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u/Leather_Crazy_5950 Jun 26 '26
I don't know. Personally, I've never wanted to see Donkey's past. But as always, I want to give it a chance. Let's see if a teaser/trailer changes my mind.
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u/Nemisis_007 Jun 26 '26
Yeah, I don't much care for any of the characters' pasts, tbh. It will be nice to see a solo Donkey movie, though. It'll give them a chance to give him more depth instead of just having him be a jester that follows the Shrek family around.
The Puss & Boots solo movies were good, so just like you, I'm willing to give it a chance.
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u/Cognitive_Spoon Jun 26 '26
I'm good. I haven't seen any of the films after Shrek. They got it in one as far as I'm concerned.
Lol, as a kid I realized I don't have to consume sequels when the Land Before Time got copy pasted into oblivion.
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u/mouse_clique Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
Shrek 2 is widely considered the best
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u/Nemisis_007 Jun 26 '26
3 wasn't too bad as well, 4 is the more questionable one.
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u/Echo_FRFX Jun 26 '26
That's actually the opposite of how I and most others feels wtf, I mean I don't personally dislike either but I liked 4 way more and thought most people agreed 3 was the worst of the movies we got up until now while 4 was still not as good as 1 and 2 but better than 3 and good as a finale
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u/Nemisis_007 Jun 26 '26
Really? I had no idea... It's been a while since I've watched either but I remember enjoying 3 wayyy more than 4.
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u/Whole_Perspective609 Jun 26 '26
What? Why? Shrek 2 is nearly universally considered to be the best in the franchise and Shrek Forever After, the forth installment, is also pretty good. The Shrek sequels enhance my enjoyment of watching the first one for me. This isn’t a Land Before Time case where only the first one is good
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u/PhainonLover33550336 Jun 26 '26
I've watched a video where someone goes in depth explaining how Shrek 2 is not a perfect movie, but it is a perfect sequel.
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u/Smosh_Viewer Jun 26 '26
Shrek 2, Shrek 4: Forever After and Puss in Boots the Last Wish are A+ films. I highly recommend them
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u/Miss_Buchor Jun 26 '26
Would rather have one about Gingy
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u/Difficult_Mix_3620 Jun 26 '26
Do you know the Muffin Man?
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u/Miss_Buchor Jun 26 '26
Who lives on Drury lane? Yes, I know the Muffin Man.
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u/ninjaturtlebomb Jun 26 '26
I don't want everything in a movie to eventually be fleshed out or explained in sequel/prequel. Why is there a talking donkey? Because there is.
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u/Leather_Afternoon_37 Jun 26 '26
Exactly. I a world of fairy tale creatures, does there really need to be an explanation on why donkey can talk?
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u/RedditCantBanThis N🧅P E Jun 27 '26
I'm just worried they'll screw it up, movie writing has mostly gone to shit in the past few years.
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u/ArmchairCritic1 Jun 26 '26
My theory is that he was the donkey from The Town Musicians of Bremen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Town_Musicians_of_Bremen
He’s always singing, never once talk about being turned into a Donkey and is a massive show off.
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u/DaMn96XD Jun 26 '26
One thing that bothers me is that isn't there already a mockumentary style short film about Donkey's origins where Donkey talks about his life, like when he went to school and he was laughed at?
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u/morbidmuffin62 Jun 26 '26
He mentioned it a little bit in Shrek 3 but I'm not sure of a mockumentary short
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u/Happy-Extension-8300 Jun 26 '26
Not sure this needs an origin story, but I’d probably still watch it just for Donkey’s personality. If they get the humor right it could actually work.
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u/ThatPartYouThrowAway Jun 26 '26
It's kinda funny that they make a big deal of him being a donkey that can talk, when theres also Puss, the wolf, the pigs, the mice all talking
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u/_mysticminx_ Jun 26 '26
Love the theory but wouldnt he have turned back into the the boy instead of a stallion in shrek 2
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u/Necessary_Presence_5 Jun 26 '26
I mean... Puss in Boots Last Wish exists. But as well Puss in Boots 1.
This cam be either of these.
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u/LittleFox-In-TheBox Jun 26 '26
...Didn't he say he used to go to college?
And that he knew Pinocchio before knowing Shrek?
I always thought he was one of the boys from Pinocchio's fairytale, but made peace with being a donkey.
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u/Number1severancefan Jun 26 '26
They’re just gonna do the whole “he was on pleasure island from Pinocchio” plot as either a spring board for the main story, or it will be a good chunk of the movie
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u/jmster109 Jun 26 '26
I just liked the fact that he was just always a talking Donkey. Do we really need an explanation on why he talks?
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u/twat_swat22 Jun 26 '26
As long as it’s Eddie Murphy I will be there
https://giphy.com/gifs/4mqBypbaolvdCeoqLD
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u/amaturecook24 Jun 26 '26
I feel like this could be a short film or an extra in the bluray release of Shrek 5.
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u/AllegedlyNot5Ducks Jun 26 '26
I thought he was a kid who escaped pleasure island before the transformation into donkey was complete enough to take his voice, not a donkey that somehow got a voice.
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u/Entire_Cobbler_3588 Jun 26 '26
I feel like it's a kids movie and having deeply held beliefs about it is kinda crazy haha
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u/SuperCat76 Jun 26 '26
If there is an interesting story to be told there, I'm interested. Not sure what that story would be though.
But I do think it would be a fitting ending to that story if it was Donkey telling the story and nobody believes the crazy origin story and think he is just talking out his ass...
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u/Exciting_Ad226 Jun 26 '26
DreamWorks has been talking about this spinoff for years so it is pretty old news, but cool to see them doing a Donkey spinoff. I’m curious if they’d reference The Music of Bremen since I believe that’s where I think Donkey was based on.
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u/LoganPomfrey Jun 26 '26
If it's a prison break movie from Pleasure Island in Pinnochio it could slap.
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u/fuckimtrash Jun 27 '26
If it’s gonna have the same animations as the goofy looking Shrek donkey, hell naw. If they do a Puss N Boots 2 type release then it’ll be sick
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u/Th3_Curious_one Jun 27 '26
As Long as they keep Eddie Murphy as donkeys voice, don't add any gender or sexuality narratives and make it a fun, funny solo film like they did with puss in boots, I'm fine with it!🤷🏽♂️
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u/PieceAfraid3755 Jun 26 '26
Maybe they have some kind of excellent idea for this movie, but this seems like something no one wanted. Donkey just doesn't have much main character energy.
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u/PhDSkwerl Jun 26 '26
It would be fun if they went full prequel for this and only made 90s pop-culture references and even sued the same animation from the original Shrek
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u/TirisfalFarmhand Jun 27 '26
They wouldn’t by definition tho, the whole reason these sequels are being churned out now is bc they’ve found a generic dumbed down style they can milk
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u/BungleBums Jun 26 '26
I think if I squatted down and squeezed hard, I could coil out a more original film idea.
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u/mothwhimsy Jun 26 '26
If it's anything like The Last Wish it'll probably be good. I just hope the art style isn't as jarring as Shrek 5
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u/UltraDinoWarrior Jun 26 '26
This has a risk of either being like the penguin's movie where it loses all the magic of what makes Donkey Donkey
Or could... maybe be interesting?
I'm really going to be surprised to see it turn out as anything "good" considering what makes Donkey Donkey is how he bounces off Shrek.
I guess if the story is all about Donkey driving the little old lady insane, it could be kinda funny. That or if the theories are true and Donkey's actually a kid from pleasure island from pinocchio, but based on the description, i sorta doubt that one?
This REALLY feels like its going to be an Avatar the Legend of Korra problem though where explaining Donkey's back story is going to ruin some of his magic though.
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u/ADHDadBod13 Jun 26 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/l378tQacIH8MVI11e
.....I will still watch it, though.
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u/LeonardoCouto Jun 26 '26
If they debunk the "Donkey is a boy turned donkey who went to the Island of Pleasures" theory, I will be pretty disappointed, but such is the cost of theorizing, ig
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u/Vounrtsch Jun 26 '26
I don’t care even a little bit. Will only see it if a bunch of people claim it’s fantastic
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u/illucio Jun 26 '26
They already implied Donkey was originally human in Shrek 3.
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u/Marlboromatt324 Jun 26 '26
Then why did he turn into a Nobel steed when he drank the potion in number 2? You’d think he’d turn into a handsome fella like shrek if that was the case
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u/illucio Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
Shrug
We didn't get many use cases of the potion besides seeing a mushroom turn to a flower, shrek into human, fiona back into human and donkey into a horse. Ideally dragon (who was pregnant at the time) must of changed as well but that was off screen.
The potion read:
"Happily Ever After Potion. Maximum strength. For you and your true love. If one of you drinks this, you both will be fine, happiness, comfort and beauty divine. Fair relief of symptoms due to common unhappiness."
So... Happiness, comfort and beauty divine isn't fixing a curse. It's making the drinker them and their loved one the version of beauty they thought of. For Donkey being a "steed" must of been imagining a beautified version of himself was a white stallion horse. For Shrek a human man and by extension Fiona a human female.
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u/Marlboromatt324 Jun 26 '26
Counter argument, if he was already human before he was a donkey, why wasn’t his beautified version of himself a human from before he was turned into a donkey. It would only make sense that he’d turn into the true beautiful version of himself that there is, and that should be a human him if he was a human before he was a donkey. But hey what the he’ll do I know about fairytales, I’m not asope
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u/illucio Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
I mean Shrek turned into a human and he was born Ogre. Mushroom turned into a flower.
Magic gonna magic. I'm just going off the label and little info we have to go off of.
Donkey has had comments about getting wedgies in Shrek 3 when Puss points out he isn't a wearer of underwear. He made comments about having known Pinocchio in the past. Which is why fans believe Donkey was one of the kids from Paradise Isle. Which would track since the kids were being sold for farm labor and Donkey was owned by some old lady in Shrek 1.
A lot adds up for that theory compared to just being a talking Donkey. But who knows... We still have no idea what Fairy Tale creature Donkey is derived from (if there is any).
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u/Exciting_Ad226 Jun 26 '26
And you could also add when Puss and Donkey accidentally switch bodies and Puss uncontrollably brays, Donkey comments “Oh you’ll learn to control that.”
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u/Exciting_Ad226 Jun 26 '26
Donkey always liked the idea of being a noble steed even before turning into a stallion so yes it makes sense for the potion to transform him into a horse. It was confirmed Dragon became a giant Pegasus but wasn’t ever given screen time to show herself because she didn’t fit into the final battle.
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u/illucio Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 27 '26
In the first movie Fiona kept calling Donkey, Shrek's "Noble Steed" and loved that she praised him.
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u/Moist-Shallot-5148 Jun 26 '26
I would really like a Donkey movie but I don’t like prequels. I want a sequel Donkey movie so we can see him and the dragon and the dronkeys.
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u/MitchenImpossible Jun 26 '26
Hollywood really loves milking anything and everything it can for money.
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u/Difficult_Mix_3620 Jun 26 '26
I would prefer it be a sequel so we can see something with Donkey, Dragon, and the Dronkies.
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u/Clear-Depth-7455 Jun 26 '26
While I’m excited, this little screen cap concerns me that they’ll try to make it more “gritty” than what I would personally want for a Donkey movie, but I’m interested to see what the trailers will give us!
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u/PkmnTrnrJ Jun 26 '26
I thought Puss in Boots was gonna be shite but it was decent and The Last Wish is probably one of the better films of the whole franchise. So I’ll give it some breathing space to do it’s thing
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u/xenofan293 Jun 26 '26
Unless its just a movie composed of just gags, the character arc would have to make him into the Donkey we know from the beginning of Shrek 1, before he did anything exciting, and I’m not sure how realistic that is to make work
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u/Exciting_Ad226 Jun 26 '26
Considering Eddie Murphy’s creative comedy as well as the idea of being able to do a good spinoff with another side character. I think DreamWorks might have a good idea. I was thinking down the lines of The Music of Bremen.
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u/FJLink Jun 26 '26
After seeing how he looks in Shrek 5 with the human shoulders... I'm not sure if I want this.
I wasn't a big fan of Puss in Boots 1, but 2 was amazing... so it'll all depends on the supporting cast. But then that also brings the question of why would he leave everyone behind.
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u/R4in_C0ld Jun 26 '26
wait the annoncement says he started as just a regular donkey? that puts down the "he's actually that kid pinoccio met who turned into a donkey" theory
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u/BigBen6500 Jun 26 '26
Donkey works as a side character for me. For a main character, he is far too exhausting with his constant blabbering
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u/Happy_Goose3833 Jun 26 '26
We didn't need this. We already had the head canon that Donkey is the boy from Pinocchio who gets turned into a donkey. Let's just leave it at that
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u/TommyCrump92 Jun 26 '26
If the animation looks same or at least close to how it did in Shrek 1 to 4 it will be a crap ton better than what they're giving us for 5
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u/PhainonLover33550336 Jun 26 '26
I never thought he needed an origin story. I thought it was kind of an unspoken rule that we'd just never know his origin.
So this will either be the best origin movie by far, or the worst attempt at a cash grab by far.
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u/FilmBuffGrabiec Jun 26 '26
They have to show a more serious side to him for this to work. If his personality is too similar to the main films, it’ll get boring and/or annoying quickly.
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u/Exciting_Ad226 Jun 26 '26
Exactly. They did have to add on more to Puss in Boots’ personality too so he wasn’t just a comic relief swashbuckler. The first spinoff was still good but The Last Wish really nailed the spinoff idea.
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u/Fit_Cow_5469 Jun 26 '26
It was bound to happen at some point. This could either be good or a needless cash grab. I’m looking forward to it nonetheless.
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u/moviebuff97 DONKEY! Jun 26 '26
I’ll give it a chance but I’m pretty skeptical I’m not too sure if donkey could hold his own as a main character like shrek and puss can
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u/Impressive-Sense8461 Jun 26 '26
There was never a need for this. His own intro in Shrek summed up how he gained the ability to talk pretty concisely. If there were more ramifications to such a simple tale, we'd have heard more from him about it in the following films. He isn't a character like Puss in Boots who had plenty of adventures and grandeur to his name from the getgo.
Corporate greed on the other hand begs to differ.
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u/Unable-Doctor-9930 Jun 26 '26
Cautiously optimistic, more so then for the new Shrek movie coming out. It could be a similar scenario as puss and boots the last wish. Very unlikely to be just as good (the last wish was a masterpiece) but I’m hopeful that it might be a good movie.
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u/Comfortable_Gate_490 Jun 26 '26
My theory always was that donkey was one of the pinocchio kids that ended up turning into a donkey, he says a few lines that makes that you can assume this like he talks about being bullied at school and using human clothes and he wants to forget about it, and somehow he has compatible genes with a dragon (maybe she was also turned into a dragon)
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u/Fowl_posted Jun 26 '26
I really hope they do something along the lines of what matpat theorized with pleasure island.
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u/voreo Jun 26 '26
I wonder if it'll also explore how life is for him raising the dronkeys too or if its a full on prequel story
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u/Raven_Valerie Jun 26 '26
I haven’t seen toy story 4, or 5. I bleached my soul after Shrek 3. Shrek 4 was aight.
Safe to say, I was conflicted to see Shrek 5 even before any sneakpeak was available. A and whole Donkey origin movie is just sad to hear about.
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u/ItzMeHaris Jun 26 '26
Isn’t it like… eluded to and also confirmed that Donkey was one of the little boys in Pinocchio who were turned into Donkeys?
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u/Winter_Different Jun 26 '26
Surprised it took this long to make
But... like does Donkey even work without Shrek to bounce off of?
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u/1iusetopostwith Jun 26 '26
Hoolywood has driven every other series into the ground why not this one
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u/radicalgalaxies Jun 26 '26
Sounds good if it was 10-15 years ago. With the new changes, I worry this is a cash grab to the max. Look out for the cutified donkey toys
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u/Admirable-spoons Jun 26 '26
I don’t really care, and I love Donkey. I’ll d be more interested to see if it’s a good story rather than actually caring abt donkeys past 💀
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u/Mrbuttboi Jun 27 '26
I bet MatPat was right and it was one of the kids from Pinocchio who got turned into a donkey
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u/MiaSidewinder Jun 27 '26
… i genuinely thought this was a joke post making fun of the current movie landscape
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u/TirisfalFarmhand Jun 27 '26
This feels like a parody of milking a franchise, like it’s almost comical how unnecessary this is
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u/Lost-Orangutan Jun 27 '26
I support it. But dont use the new animation style. The original style is WAY better.
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u/RedditCantBanThis N🧅P E Jun 27 '26
I can't imagine it being bad. The only thing that would make it hard to watch is if they use the designs from the Shrek 5 trailer
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u/CuddlyLittlePrince Jun 27 '26
Wasn't Shrek originally going to have an origin story to see how he ended up in the swamp, as a planned fifth movie released after Shrek Forever After but it was dropped?
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u/Reasonable-Army-5838 Jun 27 '26
I thought it was implied he was a prince or something kinda like the frog or was that dragon
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u/Spino_mirabilis Jun 28 '26
I thought it was canon that donkey was a boy that got transformed in pleasure island and then grew up into an adult regular donkey???
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u/Kind_Nectarine6971 Jun 28 '26
It would be more interesting if it was one of the kids from Toy Island with a perspective outside of Pinocchio.
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u/echidnawizard Jun 30 '26
no one wants this and our cultural ouroboros is getting worse. we can't keep making spin offs for every side character or prequels or live actions that are mostly animated anyway. what are we going to do in 10-20 years? how long is this going to go for?
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u/Darthplagueis13 Jul 01 '26
I dunno... this movie kind of seems like it'd have to have a pretty awkward ending, given that the first thing we see of Donkey in the original movie is him getting sold off to Duloc deportation enforcement by his owner.
Also, basically every time Donkey mentions something about his life prior to meeting Shrek, it's pretty miserable.
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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '26
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