounces around, he also proclaims ‘in the morning I’m making waffles!’ Shrek fails to stop him suggesting he is not a terrifying ogre. Shrek then kicks him out of the house, and forces him to sleep outside. As Shrek sits down to a meal, he shows a small trace of remorse to the fact that he kicked Donkey out of the house. He quickly recovers and hears scuttling around his house. He blames Donkey but soon finds out that it is quite far from that! The parodies then begin in tremendous amounts. From three blind mice looking for cheese, to Snow White being shoved on the table in a coffin by the seven dwarfs, to the big bad wolf dressed as a granny in Shrek’s bed. He kicks them out and then realises what has happened. His whole swamp has been turned into a refuge camp, for virtually every fairy tale character ever. He finds out from Pinocchio that the very evil and very short Lord Farquaad has forced them all there. He then reluctantly, takes the quest to Duloc to get his swamp back. He is aided by Donkey for the simple reason that he cannot get rid of him. When Shrek and Donkey reach Duloc Shrek verbally abuses Lord Farquaad. He asks Donkey, whether Lord Farquaad is ‘compensating for something’ comparing his gigantean castle to Lord Farquaad’s height. At least that is what the joke looks like from, a younger person’s point of view. To an adult this would seem a crude joke of which only someone with a mature sense of humour would understand. When Shrek and Donkey enter Duloc Shrek is flung into a World Wrestling Entertainment style match up with the knights. The parody of a classic knights tournament (involving jousting, combat and archery) is presented in the form of Shrek wrestling the rest of the knights, in a make shift ring (really a horses pen). A number of wrestling moves are used, and just like in Professional Wrestling the good guy (Shrek in this case) comes out on top. This further enhances the view of Shrek being the hero, in the film. What is striking, though, is that before the fight Shrek asks the knights ‘can’t we just settle this over a pint?’ this suggests that Shrek is willing to talk, rather than fight. This makes Shrek appear more civilised, and makes the audience think he is more than just a bone-crunching ogre. He is thrust into the lime light of being a good guy again. Lord Farquaad though is quite the contrary. He is the one to order the knights to kill Shrek. He also makes Shrek go on the quest, to rescue Princess Fiona instead of going himself. This suggests Lord Farquaad is not the good fairy tale Prince, but a cruel and spineless person. As the film progresses through Shrek and Donkey’s quest, to find the castle in which Princess Fiona is being held captive it reveals a deeper, philosophical side to Shrek. For example when he and Donkey are walking through a field, Donkey questions Shrek about his lack of ogre like behaviour. Donkey often argues with Shrek about this subject. He asks questions such as ‘pull some ogre stuff’, ‘grind his bones to make your bread’ and a number of other things, that show how a traditional ogre should behave. Upon asking Shrek another question about his ‘ogreness’ Shrek replies ‘ should I decapitate an entire village, cut open their spleens, and drink their vital fluids?’ Donkey has no reply to this. Viewers feel that Shrek would not have been capable of doing this anyway, and that he is too soft. This shows Shrek as a gentle loveable character. He then begins on his philosophy of ‘ogres are like onions’. This is followed by Donkey saying ‘you know, not everybody likes onions’. Then Donkey starts to name various other foods. Shrek gets angry at Donkey for questioning his principle of ‘ogres having layers’. This shows Shrek as a person who is in touch with himself, further showcasing to his sensitive side. Upon reaching their required destination Shrek is tested as a friend. Donkey is afraid of heights, and does not wish to cross the rickety bridge, suspended over a lake of lava. He uses Donkeys fear to his advantage. Shrek sways the bridge violently. In response to this, Donkey starts to trot backwards without realising it. Shrek continues to use this method to get Donkey across the bridge. This shows viewers that Shrek has compassion, and understanding for his friends. When inside the castle Shrek quotes on the book that he was reading, at the start of the film. He says ‘the Princess will be locked in the highest room of the highest tower’. He sets Donkey to find the stairs, and he meanwhile attempts to find and slay the dragon. It is not Shrek who finds the dragon it is Donkey. Shrek attempts to save Donkey, but gets flung into the tower where the Princess is held. Princess Fiona straightens her self up while Shrek is recovering. Instead of a kiss though Shrek, shakes Fiona violently and tells her to wake up. Fiona is disappointed there is no ‘romantic moment’. They proceed to go and rescue Donkey, who is being held captive by the dragon. Princess Fiona dose not understand why Shrek is doing this, and when she inquires about this he meekly replies ‘well I have to save my ass’. He ingeniously traps the dragon by using chains and a sword. You would not expect an ogre to use such ingenuity. Initially Shrek tries to behave in a threatening manner but just comes up looking more heroic and likeable than before. In this film we quickly learn that the Prince is not like a traditional fairy tale character. He is neither brave nor valiant but is a coward. He has the Gingerbread Man drowned in milk. He maliciously taunts the Gingerbread Man by quoting ‘ Run, run, run as fast as you can you can’t catch me I’m the Gingerbread Man!’ this is the Gingerbread Mans infamous quote and by taunting him with it, it shows how low Lord Farquaad will sink. He also threatens to pull off the Gingerbread Mans gumdrop buttons. This is a scene, which is funny and malicious. The humour comes from the fact that torture to the Gingerbread Man comes in the shape of pulling off his gumdrop buttons. The malicious part is the fact that Lord Farquaad will go to any lengths to get his way. He will sink so low, that he is willing to harm an innocent fairytale creature. When his soldiers come in with the magic mirror, he merely tosses the Gingerbread Man into a bin. He is then shown that he cannot even make his own decisions for himself. He cannot choose between the three beautiful women in the Blind Date style parody, that the mirror presents and he has to listen to the advice of his dim witted henchman, Felonious. When he and Fiona are due to marry he allows Fiona to hurry the session up. Fiona wants to be married before sunset (so Lord Farquaad does not see her ogre form), Lord Farquaad however just wanted to be a King as soon as possible. When Fiona shows her ogre appearance to Shrek, Lord Farquaad shouts to his guards to ‘get them out of my sight’ He then snatches the crown, and proclaims himself the King in a manic voice. He then meets an untimely demise due to the dragon from the castle eating him alive. The camera shots used in the film are put to great effect. A variety of camera angles are used in the film to portray different things. These camera angles are Low, Mid, High and Close up. The Close up camera angle is used when Shrek attempts to scare the fairytale creatures away. It gives off the impression that Shrek, is going to eat them. The darkness surrounding him, adds to the feeling of unease. Close up shots are useful for focusing the audiences attention on the characters’ emotions. This is presented when Princess Fiona is shown smiling with Shrek. The camera switches between them, and gives a sense of happiness. The low angle shots are used, to show superiority in some characters. For example when Lord Farquaad, talks to Shrek in the fighting arena he is on the top level and is looking down on everyone else. He is nearly always presented in a shot with him above, who ever else he is talking to. This shows the other ch...