History WesternAnimation / Shrek

* BrokenAesop: Appearances don't matter -- unless you're really short, like Lord Farquaad. Then it's perfectly acceptable to make fun of your appearance. Or perhaps, it's unacceptable to make fun of someone's appearance unless they're evil or an asshole (which is a view held by many in real life).

* SexyWalk: Fiona has this on occasion, most notably when crossing the tree bridge, she shakes those HartmanHips much more than usual, showing she's taken a liking to Shrek.

Notorious for its modern twist on the FairyTale genre, ''Shrek'' was a smashing success at the time of its release. The film became the first installment of the ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'' tetralogy, receiving [[WesternAnimation/Shrek2 three]] [[WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird theatrical]] [[WesternAnimation/ShrekForeverAfter sequels]]. It ushered in a new era of computer animated films to Creator/DreamWorksAnimation, and the titular Shrek became the company's unofficial mascot.

-->Like ''that's'' ever gonna happen! What a load of (FLUSH!)[[note]][[Music/SmashMouth SomeBODY once told me the world was gonna roll me...]][[/note]]

Like ''that's'' ever gonna happen! What a load of (FLUSH!)[[note]][[Music/SmashMouth SomeBODY once told me the world was gonna roll me...]][[/note]]

''[tearing out page, chuckling]'' Yeah, like ''that's'' ever gonna happen! What a load of (FLUSH!)[[note]][[Music/SmashMouth SomeBODY once told me the world was gonna roll me...]][[/note]]

'''Shrek:''' Maybe you're right. But we'll let you do the "measuring" yourself when you meet him tonight.

'''Donkey:''' Wow, only a true friend would be that truly honest.

-->'''Donkey''': Wow, only a true friend would be that truly honest!

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* AnAesop:
** Don't judge people before you get to know them, and true beauty is on the inside.
** Happily Ever After isn't always what you think it will be, and that's OK.
** Real love is blind and the right people will love you no matter what.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion:

Shrek becomes completely disarmed, which is about as good as confessing himself. If it isn't already obvious enough that Shrek is trying to stop the wedding.

'''Villager 1''' [sheepishly]: Christ.\\
[''Shrek roars at the villagers'']\\

* BrokenAesop: Appearances don't matter -- unless you're really short, like Lord Farquaad. Then it's perfectly acceptable to make fun of your appearance.

** This is the only movie in the series that doesn't introduce the BigBad of the next film as a minor antagonist, i.e. Prince Charming and Rumpelstiltskin.

''[tearing out page, chuckling]'' Yeah, like ''that's'' ever gonna happen! What a load of (FLUSH!)

* DubSpeciesChange: Shrek goes through this in the Norwegian dub. There is no equivalent to the word "ogre" in Norwegian, thus he became a "troll" instead.

->''[[Music/SmashMouth ♫ I'm in love, ooh\\
I'm a believer\\

* CryCute: Possibly the only instance of this trope being applied to a ''gigantic fire-breathing dragon.'' [[spoiler: A few sobs in front of a lakeshore while pining for Donkey are pretty much all it takes to make the dragon a sympathetic character.]]

* SoWhatDoWeDoNow: Shrek and Donkey each get this when Fiona and Farquaad go back to Duloc to get married. Shrek blows up at Donkey and leaves him, going back to his swamp, which has been cleared out. He gets there but keeps thinking about Fiona and is otherwise at a loss for what to do until Donkey returns later in the day. Donkey, on the other hand, is left to just WalkTheEarth, having nothing else to do and no one to go back to... until he sees Dragon on the same riverbank, [[CryCute crying because she misses him]].

* {{Symbolism}}: During the [[DarkestHour "Hallelujah" scene]], there's a couple of symbolism to reflect Shrek and Fiona's respective conflicts. When Shrek returns to his swamp and steps on a mirror, its broken image reflects how he's alone and feels [[{{Pun}} heart-broken]]. We fade to Fiona's lovely (but unhappy) visage [[StealthPun captured]] in the pristine crystals of a chandelier, showing she may have the "perfect" life soon, but she feels [[StepfordSmiler trapped]] by it, and feels just as [[LonelyAtTheTop alone]] as Shrek.
** Later in the scene, we have the scene of Shrek sitting alone in his house fade in and out to Fiona sitting alone at the palace dining table, both on opposite ends of the table like a mirror image, both of them having their face burried in their hands. For all their beliefs they got what they respectively wanted, Shrek and Fiona are feeling mutual regret for having turned away from a potentially happy relationship with each other.

** Later in the scene, we have the scene of Shrek sitting alone in his house fade in and out to Fiona sitting alone at the palace dining table, both on opposite ends of the table like a mirror image, both of them having their face burried in their hands]]. For all their beliefs they got what they respectively wanted, Shrek and Fiona are feeling mutual regret for having turned away from a potentially happy relationship with each other.

* DragonsVersusKnights: Deconstructed. Shrek and Donkey are tasked with saving Fiona by Farquad in a deal for the former to get his swamp back from the fairytale creatures Farquad dumped into it. They reach the castle but naturally Shrek doesn't bother going by tradition despite donning a knight helmet, instead going straight for Fiona and just opting to run for it when the dragon catches on. When Fiona protests about doing it the usual way, Shrek points out that others who tried that ended up as scorched hunks of metal and bones. The dragon turns out to [[spoiler:be an asset later on when Donkey finds out she's a female and ends up charming her]].

** There's a rumor Farquad is a TakeThat to Michael Eisner, especially considering who the "K" in Dreamworks SKG is.[[note]]Jeffrey Katzenberg[[/note]]

* WantsVersusNeeds: Shrek agrees to rescue Fiona from her tower and bring her to Lord Farquad in exchange for having his Swamplands to himself again, having lived feared and alone for so long that all he wants is privacy. Having been raised as a fairy tale princess, all Fiona wants is to be rescued by her own PrinceCharming and to live HappilyEverAfter free of her curse. By the end, the both of them get what they want, but in a way that they both needed: while Shrek gets his swamp back, he learns to open himself up, marrying Fiona and finding friends among a RagtagBunchOfMisfits he originally wanted out. While Fiona's curse is ''technically'' broken and she does live HappilyEverAfter with a charming man she married, it's as an ogre with a non-royal ogre for a husband in a swamp. Not that either of them mind.

* UnexpectedKindness: Donkey is terrified when he sees Shrek for the first time, expecting to be killed and eaten, but Shrek instead saves him from the guards who were chasing him. This causes Donkey himself to give Shrek unexpected kindness for the first time in the ogre's life of being oschatrized and reviled by everyone, as his lack of fear towards Shrek and attempts to befriend the ogre cause Shrek to open himself and turn nicer out of a deep-seated want of friendship.