Shrek Forever After

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Shrek Forever After

It ain't ogre...'til it's ogre.

Genre:	Fantasy Drama Adventure Comedy
Directed by:	Mike Mitchell
Produced by:	DreamWorks Animation
Written by:	Josh Klausner Darren Lemke
Starring:	Mike Myers Eddie Murphy Antonio Banderas Cameron Diaz Walt Dorhn
Photography:	Color
Distributed by:	Paramount Pictures
Release date:	May 21, 2010
Runtime:	93 minutes
Country:	United States
Prequel:	Shrek the Third
Sequel:	Puss in Boots Shrek 5 (upcoming)

Shrek Forever After (previously promoted as Shrek: The Final Chapter), also known as Shrek 4 and promoted for home release as Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter and styled as Shrek 4ever After: The Final Chapter, is a 2010 American computer-animated comedy-drama film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is the fourth and final installment in the Shrek film series and the sequel to Shrek the Third. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 21, 2010, and was theatrically released in the United States on May 21, 2010.

A fifth film is set for release on July 1, 2026. Two spin-offs, Puss in Boots (2011) and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022), have been released, while a spin-off centered around Donkey is in development.

Plot

Long-settled into married life and fully domesticated, Shrek (Mike Myers) begins to long for the days when he felt like a real ogre. Duped into signing a contract with devious Rumpelstiltskin, he finds himself in an alternate version of Far Far Away, where ogres are hunted, Rumpelstiltskin rules, and he and Fiona (Cameron Diaz) have never met. Shrek must find a way out of the contract to restore his world and reclaim his true love.

Why It Does the Roar

The real reason for the existence of this fourth film within the Shrek franchise was that his DreamWorks studio wanted to redeem the Shrek franchise after Shrek the Third's mixed reception by critics, and to complete Shrek's character arc: learning to open his heart in the first film, learning to value himself in the second film and learning to value everything he achieved in previous films in this fourth film.
- This is more evident when looking at the story behind the film's production. The film was to be written by Tim Sullivan (writer of Letters to Juliet) and the title would be Shrek Goes Fourth. However, Tim Sullivan was replaced by Josh Klausner and Darren Lemke, who rewrote the script. Upon reading the final script written by Josh Klausner and Darren Lemke, Jeffrey Katzenberg decided to cancel Shrek 5 (which would be released in 2013 and tell how Shrek met the Swamp) and changed the name of the film to Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter, because Jeffrey Katzenberg believed that the story Josh Klausner and Darren Lemke wrote for this fourth film was the perfect story for Shrek's journey to end his character arc.
  - Josh Klausner: "When I first joined this project, I didn't think this would be the final chapter. Originally, before the first film release, they had planned it to be a five-film saga, and the fifth film would be the last in the franchise. However, Jeffrey believed that the story that Darrem Lemke created for this fourth film was the perfect story for Shrek's journey to end, which was quite flattering".
Continuing with the previous pointer, it improves over Shrek the Third and a genuine effort to return to the roots of the first two Shrek films after the not good reception of the third movie.
Good grasp of the first film: In the first film it is shown that humans treat fairytale ogres and creatures in a racist manner and even use the tales creatures' fairy tales as if they were slaves or goods. At the beginning of Shrek Forever After, we see that humans don't treat fairy tale creatures badly and that Shrek is no longer hunted, but now he is seen as a celebrity for having changed the minds of the humans concerning freaks like him and fairy tale creatures in first two Shrek films. So, as seen in a parallel reality, if Shrek had never been born, humans would continue to abuse fairy tale creatures and ogres would continue to be hunted by the humans.
The film has a lot of respect for the franchise, the first film especially.
- Both this and the first movie have "I'm Believer" by Smash Mouth in the ending dance party.
- Fiona sings and a bird explodes in the first movie. At the dance party in this movie, Fiona sings and Fifi explodes.
Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter tried to correct Shrek the Third's errors.
- There are action and emotion and the story focuses on Shrek and Fiona's relationship, as well as Shrek and Shrek 2.
- Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter has many of the characteristic things from Shrek and Shrek 2 including:
  - A character reading a fairytale book at the beginning of the movie, like Shrek and Shrek 2.
  - Fiona's human form makes an appearance.
  - Shrek and Fiona give a kiss of true love to solve a problem like Shrek and Shrek 2.
  - A dance party at the end of the movie, like the ending of Shrek and Shrek 2.
    - Also, the song from the dance party from Shrek Forever After is "I'm Believer" by Smash Mouth from the dance party from the ending of Shrek 1, but in a new version, as a homage to Shrek 1.
- The animation has no flat movements and Mike Mitchell's direction has no static shots, being better than Chris Miller and Raman Hui's animation and direction in Shrek the Third.
- Shrek has a much better character development in this movie than in Shrek the Third.
- Fiona has much more focus in this movie than she had in the previous movies.
- While the songs aren't very memorable, they do fit with the scenes they're played in, like Darling I Do which illustrates the love between Shrek and Fiona as they have a romantic moment where the alternate reality Fiona teaches Shrek how to fight. Unlike Shrek the Third, where the songs didn't match most of the scenes they played.
Great voice acting, thanks to the cast, like Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz, for reprising their roles. Likewise, Walt Dohrn is as well-cast as Rumpelstiltskin.
The idea of an ogre's resistance is incredibly creative.
Great animation that is certainly an improvement from the previous three films.
Rumpelstiltskin is an entertaining antagonist who keeps the stakes high throughout the entire film. What makes him stand out among Shrek villains is that he succeeds in his plan! He tricked Shrek into signing the contract to wipe him out of existence, which allows him to take over Far Far Away. He's also extremely intelligent, coming up with a surprisingly clever plan to trick Shrek into making a deal with him and using a loophole to excuse keeping Fiona captive near the end where Shrek turns himself in to get a wish, and wishes for freedom of all ogres. While the film wants you to hate him, you can't help but kinda admire his wits when it comes to getting what he wants.
Cookie is a likable new character.
Great callbacks to the character's dynamics from the previous films.
- Shrek, in an alternative reality where Shrek was never born, sings a song to convince Donkey to become his friend, but he can't. However, Donkey becomes his friend when he sees Shrek cry and becomes his only friend and confidant again, until Shrek meets the alternative versions of Fiona and Puss in Boots, this time in the resistance of the ogres.
  - This is a great call-back and reference to the first film. In the first film, Donkey tries to convince Shrek to be his friend, but he doesn't want to. He even put together a song to convince Shrek to become his friend, but he can't. However, Donkey becomes Shrek's only friend and confidant, until he meets Fiona. Donkey is the one who encourages Shrek to start a relationship with Fiona, although he refuses because he thinks she doesn't like him. And Shrek, after listening to Donkey and Fiona talking, thinks that they betrayed him. But, Donkey apologizes to Shrek and the two become friends again, and Shrek marries Fiona. Donkey was the character that made Shrek learn the power of friendship, in addition to being Shrek's first friend.
- The alternate versions of Puss and Donkey becoming friends so quickly is nice, considering the animosity that preceded the friendship of the versions of Puss and Donkey from the original timeline in Shrek 2.
Decent musical score and the song choices aren't as questionable as in Shrek the Third.
- Similarly, Weezer's cover version of "I'm a Believer" is pretty decent.
- The sequence with the Pied Piper making the ogres dance with his flute as "Shake Your Groove" plays is also entertaining.
- "Darling I Do" is a great and emotional song.
The Pied Piper, like Puss in Boots before him, manages to be a funny, clever take on a fairytale character and a b----- bounty hunter.
The film has very moving and thoughtful phrases, which give good messages about appreciating our life such as:
- "My life was perfect now I will never get it back".
- "You rescued me".
- "When I need you where were you".
Emotional and heartbreaking moments, notably when Shrek cries for the only time in the series upon discovering he had brought his daughter's doll with him, a symbol of everything he had lost, as well as Shrek's final moments with the alternate Fiona where he explains to her that she gave him everything and that he got the chance to fall in love with her all over again.
- The scene where Shrek remembers his children is very emotional and heartbreaking.
It also flips Shrek and Fiona's roles in the first film in an interesting way; Fiona fully embraces her warrior-like qualities and hides the fact that she becomes a princess during the day as an effect of being traumatized by the fact that she was never rescued to the point where she rejects the notion that "true love" solves everything in favor of making things better on her own, while Shrek is the one who believes in the power of "true love".
Hilarious moments here and there, such as Donkey saying "Try Lou's bliss!", as well as one scene with Butter Pants where he says "Do the roar!".
Having this movie be somewhat darker than the previous three is an admirable move on the filmmakers' part.
This movie concluded Shrek's arc with a golden key, in the first film he learned to open his heart to the other, in the second film he learned to love himself and in this fourth and final film he learned to value the life that he has and why he is important to everyone.
Some characters in your versions of an alternate reality are creative, like Fat Puss in Boots or Gladiator Gingy.
This film is full of interesting concepts and some even expand the universe of the franchise, such as Warrior Fiona, the rebel ogres, the fact that Fiona's parents could not stand their daughter trapped in the Dragon Tower and went to sign a contract with Rumpelstiltskin.
Shrek's behavior is explained by the opening montage of what his life had become up until his children's first birthday. If you had to go through the same tiring routine every day you too would be very sick of it. As for Shrek yelling at Fiona, yes that was a mean thing for him to do, but remember that Shrek was becoming less satisfied with how monotonous his life was becoming and people can say things they end up regretting when they let powerful emotions like anger take over.
All the dubs that were made of this movie are amazing, in stark contrast to other dubs.
The main characters from the predecessors are still likable and put in a new and original light, Fiona in particular where we see how life locked up in a tower has affected and traumatized her.
- Shrek's character development is shown in this film; when arguing with the alternate Fiona, he insists that true love will solve everything and it does exist, a big contrast to how he dismissed the notion in the first film and Fiona insisted on the power of true love. In the end, he fully accepted everything he had and became a better person because of it, realizing how much Fiona meant to him ("It was you who rescued me...").
- Speaking of Fiona, she is more relevant than she has been since in the first film, in which she is an essential character in the first film who is insecure about her curse and eventually learns to accept who she is; even in Shrek 2, her story has been shafted from much of the narrative (while she is essential to Shrek's character arc, she doesn't receive too much focus). In Shrek the Third, she serves little to no real purpose to the story apart from being pregnant with Shrek's kids. Here, in Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter, much of the narrative revolves around her.
- And speaking of the alternate reality of Fiona, she and Shrek gain some great chemistry throughout the film. At first, Shrek only joins her resistance in hopes of getting his life back rather than being particularly concerned with her cause. But upon learning how Fiona's time trapped in a tower, waiting for a true love who never came had traumatized her, he eventually concludes that since he can't get his life back, he'll use whatever time he has left to try and improve this reality. Therefore, he turns himself into Rumpelstiltskin to get a wish and wishes for the freedom of all the captured ogres. But Rumpelstiltskin refuses to free Fiona because she's "not all ogre", leaving both her and Shrek trapped together This makes Fiona realize how much Shrek truly cares about her, and after they chain the dragon up and defeat Rumpelstiltskin, the day comes to an end and Shrek begins to fade from existence. Shrek tells her how she's already done everything she could for him, and how the best part of the day was how he got the chance to fall in love with her all over again.
It delivers an excellent message, explaining how "You only get one chance in life and you have to be grateful for what you have".
The birthday party scene is delightfully hectic and a good metaphor for what Shrek the Third was like: loud, annoying, and childish, what drives it home is how it takes place in what used to be the dark and seedy Poison Apple bar.
The ogre triplets do play some role in the plot in contrast to their appearance in the previous film. While they were nothing more than an excuse for child merchandising in Shrek the Third, here they serve as part of Shrek's Happily Ever After and Shrek does cry, for the first and only time in the whole franchise, when he temporarily erases them from existence due to his contract with Rumpelstiltskin, showing how much Shrek loves his children.
The climactic battle between the ogre resistance and Rumpelstiltskin's witches, as well as the fight between Shrek and Fiona against Dragon, is amazing.
Its ending is very emotional, endearing, and satisfying, it already shows a great evolution in the character of Shrek, showing him that despite the mistakes his life is perfect and he must value it, in addition, the scene perfectly combines the musical elements, through the melody "Never Been Better".
The credits scene is very funny, plus Weezer's cover of "I'm a Believer" gives a strong air of nostalgia.
- The credits combine many scenes from the previous three films, proving a beautiful sense of nostalgia for those who grew up with the series.
- At the same time, the scenes shown from the three films fit perfectly showing the past and present of the Shrek franchise.
It is a nice send-off to Shrek, although a fifth film is in the works.

Bad Qualities

It rehashes elements from the first film, as well as It's A Wonderful Life, Back to the Future, The Little Mermaid and The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause.
- It has many elements from the first film. Fiona is a fighter (although she is portrayed in a serious, dark, and dramatic way this time, while she was portrayed comically in the first film) and Shrek sings a song to convince Donkey to become his friend (just like in the first movie where Donkey sang a song to convince Shrek to be his friend) or the fact that Humans hunts ogres (just like in the first film) and the main villain is short (in the first film is Lord Farquaad, while in this film is Rumpelstiltskin). In addition to Shrek having to kiss Fiona for a spell to be broken (in the first movie it was the curse that made Fiona human by day and ogress by night, while in this movie Shrek has to kiss Fiona so that the world could go back to how it was before he signed the Rumpelstiltskin’s contract)
- Both It's A Wonderful Life and Shrek Forever After have the same concept: someone wishes that he was never born and he goes to an alternate reality where he was never born and everyone that he knows is miserable without him.
- Both Back to the Future and Shrek Forever After have the concept of the protagonist has to fix the timeline or the protagonist will disappear from existence.
- Both The Little Mermaid and Shrek Forever After share the concept of the main character making a magical deal with the antagonist that would grant their wishes, but signing the contract activates a countdown, and the main character has to nullify the contract by getting a kiss or else something bad will happen to them.
- Both The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause and Shrek Forever After have a very similar premise; The Santa Clause 3 involved Jack Frost tricking Scott Calvin into giving up his life as Santa Claus, resulting in Frost taking over the title and the turning the North Pole into a tourist attraction; like how Rumpelstiltskin tricks Shrek into signing away his life so Rumpel can become king of Far Far Away, which becomes desolate and run down.
The plot at one point feels very bland, as it uses a lot of the cliché that "I didn't know what I had until I lost it", at the same time its plot recycles the trope of "If I had not been born, my world becomes h---".
Although the animation is a notable improvement over the first Shrek films, there are very noticeable moments in the film where the facial or physical movement of the characters feels very artificial and unnatural, being more evident in characters that are in the background or extras. , at the same time. In environmental aspects such as landscapes, the kingdom of Far Far Away, the forest, the dragon castle, and the sky feel poorly polished, being more similar to those of a video game, not to mention that like Shrek the Third uses palette colors somewhat unpleasant when repeating the colors of dark yellow, dark orange, red and natural yellow.
Rather inappropriate and cringeworthy dialogue here and there, notably "I'm being a---napped!" and the infamous "My donkey fell in your waffle hole!" (though it's funny to some).
Some attempts at humor are rather either nonsensical or cruel, notably when Shrek is about to continue interrogating Gingy... right before Puss eats him, as well as when Shrek suggests to Rumpel that he erase the day he met Donkey.
The film is a bit rushed; the pacing of the film switches a lot, even more than in the previous movie. Especially considering how many feel that the whole premise of an alternate reality could have been more explored if it had not been for the rather short runtime of the film; it also is never explained as to what happened to Fairy Godmother in an alternate reality, although the film implies that Lord Farquaad (who was going to appear but was cut) died in an alternate reality as well (proof of this is that the Magic Mirror that belonged to Lord Farquaad in the first film now belongs to Rumpelstilskin in an alternate reality) and Charming (who was also going to appear but was cut) was probably killed by the Dragon (knowing that Charming is the little son of the Fairy Godmother and treated like a baby, besides being very goofy, so it is very likely that the Dragon killed Charming).
Although the soundtrack is incredible, some of the melodies used feel chilling: in particular, "Rumpel's Kingdom" and "Shrek Signs The Deal".
Although Shrek Forever After is the fourth film of the franchise, the events of Shrek The Third are not mentioned directly in this fourth film. In reality, similar to how Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers ignores the events of Halloween III: Season of the Witch, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors ignores the events of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, Cars 3 ignores the events of Cars 2 and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip ignores the events of Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, Shrek Forever After has few references to Shrek the Third and barely acknowledges the events of Shrek the Third, though this may have been done because Shrek the Third had a mixed reception by the critics and the public. Also, Arthur Pendragon (who was going to appear, but was cut) and Merlin no longer seem to even exist anymore and they are never mentioned. This means that it's best to skip Shrek the Third and just watch Shrek, Shrek 2 and Shrek Forever After.
- Speaking of Shrek the Third and its impact on the franchise, Shrek the Third does not have a big or no impact on the Shrek franchise as a whole. In fact, Shrek the Third can be overlooked, and literally, nothing is lost, as most of the events of Shrek the Third are completely ignored in Shrek Forever After as in Shrek's Christmas or Halloween TV specials and the shorts, or suffer almost 80% of retcon, for example:
  - Rumpelstiltskin from Shrek The Third has no relation to the Rumpelstiltskin from Shrek Forever After if one talks about his personality, design, behavior, attitude, and motivation.
  - Arthur (from Shrek the Third) is supposed to be the new king of Far Far Away, however in Shrek Forever After as in the shorts, Arthur not only does not appear or is mentioned, but he does not even seem to exist, since in the fourth film and the shorts it's implied that Queen Lilian remains the monarch of the kingdom.
    - Speaking of Arthur, the academy or school in Worcestershire (place where Arthur studied) from Shrek the Third, it seems they never existed, not even mentioned by Fiona, Lilian, Rumpelstiltskin (from Shrek Forever After), the ogre community (from Shrek Forever After), or the townspeople of San Ricardo (from Puss in Boots).
  - The villains from the fairy tales are supposed to have attacked the kingdom, as in the case of Arthur, they don't seem to have dealt any blow to the kingdom, in fact, the only thing that is mentioned of them in Shrek Forever After is in a dialogue from the fourth film where it is said that, with the marriage of Shrek and Fiona, they became good and lived in peace, the same can be said in the shorts.
  - In Shrek the Third was assumed that King Harold died, however in Shrek Forever After his death is ignored, being in the credits where it is confirmed that he died, however, if the final credits are omitted the fate of the character remains ambiguous, the same can be said of the flashbacks of Shrek the Third in the end credits, with the scene of King Harold in his bed eating a fly (after faking his death), which also becomes ambiguous, this also applies in the shorts.
  - It was assumed in Shrek the Third that Prince Charming was left poor after the events of Shrek 2. In Shrek the Third, he was also defeated by Shrek and crushed by a tower, however in Shrek Forever After and the shorts, this is completely omitted.
    - In fact, in the shorts it makes it clear that he's still alive, he's got money, and now he's good (being the short Shrek - M.J. Thriller HD the one that confirms all this), even in the video game that came out based on Shrek the Third, the character is alive.
  - Merlin (from Shrek the Third) is supposed to be an omnipotent being who now lives in Far Far Away. But just like Arthur's case, Merlin seems to have never existed.
  - Puss and Donkey changed bodies for a day in Shrek The Third, but this fact is completely ignored and never mentioned in Shrek Forever After and the shorts.
  - Rapunzel (from Shrek the Third) supposedly had an affair with Charming and betrayed Fiona in Shrek the Third, however, in the fourth film as in the shorts she does not appear and it does not even seem that Fiona knows her or lives in Far Far Away.
  - The princesses (From Shrek the Third) were supposed to be unwavering friends of Fiona, but in the fourth film, they only appear in the credits, in the shorts they do not appear or are not even mentioned.
On the topic of the lack of explanation for specific details, it is never explained how or why all of the other ogres are there at the end of the film after Shrek can get his life back and thus never met the other ogres; this may confuse those watching the film.
- Since Shrek has seen wanted posters of Fiona, he would have known that she wasn't in the tower anymore, but he still goes there to check if she is there anyway.
Inconsistencies with the previous films; for example, Rumpelstiltskin looks, acts, and sounds different than in Shrek the Third, though that example is not necessarily a bad thing.
- Similarly, it was shown in Shrek 2 that it takes at least a few days to get from Shrek's swamp to Far Far Away, but it appears to take far less than a day for the witches to bring Shrek from his swamp to Far Far Away.
- On that topic, this one is a bit complicated, but in this film, it seemingly doesn't take long for Shrek and Donkey to flee to a nearby forest after escaping from Rumpelstiltskin, and it also seemingly doesn't take long for Shrek to get to the Dragon's Keep in the same day, as if it were not that far (but a bit far enough) from Far Far Away, even though in the first film it took nearly two days to get from Duloc (which took at least from overnight to daytime to arrive there from Shrek's swamp) to the Dragon's Keep; it would be impossible for Shrek to get there as well as for the ogre resistance to get from there to Far Far Away in less than a day, given how it was established that the "Ogre for a Day" contract lasts for, well, a day.
The baby ogre cries are even more annoying than in Shrek the Third.
False advertising: Though the Gingy from the alternate universe is shown in many of the film's posters, he has little to nothing to do in the film, aside from convincing Shrek of Rumpelstiltskin's offer in which whoever brings him in gets to sign the "Deal of a Lifetime" contract before being devoured by Puss.
- In absolutely all the posters and merchandise of the film you can see Rumpelstiltskin with his wig of anger, however in the movie, Rumpelstiltskin only wears it in a maximum of 8 or 10 seconds.
There is bizarre writing that is all over the place and weird at times.
There is yet another absurdly high kill count in this film; two cases are when Rumpelstiltskin throws some water at a witch's face, which causes her to melt, and when Fiona uses her powerful singing to cause Fifi to explode in the end.
This is certainly the darkest film in a franchise known for its comedy. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it does also make it look more like a war against a society film than a fairy tale comedy film.
- Some people may criticize the film due to how dark and gritty it is compared to the first three films, and because of this some people find it even worse than Shrek the Third.

Reception

Critical response

At release, Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter received mixed reviews from critics and audiences, who criticized its clichéd story, although it was considered to be an improvement over Shrek the Third. The film currently holds a 58% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 197 reviews, with the consensus reading "While not without its moments, Shrek Forever After too often feels like a rote rehashing of the franchise's earlier entries". On Metacritic, the film had a weighted average score of 58 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, the same score earned by Shrek and Shrek 2.

It was not until a decade after its release the reception improved to the point that some fans started to appreciate the efforts of Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter to bring back the tone of Shrek and Shrek 2 and conclude the franchise decently, although another film is currently in the works. Nowadays, many consider the film as underrated and that it was not taken seriously during its initial release; this has led some fans to even deem Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter as the true third film of the franchise and disregard the existence of Shrek the Third, considered by many as the weakest film in the franchise, and also, Shrek The Third does not advance the story in ways that cannot be understood when they are reintroduced in Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter, which is one of the reasons for the fans skip Shrek the Third and consider Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter as the true third film of the franchise.

Box office

Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter grossed $752.6 million on a $165 million budget, becoming the 21rst-highest-grossing animated film, the fifth-highest-grossing of 2010, the second-highest-grossing animated film of 2010, behind Toy Story 3. Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter was a box office hit.

Trivia

Tim Sullivan was hired to write the script in March 2005 but was later replaced by Josh Klausner and Darren Lemke. Tim Sullivan wrote Letters to Juliet (2010) starring Amanda Seyfried.
Arthur, Lord Farquaad, and Charming were originally going to appear in this film; Arthur was supposed to appear as the king of Far Far Away (who would be abusing his powers), and in the alternate reality where Shrek was never born, Arthur would've still been in high school, while Lord Farquaad was supposed to appear in an alternate reality as the Lord of Duloq and an ally of Rumplestilskin, while Charming would be alive and cursed by the same curse as Fiona (human by day an ogre by night) in the alternate reality where Shrek was never born, which would cause a love triangle between Charming, Fiona, and Shrek.
According to Jeffrey Katzenberg in old news of October 2007, Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter was originally going to be called Shrek Goes Fourth, explaining that "Shrek goes out into the world, fourth!". In May 2009, however, DreamWorks Animation retitled the film Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter after deciding to cancel Shrek 5 and end the franchise with this fourth film.
This film has more ogres than any other Shrek film of the series.
Paul McCartney, David Morrissey, and Tom Cruise were all rumored to voice Rumpelstiltskin many times. But Walt Dorhn was elected.
Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter is notably darker and more serious than the previous three films.
Initially, the idea of Puss in Boots getting fat and lazy was met with some resistance until the writers Josh Klausner and Darren Lemke convinced everyone that the idea was rich in comic potential.
Even though Fiona is an ogre for most of the movie, we do get to see her briefly as a human. When Shrek is telling Puss the curse "By day one way, by night another, this shall be the norm. Until you find true love's first kiss, then take love's true form", we go to a flashback of Fiona in the tower as human as the sun sets and turns into an ogre.
This is the only Shrek movie to have a known main antagonist still left alive.
In a game made to promote this fourth film, Rumpelstiltskin has changed Shrek's world, just like in the film, and in the game, Shrek is in search of Princess Fiona's tiara at the Dragon's Keep. So, Rumpelstiltskin realizes that if Princess Fiona kisses Shrek before his "ogre day" is over, life goes back to normal and Rumpelstiltskin won't be king anymore. Rumpelstiltskin decides to negotiate with a greedy woman who would do his bindings if she could be "queen for a week". The devious woman was the Fairy Godmother.
In the game made to promote this fourth film, it is showing what happened to Fairly Godmother in the alternate reality where Shrek was never born. She would be alive in Rumpelstiltskin's new world without Shrek's birth, and because she never met Shrek, she never died. In the game, Shrek arrives at the "odd" Dragon's Keep, he discovers that the Dragon is missing and that someone else is staying at the castle; the Fairy Godmother. She stands before Shrek, Donkey, and Puss in her usual blue dress, but it's ripped and covered in dirt. It seems that asking, Rumpelstiltskin hasn't been good for her business. The Fairy Godmother is also found wearing Fiona's tiara and parsing herself in a mirror (saying, "Ah! Fit for a fairy queen!"). Eventually, Shrek calls her "Granny" and she doesn't respond well, saying that that's no way to treat their "new queen". Soon, an epic battle begins with witches, poisoned apples, potions, and fire. Eventually, the Fairy Godmother surrenders and gives Shrek back Fiona's tiara and as she flies away from the castle, she screams in anger and says, "This doesn't mean anything, you know! I'm still the queen! You hear me?! THE QUEEN!".
Jeremy Steig, who voiced Pied Piper, is William Steig's son.
The teaser trailer was attached to 20th Century Studios' Avatar. The second trailer was shown before Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland (only in the 3D versions) and How to Train Your Dragon, and the third trailer was shown in front of Iron Man 2.
Currently, there is a group of cult fans who consider Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter as the true third film of the franchise, and that same group of fans disregard Shrek the Third from existence and consider Shrek, Shrek 2, and Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter as a trilogy, similar to trilogies of DreamWorks like Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon.
- The main argument is that even though Shrek Forever After is the fourth film of the franchise, the events of Shrek The Third are not mentioned DIRECTLY in this fourth film. Also, Arthur and Merlin (two characters from Shrek the Third) do not appear and are never mentioned in Shrek Forever After, short films and TV specials. And the Rumpelstiltskin that appears in Shrek Forever After is completely different from the other Rumpelstiltskin from Shrek the Third.
Shrek 5 was on DreamWorks Animation plans before Shrek was released. Shrek 5 would be released in 2013 and rumors said Shrek 5 would take place after the events of Shrek the Third and before the events of Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter in the timeline. Jeffrey Katzenberg (producer of Shrek films) said that Shrek 5 would be the last film in the franchise and the story would be about how Shrek met the Swamp before the events of Shrek (2001). Therefore, Shrek 5 was canceled because Jeffrey Katzenberg believed that Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter was the perfect way to end Shrek's journey. However, Universal bought DreamWorks and confirmed that Shrek 5 would be released in 2019 with a Michael McCullers script and the story would take place several years after the events of Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter in the timeline and would be primarily focused on the lives of Shrek's children who would already be teenagers or young adults as a way to reinvent the franchise without making a Reboot. But, Shrek 5 and Puss in Boots 2 were canceled and now a Shrek reboot and a Puss in Boots reboot will be produced by Chris Meledandri, and the Shrek reboot will be released on September 22, 2022. But, according to the rumors, the reboots were canceled and now they are making Shrek 5 and Puss in Boots 2, but it wasn't confirmed. In 2021, it was confirmed that a new Puss in Boots movie, called Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, was released on December 21, 2022, and not a reboot of Puss in Boots. On April 4, 2023, Meledandri revealed that the fifth Shrek film is in active development, with the original cast to return.
It was referenced in South Park's "A Very Crappy Christmas" where Mr. Hankey says to the children that he was having an awfully busy time with his family, referencing Shrek's struggled time with the Ogre babies.

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