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Shrek the Third

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This article is about the film. For the video game, see Shrek the Third (video game).
Shrek the Third
File:Shrek the third ver2.jpg
Movie poster featuring Shrek as King
Directed byChris Miller
Raman Hui (co-director)
Written byJeffrey Price (screenplay)
Peter S. Seaman (screenplay)
Jon Zack (screenplay)
J. David Stem (story)
Joe Stillman (story)
David N. Weiss (story)
William Steig (book)
Produced byJeffrey Katzenberg
Aron Warner
StarringMike Myers
Cameron Diaz
Eddie Murphy
Antonio Banderas
Julie Andrews
John Cleese
Larry King
Rupert Everett
Justin Timberlake
Regis Philbin
Eric Idle
Edited byMichael Andrews
Music byHarry Gregson-Williams
Distributed byDreamWorks Distribution through:
Paramount Pictures
Universal Pictures
United International Pictures
Release dates
United States May 18, 2007
United Kingdom June 29, 2007
Running time
93 min.
CountryUSA
LanguageEnglish
Budget$160 million

Shrek the Third is a computer animated comedy film of the Shrek series. It is the sequel to Shrek 2, which is the sequel to Shrek. It was produced by Jeffrey Katzenberg for DreamWorks Animation, and is distributed by Paramount Pictures, and was released in theaters on May 18, 2007 (June 29, 2007 for UK and Ireland).

It was produced with the working title of Shrek 3. Like the first two Shrek films, the movie is significantly based on fairy tale (specifically Grimm's Fairy Tales) themes.

Plot

File:Shrek3.jpg
From left to right: Cinderella, Snow White, Fiona, Rapunzel, and Sleeping Beauty.

The movie begins with Prince Charming, who is now acting at a dinner-theater. After being heckled by the audience and returning to his dressing room (a small table with a cracked mirror in a back alley behind the dinner-theater) Charming complains that he hasn't gotten his "happily ever after" and that just isn't fair. Meanwhile, King Harold has fallen ill in Far Far Away and Shrek and Fiona have been summoned to take his place for a few days. Shrek has difficulties looking or acting the part of king. He tells Fiona how much he's looking forward to going back to their swamp, just the two of them. Fiona reveals that she wants to have children, but Shrek responds that children are not his kind of thing.

King Harold is soon on his death bed. With his final breaths, he tells Shrek that there is one other heir: his nephew, Arthur Pendragon. The entire kingdom mourns their king, but Prince Charming sees this as a opportunity to usurp the throne. Shrek sets out to find Arthur, along with Donkey and Puss in Boots. As they're sailing off, Fiona runs to the dock and announces to Shrek that she's pregnant. Shrek begins to have several nightmares about his future children, despite assurances from Donkey that fatherhood is a great thing. Shrek eventually discovers Arthur, who is a high school student, picked on by other students at his school. Arthur joins Shrek, and is feeling good about his new role until Donkey and Puss in Boots scare him with responsibilities. Arthur gets into an argument with Shrek and they fight over the ship. They end up crashing on an island, where they meet Arthur's retired wizard teacher, Merlin. In order to help Shrek and Arthur reconcile, he makes them look into a thick smoke to reveal their thoughts. Shrek sees a baby carriage, but lies and says that he sees a rainbow pony. Merlin is pleased and moves on to Arthur, who sees a bird and its father. The father bird abandons the chick, leaving him frightened and confused.

Shrek takes this opportunity to show Arthur that they're not so different after all. Just as Arthur's father abandoned him, Shrek's father was pretty bad too. In fact, not wanting to face fatherhood, he tried to eat his own son. Shrek also tells Arthur that just because someone calls you "a monster or a loser, it doesn't mean you are one". Shrek tells him that people feared him for years, thinking that he was horrible and terrifying, and for years, he believed them. Now, he's learned to just be who he wants to be. Arthur laughs with Shrek and they become friends again. Meanwhile, Prince Charming has gone to the Poison Apple Bar where he convinces other fairy tale villains (consisting of Captain Hook, the Wicked Queen, a Cyclops, Rumplestiltskin, Mabel (one of Cinderella's step-sisters), the Headless Horseman, Little Red Riding Hood, and assorted witches, black knights, evil dwarves, and evil walking trees) to join him in a fight for "Their Happily Ever After". The villains feel like their side of the story has never been told and now is the time to do it. Fiona is still at the castle, at a baby shower with Rapunzel, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Doris (one of Cinderella's step-sisters), Snow White, Dragon and Queen Lilian. Suddenly, Prince Charming and the other villains arrive to invade the kingdom. Fiona and her friends escape just in time, but the rest of the kingdom is thrown into chaos and the villains take over Far Far Away.

The Three Little Pigs, Big Bad Wolf, the Gingerbread Man, and Pinocchio are confronted by Charming, who demands to know where Fiona and Shrek are. The group resists well, but one of the Pigs breaks down and squeals. Charming decides to send some of his men to hunt down Shrek for a final showdown. Shrek, Puss, Donkey and Arthur wake up to find themselves surrounded by the villains sent by Charming. Working as a team, the group manages to frighten the villains away, but it doesn't bring them any closer to Far Far Away. Arthur decides to ask Merlin, and he whips out some acting skills to convince the old man. Merlin warns them that although the spell should work, there may be some minor side effects. Before he gets a chance to fully explain, they are zapped into Far Far Away. The side effects cause Puss in Boots and Donkey to switch bodies. Fiona navigates the underground tunnels of the palace with her friends, but Rapunzel betrays them to become the new queen of Far Far Away and Charming's wife. The remaining girls are imprisoned, but Queen Lillian uses her head... to bust down two stone walls, leading to their escape from the prison.

Shrek arrives at the city to find everything in complete disarray. Pinocchio gives Shrek some information on what has happened since he left. Charming is bent on revenge against Shrek for "stealing" his "Happily Ever After" and plans to kill Shrek in a play later that night. Shrek sneaks into Charming's dressing room, but Charming's men arrive shortly and quickly capture everyone. In an effort to save Arthur, Shrek tells Arthur that he wasn't the true heir, he was just a loser who could easily take Shrek's place. Thinking that Shrek is serious, Arthur storms off and is ignored by Charming. Charming's play culminates when Shrek is led onto the stage. Shrek then humors the audience by ridiculing Charming's singing and acting. Just as Charming is about to kill Shrek, Fiona and her friends leap onto the stage to confront the villains.

Arthur has been convinced by Donkey and Puss in Boots to return after they explained what Shrek's true intentions were, and he manages to convince the rest of the villains that they don't need to do this. He tells them about the speech that Shrek gave them, and all fairy tale villains decide that they don't need to be villains anymore. Unfortunately, Charming doesn't feel the same way and Shrek has to use force. Charming stabs at Shrek with his sword, but misses. Charming is upset that he didn't get his "happily ever after," and Shrek says he'd better keep looking for his, because Shrek wasn't going to give up his own. Shrek throws him to the side, and Dragon knocks a prop tower on top of Charming. The crown he was wearing then slides across stage, and Shrek offers it to Arthur, who accepts. Meanwhile, Gingy has slid onto the stage via Rapunzel's hair, revealing it to be a wig. The bald Rapunzel flees in humiliation.

Merlin reverses the body-switching spell on Donkey and Puss in Boots, but leaves their tails mismatched. The film concludes a few months later, with Shrek and Fiona back in their swamp, now parents to triplets.

Cast

Production

File:Shrek the third.jpg
Early Promotional movie poster for Shrek the Third.
File:Shrek the Third logo in Russian.png
Russian title

With Viacom's acquisition of DreamWorks SKG, Shrek the Third is the first Mike Myers film to be released by Paramount Pictures (which itself was bought by Viacom in 1994) since 1993's Wayne's World 2. On the 2004 show, Father of the Pride, Donkey (voiced by Eddie Murphy) was featured, solely to promote that Shrek 3 although he stated that it was to be released in 2006 rather than 2007.

Five actors from NBC's Saturday Night Live appear in the movie. Two actors, Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph, were current cast members at the time of the film's release; the remaining three are Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cheri Oteri. Two members of the Monty Python troupe, John Cleese and Eric Idle, provide voices in the film. Cleese has reprised his role as King Harold, while Idle provides the voice for the new character Merlin.

Reception

Shrek the Third opened in theatres in 4,122 cinemas on May 18, 2007. The film grossed a total of $121,629,270 in its first weekend, the best opening weekend ever for an animated film, and third best overall. Currently, the film has grossed $150 million dolllars domestically.[1]

The film received mixed reviews (43% on Rotten Tomatoes). Critical reaction was more negative than that for the first two films in the series. David Ansen wrote that his problem with the film was that, "its slightly snarky wit is aimed almost entirely at parents... this one never touched my heart or got under my skin. It's a movie at war with itself: a kiddie movie that doesn't really want to be one."[2] The film yielded some positive reviews from writers such as A. O. Scott from The New York Times who believed that the movie "seems at once more energetic and more relaxed [than its predecessors], less desperate to prove its cleverness and therefore to some extent, smarter."

Sequels

Peter Zaslav said in an interview that the Christmas special Shrek the Halls will pick up from where Shrek the Third left off.[3] The film will also be followed by another sequel, Shrek 4, which will be released in theatres in 2010.[4] In an interview with Antonio Banderas, a spin-off film entitled Puss in Boots: The Story of an Ogre Killer was confirmed. The spin-off will take place between Shrek the Third and Shrek 4.[5]

Merchandise

File:Dronkey Plushie.jpg
A plushie of Dronkey sold at Toys R Us Retailers to promote the movie.

Many toys, games, books, clothes and other products have made the way to stores. A video game based on the film has been released for the Wii, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation Portable, PC, and Nintendo DS.

McDonald's Promotion

File:Shrek the Third Glasses.JPG
McDonald's glasses

On May 11 to June 7, 2007, McDonald's released four limited glasses: Shrek, Donkey, Princess Fiona, and Shrek and Fiona's kids, in addition to the ten Shrek-themed Happy Meal toys. Also, this promotion includes many more Shrek related merchandise to market the film: Minty Mudbath Milkshakes (a mixed taste of chocolate and shamrock (mint flavors), Swamp McFlurries (comprised of green M&M's and brownie pieces), green straws, Shrek bags, and Shrek cups. All such promotional merchandise is currently available at all participating McDonald's. Previous Shrek fast-food promotions were held by McDonald's rival Burger King (which chose to promote Spider-Man 3 instead). This is also the first major merchandise marketing McDonald's has done without Disney since the previous exclusive contract between the two companies had expired.[6]

Cultural references

For songs played in the film, see Shrek the Third: The Motion Picture Soundtrack.

Continuing a tradition set by the first two films, Shrek the Third contains several references to popular culture, fairy tales, and legend:

  • During the first scene with Prince Charming the tag of graffiti artist "Cope2" can be seen in the back ground on a wall.
  • During the final battle, after taking the body of Puss in Boots, Donkey uses his (Puss') sword to carve a "D" in some wood. Similarly, Puss carved a "P" into a tree in his first appearance in Shrek 2. Both of these are a parody of the character Zorro, which was played, among other actors over the years, by Antonio Banderas (the same actor who voices Puss in Boots).
  • After smashing the second wall, the dazed Queen can be heard humming "My Favorite Things". Julie Andrews, who plays the queen, sang the same song in The Sound of Music.
  • The animal call that Snow White uses against the Talking Trees is actually the war cry from Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song.
  • In the beginning of the film, in Prince Charming's dinner theater, coconuts are used for horse's hoof beats. This same technique was used in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which also starred John Cleese and Eric Idle.
  • Merlin, Lancelot, King Arthur (Artie), and Guinevere (Gwen) are all characters from Arthurian lore.
  • After Shrek and Artie argue, Merlin plays the music to "That's What Friends Are For".
  • After Gingy's life flashes before his eyes, he sings "On the Good Ship Lollipop".

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=main&id=shrek3.htm
  2. ^ David Ansen (2007-05-21). "Oh, Grow Up Already". Newsweek. Retrieved 2007-05-21. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ Peter Zaslav interview (IGN)
  4. ^ http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=17293
  5. ^ Voice of Puss in Boots says three 'Shrek'-related flicks are in the works. MTV.com, 2006-03-30
  6. ^ "Talk of the day: At McDonald's, Shrek and salad costar on menu". St. Petersburg Times. 2007-05-09. Retrieved 2007-05-21.
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