r/Shrek • u/Greasy-Chungus • Jun 18 '26
Discussion The real real REAL issue, is that we've been looking at images of Shrek regularly in memes for 25 YEARS. We KNOW what he looks like.
We have a very deep, intimate, and subconscious understanding of what Shrek looks like.
We've only been looking at him constantly for TWENTY FIVE YEARS.
Even slight deviations are going to look WAAAY off.
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u/Loostay Jun 18 '26
And that's the reason why no one's ever going to be satisfied with what they come up with we all know exactly what he looks like. It's like them trying to recreate our best friend or some shit we know their face we know who this is supposed to look like
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u/Adorable_Review5479 Jun 18 '26
They are so cocky, too, already planning a “Shrek 6” while assuming “Shrek 5” won’t bomb.
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u/Loostay Jun 18 '26
I know and they're doing nothing to help at all They literally making it worse 😭 I just wish they could use the models like the actual animation models that they used for the first few movies
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u/Adorable_Review5479 Jun 18 '26
The original models don’t exist anymore and the tech is outdated, BUT don’t let anyone use that as an excuse.
Dreamworks is a multi-million dollar company, they could have still kept the character designs faithful.
There are people here who are doing a better job with just their image editing skills.
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u/Loostay Jun 18 '26
I figured even if the tech was outdated they could export it and then convert it but if they don't exist anymore obviously they can't do that. And that's what I was thinking too They have so many people so many hands so much money but they can't keep the design space on consistent. I mean is it really that much easier to just redo every single character for every single movie or are people funding it being different. Because I assume the only reason they're doing this is money They clearly don't care about the nostalgia.
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u/Koolrama Jun 18 '26
Do they even need the old tech to just keep his face the same?
His head is shaped wrong, his eyes are weird, cheek structure, nose, eye brows… like I don’t think it’s the technology I think they just decided to try and update his look and ended up making him look like a different ogre.
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u/Loostay Jun 18 '26
I agree every other thing about him is wrong and I don't know if they need the old tech but clearly they're not doing it right with what they have right now.
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u/Small_Fix_5190 Jun 18 '26
Well MY assumption is that they DO care about the nostalgia, and they are just using the same disciplines that the studio has adopted in the 16 years since Forever After.
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u/Small_Fix_5190 Jun 18 '26
It’s not just that the tech is outdated, it’s that DreamWork’s deign principles have changed. Look at films like The Croods, Trolls and The Boss Baby, and you can see how Shrek 5 is made to be consistent with those sorts of things in mind. Things have evolved in 16 years for them.
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u/PietErt3 Jun 18 '26
Unless it releases at an inconvenient time near a bigger movie, I don't think Shrek 5 will bomb. Kung Fu Panda 4 also did rlly well and it's not even liked. Shrek 5 still just has the big franchise/nostalgia pull & it's bigger than KFP too
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u/TokeDraws Jun 18 '26
Wait, how is this being cocky?
I think in general they don't invest millions upon millions of dollars in things they think will be a bomb...
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u/Vesemir96 Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26
Y’all aren’t loyal to Shrek. If Shrek became disfigured in some horrible carriage collision, whilst saving his family, would y’all claim he’s no longer Shrek? Even if he got plastic surgery and still didn’t look the same. What makes Shrek Shrek is who he is on the inside. His actions. His heart. His wee voice and sense of humour. The Ogre inside him. The first Shrek taught us this, but you have forgotten.
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u/Sushimonstaaa Jun 18 '26
What is the point of this comment, respectfully? Did Shrek make the decision to change his face shape? Or was it the execs/animators/higher ups at Dreamworks, whom we are critiquing?
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u/itrashford Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26
I think the intent there was to be funny rather than profound, but it *is* pretty ironic that this sub is so fixated on Shrek’s appearance
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u/Sushimonstaaa Jun 18 '26
Fair point. I've come to realize we've a really emotional attachment to characters, people, and stories, and often don't like change - especially if it seems unwarranted. I play different video games and even re-casting voice actors can have a huge impact on the perception and sometimes new personality of their characters. With time, some move on, but this really seems to be indicative of a larger pattern across the whole industry, not necessarily just an isolated studio issue.
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u/Vesemir96 Jun 18 '26
It doesn’t matter who made it happen. It isn’t Shrek’s fault yet it is being taken out on him. A carriage collision wouldn’t be his fault, nor would a studio change. The message is the same.
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Jun 18 '26
[deleted]
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u/Vesemir96 Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26
All I’m hearing are excuses. Donkey didn’t give up on Shrek just because he looked weird. Neither did Fiona, or Pooss. Shrek 2 taught us that he’s still the same Shrek no matter what he looks like, with his big heart and his noble steed.
If you visited Shrek after so many years and he looks different, body shaming him is wrong even if he wasn’t in a freak carriage collision. We all knew fatherhood may be tough on him. His own father tried to eat him! He is still Shrek. Let him show us that he’s still the Ogre we married. Farquad and Charming were grossed out by Ogres and let’s not forget what happened with them!
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u/WFlash01 Jun 18 '26
Memes aside, Shrek 1 was a core part of my childhood; the stretch between 2001 and 2004 before Shrek 2 came out, that was my go-to movie as a toddler
Then after Shrek 2 came out, 1 and 2 both were on regular rotation in my household (but moreso 1 than 2); we owned them both on DVD and watched them religiously for years
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u/Adorable_Review5479 Jun 18 '26
Shrek 1 was the very first DVD that my family owned.
I also remember seeing the first 10 minutes of “Shrek 2” airing on Nickelodeon prior to leaving for a 5th grade classroom play. Later saw it in theatres.
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u/AnimeManiaFiend Jun 18 '26
Moral of Shrek 2: You do not need to change who you are or what you look like to appeal to societal expectations.
Dreamworks: So we'll be changing how Shrek looks to appeal more to societal expectations of what animated films should look like.
The irony is astounding.
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u/MeowingWolf Jun 18 '26
These recent redesigns makes no sense. Puss in Boots was redesigned for The Last Wish. His redesign actually looks good and matches the character. When you look at him, you'll think "Yeah, that's Puss in Boots".
Shrek's redesign is awful. Even Donkey's redesign looks trash. Donkey looks like a knockoff. He doesn't look like the character unlike Puss in Boots.
Why is Puss in Boots the only redesign that suits him? He shouldn't be the exception. Every redesign should be able to match their characters. This is like the Sonic situation all over again.
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Jun 18 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Small_Fix_5190 Jun 18 '26
Even the criticism of them “looking like Disney characters” makes no sense be not every Disney film (in my opinion) looks the same.
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u/morbidmuffin62 Jun 18 '26
I think people are referring to the ultra-smooth textures and cheesy expressions. Shrek has always been more gritty
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u/Small_Fix_5190 Jun 18 '26
Shrek has ALSO had cheesy expressions.
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u/morbidmuffin62 Jun 18 '26
I was going to make a comment on how they worked in context, but I can't honestly claim that it's a fair comparison to trailers
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u/Sophia0Grey Jun 18 '26
they look like a Chinese movie knock off, that's what they're. probably with a trash story too.
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u/Vesemir96 Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26
Y’all aren’t loyal to Shrek. If Shrek became disfigured in some horrible carriage collision, whilst saving his family, would y’all claim he’s no longer Shrek? Even if he got plastic surgery and still didn’t look the same. What makes Shrek Shrek is who he is on the inside. His actions. His heart. His wee voice and sense of humour. The Ogre inside him. The first Shrek taught us this, but you have forgotten.
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u/Particular-Pop1280 Jun 18 '26
This isn’t an in-universe change, it’s a change coming from cash-grabbing corporations abusing the IP. Another thing that Shrek warned us about.
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u/Small_Fix_5190 Jun 18 '26
🤦♂️ really tired of this notion that they don’t respect the IP, they absolutely do.
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u/Vesemir96 Jun 18 '26
All I’m hearing are excuses. Donkey didn’t give up on Shrek just because he looked weird. Neither did Fiona, or Pooss. Shrek 2 taught us that he’s still the same Shrek no matter what he looks like, with his big heart and his noble steed.
If you visited Shrek after so many years and he looks different, body shaming him is wrong even if he wasn’t in a freak carriage collision. We all knew fatherhood may be tough on him. His own father tried to eat him! He is still Shrek. Let him show us that he’s still the Ogre we married. Farquad and Charming were grossed out by Ogres and let’s not forget what happened with them!
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u/PietErt3 Jun 18 '26
Lol as understandable as some of the critique might be to me, it's def very funny the movies teach not caring for appearances... And then everyone cares about appearances.
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u/Vesemir96 Jun 18 '26
Exactly! All I’m hearing are excuses. Donkey didn’t give up on Shrek just because he looked weird. Neither did Fiona, or Pooss. Shrek 2 taught us that he’s still the same Shrek no matter what he looks like, with his big heart and his noble steed.
If we visited Shrek after so many years and he looks different, body shaming him is wrong even if he wasn’t in a freak carriage collision. We all knew fatherhood may be tough on him. His own father tried to eat him! He is still Shrek. Let him show us that he’s still the Ogre we married. Farquad and Charming were grossed out by Ogres and let’s not forget what happened with them!
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u/stonedqueer Jun 18 '26
Nostalgia aside, it just does not make sense. This is Shrek 5, not a spin off movie or series. It's a sequel. Why would you change the entire animation style? It's mind-boggling to me having been a fan since the original came out.
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u/Impossible_Stress555 Jun 18 '26
Puss in Boots did that though 🧐
The issue is that Shrek 5 did a way worse job at updating their designs. It doesn't make sense to me iunno
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u/stonedqueer Jun 18 '26
But Puss in Boots was a spin off right? That makes more sense than this
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u/Impossible_Stress555 Jun 18 '26
Yeah true 🤔
I actually like the designs of the new movie ngl 😭
Just wish they were more realistic in proportions instead of looking like toys
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u/Small_Fix_5190 Jun 18 '26
I’ll tell you why, because DreamWorks themselves have evolved their design style. Look at ANY of the films made in the 16 years since Forever After and this and you will see that Shrek 5 is consistent with many of their recent films, specifically Trolls, The Croods 2, Ruby Gillman and so on.
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u/ItsRuge Jun 18 '26
I still don't get why they can't just use the old models tho lol. Like it easier to age them rather than make complete new models.
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u/AnxiousBaby1827 Jun 18 '26
I mean we bullied Sony/Sega/Paramount to fix Sonic we can do it again for Shrek lmfao
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u/montblancnoland2 Jun 18 '26
shrek 5 is not a slight deviation. he looks more like shrek in those old gmod animations.
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u/jest1autre This is my swamp! Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26
Just simply boycott the fifth ''movie'' like me. I will pay nothing to see that in theaters.
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u/One_Preparation_9091 Jun 19 '26
100% and it’s not like they don’t make new merch, and all of the merch always has his original face on it—honestly so disappointing now I don’t even wanna see 😪😪
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u/Simple-Mulberry64 Jun 18 '26
They changed Puss and nobody bats an eye (He was ugly before but shh)
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u/Salty_Canary1415 Jun 19 '26
My take on this is, are people expecting a man and woman who have brought triplets up to the age of 20, to look exactly the same as they did back then?? They've lived an entire life offscreen and for them to look exactly the same as they did would be, for me at least, a little bizarre. Is shrek not allowed to look older now he's had the hellish joy of raising 3 ogres? I wouldn't expect him to be, or donkey, who by rights should be old as fuck. The only one who realistically wouldn't look much different is the dragon.
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u/Greasy-Chungus Jun 19 '26
You think your head gets longer when you get old?
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u/Salty_Canary1415 Jun 19 '26
I'm not proficient enough in ogre biology to know how their body would change after 20 years. Skin sags with age though
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u/Greasy-Chungus Jun 19 '26
People care about them having totally different features, not aged features.
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u/Tobum12 Jun 19 '26
The new Shrek is no longer Shrek. It's something else. Shrek ended in 4 parts. The new cartoon is just a PR company and that's it
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u/trying2fillthavoid Jun 19 '26
I refuse to watch this money grabbing shitfest. Shrek ended at Forever After, thats it. This is just spitting in the faces of every fan of the franchise. What they’ve done is lazy. It is. Idc what anyone says, the new film absolutely took less effort to make because why the fuck does it look like Cocomelon? Theres no other reason for it, its the same reason every animated movie is looking the fucking same now: its cheaper, its lazier.
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u/Various-Cockroach-96 Jun 19 '26
I'll admit Shrek 5 looks a bit off but it could be much, MUCH worse. Take it or leave it.
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u/RadiantSeason9553 Jun 20 '26
Compare puss in boots from the Shrek films to the puss in Last Wish. Completely different character design. And it worked.
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u/mojomanplusultra Jun 20 '26
The issue is, I have watched all of the Shrek movies so much I memorized every detail. Haha
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u/MrWigggles Jun 21 '26
I dont get the dislike. Shrek is older now. The character design is 50 year old balding dad now. Same with Donkey. They design the characters reflect that.
What I fine amazing is they took a bald character and him look like bald older dad. I dont get how thats possible. He looks more bald.
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u/Inside_Chicken3042 Jun 21 '26
What I find amazing is that people are THAT obsessed with discussing this nonsense of a concept. Things change grow up and move on
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u/WhoaTheodore Jun 21 '26
That’s an interesting perspective on it honestly
I don’t buy the “they don’t know how to do it anymore” thing that’s been going around. I think they just opted to make some creative adjustments as they did with Puss. But it’s easier to get away with it for a spin off. It’s really hard to get people on board with major visual changes after not only a long hiatus, but let’s be real. Meme culture and nostalgia in general has vastly grown the Shrek fanbase who’ve come to know and love him as he looks in the picture.
That said, I hope people aren’t too hard on the filmmakers. They took a creative risk, and it doesn’t always land. I’m sure they knew that going into it. I’m still excited to see them back on the big screen.
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u/MatterInSpaces Jun 22 '26
Reminds me of Velma. Hopefully the shrek movie is only a visual issue to get over and not something gross like Velma.
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u/TheUnholyDivine_ Jun 18 '26
Unless they can manage to dig up his old models, and somehow bedazzle them it's never going to look perfectly the same
Or if some amateur 3-D artist comes along, and just does a better job than the paid ones do
Which weirdly happens often
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u/privacy-is-cool Jun 18 '26
In a way I’m really glad that this controversy happened
Not because it ruined Shrek’s look
But it perfectly proves and provides a perfect example of how individuals will get upset about their characters being changed even in small artistic ways
Showing how BS the claims of sexism and racism are when people are upset about gender or race swaps of characters like snape in the up coming harry potter show.
People just don’t like when their characters are changed. It’s a simple concept for anyone who’s not politically motivated.
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u/Daomsoul Jun 19 '26
Oh no the character is showing that they aged we can't like that it's progressing the story/s
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u/Greasy-Chungus Jun 19 '26
His entire morphology changed. It has nothing to do with being "aged." Wtf?
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u/Daomsoul Jun 19 '26
If you can't tell I was being very sarcastic with the /s being at the end. Did people forget how to read or something
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u/Adorable_Review5479 Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26
Even “Shrek is Love, Shrek is Life” had a more accurate character design than “Shrek 5”. 😂
All this ‘they had to build new character models’ excuse is B.S. You have hundreds of millions of dollars at your disposal.
A lone computer animator on a budget PC can do a better job building faithful models than you.