“Donkey!” is an iconic quote from the 2001 film Shrek. Shrek is an action-packed movie set in a magical world with fairytale creatures, like Pinocchio and the three blind mice. The premise of the movie is that Shrek wants to live peacefully in his swamp, but all of the fairytale creatures are kicked out of the kingdom because of Lord Farquaad’s dreams to have the perfect normal kingdom and put into the swamp.
Shrek is an ogre trying to get back to his peace and quiet in the swamp, but in the end, his life changes, creating a relief of tension and a nice resolution after a long adventure. There are a few main characters in Shrek. The first is obviously Shrek, but there are also characters like Donkey, Fiona, and the antagonist Lord Farquaad. Lord Farquaad is in pursuit of perfection, which is why he banished all the fairy tale creatures and also why he needs to marry a princess to become king.
It is understandable not to like Shrek similar to eighth-grade Matthew Endres as he blurts “I personally don’t like Shrek because I don’t like some of the characters like Lord Farquaad. I think the story is pretty well made but I don’t like Pinocchio. I think it is almost like a copy of the Disney movie (good movie)” but, other people don’t share that opinion. “I like Shrek because I think the Donkey is really funny. It has a really good plot to it too,” remarked Harmon Wojahn, a seventh grader while another eighth grader Tiago Hjermstad said “I like Shrek because he is big and green. He also loves onions just like me. When he sleeps he is fine. When he is awake he is on his grind.”
Shrek was produced by Dreamworks Animation, and the movie helped create the popularization of the song “All Star,” by Smashmouth. The song plays in one of the opening scenes of the movie. Although there are other songs in the movie, “All Star” quickly became the most popular song in the movie, and in return, the song became as iconic as it is.
In the end, Shrek just wanted some peace and quiet in his swamp, but Lord Farquaad kicked all of the fairytale creatures out of the kingdom and into the swamp. Shrek talks to Lord Farquaad and he gives him a quest to find a princess. Shrek goes on, and completes the quest to find the princess, then Lord Farquaad tried to marry her, but instead he gets eaten by a dragon.
Lord Farquaad dies at the end of the first movie, and Fiona decides to stay an ogre. Shrek and Fiona get married, which leads the audience into the second movie, where Shrek and Fiona visit Fiona’s parents.
