Everyone’s Favorite Movie: Shrek

Besides Coming to America, I cannot name another more quoted movie in my every day life than Shrek. Shrek was the anti-Disney movie and it was brilliant. It’s been 19 years since the movie debuted and I guarantee each and every one of you who are reading this right now know the movie front and back and have a line that you repeat daily. But what made this movie so appealing?

I think the main reason why Shrek was an instance classic is because someone spend the time and money to make a fairytale movie while making fun of fairytale movies. For years, we’ve been inundated with fairytale stories that we idolize, but if we think about it, we can never get a happy ending like that. That’s what we got from Shrek. Who knew he would get or even want the girl at the end of the movie?

Eddie Murphy as Donkey and Mike Myers as Shrek were the dynamic duo that we didn’t know we needed. Two heavy hitting comedians in a children’s movie?! Who dared do this? Dreamworks did! You know what’s even better than Donkey and Shrek? John Lithgow as Lord Farquaad. Lord Farquaad is exactly what I imagined a person like him would be. That’s another reason why this movie is the GOAT. Fiona, voiced by Cameron Diaz, was the exact opposite of what we’d seen from Disney’s princesses but it was a result of her having to learn how to fiend for herself, something we had never seen before. It wasn’t until now that we get the Rapunzels, Tianas and Meridas. Before them, the princesses were kept girls. They ain’t really have no skills. Those girls needed a man because the only man they had was their dad, who was usually a king. Fiona grew up under the same circumstances but was cast away because of a curse that turned her into an ogre so she had to learn how to survive a mouth-breathing dragon. I just had to survive my momma until I moved.

There were just so many gems, comedic and actual life lessons. I think this was the first time we all were able to see ourselves in a fairytale movie. Let’s be honest, we all are not supermodels. Some of us live in a swamp-like environment and hate people like Shrek. Some of us are annoying like Donkey (raises hand) and sometimes get one everyone’s last nerves. Some of us are like Lord Farquaad and have a complex about their height. While some are like Fiona, independent and trying to find their true form. Shrek was the first time I could see myself in a fairytale because I am wholeheartedly Donkey and I am, finally, ok with that. But, Shrek needed Donkey to force him out of his curmudgeon ways and be a real boy, for lack of a better term, with feelings.

Let’s relive some of my favorite scenes from the movie, shall we?

“Duloc is the perfect PLACE!” We all know the song. Relive the moment.

I want to admit something that I posted before on my personal Facebook page. Am I the only person who thought the Muffin Man was a man who was a muffin and not a man who made muffins? Please, someone…anyone, tell me that I’m not alone. This is a scene that I do WELL, voice and all. Watch and recite.

This scene is by far my favorite scene in the movie, and yes, I repeat this line at random moments in my life OFTEN, more often than I would like to admit.

So tell me, what did you learn from Shrek? Is there anything you took away from Shrek? And then you can tell me what lines you repeat on a daily basis. LOL