On Feb. 28, 2025, a teaser trailer came out for a sequel of a beloved movie for many of us… Shrek 5. For many reasons, this teaser did not come without backlash from the public. All of us high schoolers were not yet born when the first movie came out, which was in 2001. Even so, many of us treasure this movie because it holds many memories of watching it on DVD when we were younger.
This teaser was only 42 seconds long, but it took even less time for everyone to form an opinion on it. Many are against the idea of another movie because of the storyline. The fourth movie ended happily ever after, with Shrek realizing that he should be appreciative of his family after almost being erased from existence. Due to this ending, there is not enough conflict for another movie to have an interesting plot.
Another issue with this teaser was made clear when we saw Shrek’s new character design. The entire basis of the first movie was that Shrek is an ugly ogre that is rejected from society because of his looks, and now his face is more symmetrical and animated to fit the look of Universal Pictures. Now that he is more “attractive” and animated, many are afraid it cuts into the story itself, causing issues for the entire movie franchise. Universal is known for their animated style, as is seen with Despicable Me, Minions, and Sing. The reason why they changed the character design is because of the program that Universal uses, which is MoonRay. However, it is not appealing to the public so far.
Many feel as though this movie was just made for money purposes. Ali Duffin, a senior at Herriman, says exactly this, “I feel as though it is a lazy cash grab.” And the casting is also part of this fault. As Duffin put it, “I feel like that [the casting] is also part of the cash grab, because Zendaya is a very popular and influential celebrity.” Using her clout with the public, it is likely that the directors and creators of this movie will push the public to watch the movie in theaters.
This franchise was translated into Spanish, and many will remember exactly how much funnier this movie was in Spanish compared to English. One of the actors that contributed a lot to this movie was Eugenio Derbez, who played the role of Donkey. He said in a recent interview, “I asked them to let me be the one to adapt the original script. Why would I do it if they didn’t let me adapt the script?” He also mentioned that the reason for this specific condition is because he is known for his improvisation of many roles. Later on, he mentioned that the only reason he would not do this movie is because he does not want his fans to say that he is losing his charm that brought the attention to him when he was just a child actor.
Overall, it is a consensus that many people do not want to go see this movie because for many, the movie series ended with the fourth movie, and that happily ever after. We hold hope that those who do go see this movie understand that it is not likely that they can compare to the original movies and that it is now more catered towards children. Therefore, we should keep this in mind when the time comes to see the movie with our younger siblings or nieces/nephews. Hopefully they will be able to enjoy this movie as a part of their childhood just as we enjoyed the original movies as a part of ours.
