Summary
The long-in-developmentShrek 5means the return of the franchise’s best characters, a few of which I am especially looking forward to seeing again. It is a given thatShrek (Mike Meyers), Fiona (Cameron Diaz), and Donkey (Eddie Murphy) will be returning.More than likely, Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) will be brought back into the story, following his successful spinoff movies.Puss in BootsandPuss in Boots: The Last Wishexpanded theShrekuniverse to include several more characters who could also appear inShrek 5.
TheShrekcast has always included a wide array of wacky, subverted fairy tale characters,making up Shrek’s crew of friends and some enemies. I am a huge fan of deconstructed fairy tale characters, with a few from theShrekmoviesstanding out to me as particularly clever. However, as fairy-tale movies of this nature are not exactly groundbreaking anymore, the characters need to be able to stand on their own. Luckily, there are numerous from the franchise’s previous installments who always provide plenty of laughs and action.
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10Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek)
From Puss In Boots & Puss In Boots: The Last Wish
Firstly, I hope it is not too much to ask thatShrek 5uses the same animation style asThe Last Wish. With it having been so long since the lastShrekmovie came out, a stylistic revamp is in order. Meanwhile, it would be appropriate to include some of the characters exclusively from thePuss in Bootsmovies inShrek.Puss in Bootswas well received, whileThe Last Wishdrastically surpassed its predecessorand more people than just me are eager to see their new characters return.
At the forefront of both movies is Kitty Softpaws, the feline outlaw and pickpocket who can serve as a cornerstone for both action- and emotion-oriented storylines.Kitty is Puss' combative and intellectual match; they keep each other on their toes at all times, even though they are technically on the same side. The two cats have a great dynamic that would elevateShrek 5— it’s amusing to me to think about how the rest of theShrekgroup would react to Kitty encouraging the best and worst in Puss.
9Perrito (Harvey Guillén)
From Puss In Boots: The Last Wish
Completing the"Team Friendship"trio inThe Last Wishis Perrito, the incredibly sweet and funny therapy dog who falls in with Puss and Kitty on their latest adventure.Perrito provides lots of hilarious beats but has an odd insight into some of his traveling companions' inner workingsand drives character growth as a result. In a very powerful scene and interesting moment for the extendedShrekfranchise, Perrito calms Puss down when he is having a panic attack.
Both Puss and Kitty are lone wolves, but Perrito latches onto them with complete dedication and friendliness until they fondly accept they are sticking together. Perrito could be at the center of other similar subplots about providing emotional support and finding new friendships in future movies.Luckily, Puss, Kitty, and Perrito are seen arriving in Far Far Away at the end ofThe Last Wish,strongly implying that they will all be a part ofShrek 5.
8Pinocchio (Cody Cameron)
From Shrek, Shrek 2, Shrek The Third, & Shrek Forever After
It’s not aShrekmovie without Pinocchio.Shrek relies upon a close friend group of characters from fairy tales and nursery rhymesto come to his aid when fighting villains. Of this group, Pinocchio is the most reliably funny member. He claims some of the funniest scenes in the franchise, such as theMission: Impossiblespoof sequence inShrek 2. Additionally, Pinocchio’s humor builds upon itself as the movies go on.
Additionally, Pinocchio’s humor builds upon itself as the movies go on.
A lot of Pinocchio’s jokes are based on him not being able to lie,leading to him saying something random that turns out to be true, then leading to him going on a crazy ramble of statements, none of which are technically untrue. Hopefully,Shrek 5would come up with another clever way to pervert this aspect of Pinocchio’s tale for humor. This is combined with his part in the overall comedy of this group of characters, who are seen doing lots of"normal"things together, like watching this world’s version of bad reality TV.
7King “Artie” Arthur (Justin Timberlake)
From Shrek The Third
Shrek the Thirdis one of the weakerShrekmovies, and its take on King Arthur is considered lackluster. However,I believe thatShrekcould still do something with"Artie"to make him a more dynamic character.I also always thought that the brief cameos by other characters from Arthuriana at the high school were fun and hilarious Easter Eggs: The jousting team captain who bullies Artie is Lancelot (John Krasinski), his would-be best friend and right-hand man, and Artie confesses his love to Guinevere"Gwen"(Latifa Ouaou) before departing.
Puss and his crew are headed back toFar Far Away, where Artie and perhaps some of his former classmates have presumably ruled for years now.The modern cacophony of fairy tale heroes and villains proved to be an amazing part ofShrek 2, and mixing in Arthuriana could be just as fun. Artie’s character just needs to be less of a generic noble heir inShrek 5, but he may have become more jaded in the intervening years.
6Goldilocks (Florence Pugh)
The Last Wishrecruited another major rising star with Florence Pugh as the universe’s edgy version of Goldilocks. Goldilocks' return would likely also mean the same for her adopted family, the just as impressively cast Three Bears: Papa (Ray Winstone), Mama (Olivia Colman), and Baby (Samson Kayo).Goldilocks has a great, grungy design, a heartwarming arc about learning to fully appreciate her found family, and is one of the franchise’s most skilled fighters— up there with Puss and Kitty.
I’m of the opinion that any movie will be improved by Pugh’s involvement and that Goldilocks' conceptualization was a neat and fun addition to theShrekroster of twisted fairy tale characters.Goldilocks and the Bears would likely be alliesbut probably operate outside the usual group of Shrek’s closest friends. This could contribute to a complicated story where there are multiple groups of characters after the same thing, as is the case inThe Last Wish.
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5Brogan (Jon Hamm)
From Shrek Forever After
Shrek Forever Afteraddresses a long-standing plot hole in the series: Shrek and Fiona can’t possibly be the only ogres in this world. It’s still a plot hole that they are completely absent for the rest of the series, butit opens up the potential for future storylines with the underground army of ogres that Fiona led against Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn).After that experience, Shrek may have made an effort to find the other ogres again in his own timeline, as the movie’s credits scene suggests. One of them is Brogan, Fiona’s unofficial right-hand man.
It would be interesting for Brogan to return because of what he connotes about Fiona’s character. In the alternate reality,Fiona saves herself from the tower and leads an army, something I thought was in character and very empowering for her,as well as a valuable subversion of the damsel in distress trope effectively added in so late in the franchise. It would be great ifShrek 5didn’t completely discredit this, and Brogan could be a way to remind the audience of it.
4Queen Lillian (Julie Andrews)
From Shrek 2, Shrek The Third, & Shrek Forever After
Julie Andrews was also an amazing addition to theShrekcast when she and John Cleese joined the franchise as Fiona’s parents inShrek 2.Queen Lillian balances out her daughter and a lot of the other characters, who are very exaggerated with loud personalities,cracking outlandish jokes or charging into a fight. In contrast, Lillian is more tempered, providing the power squad with a wiser, older presence. Yet, she can hold her own in a fight as well as anyone else.
Lillian may still live in Far Far Away, possibly advising Artie,who is Fiona’s cousin and could use some advice on how to rule. Maybe the starting point ofShrek 5will be that Artie has become a bad king (something that does happen in Arthuriana) and Lillian is the one to realize that Far Far Away is falling into ruin. In general, Lillian can be used to facilitate other characters' arcs while being interesting on her own.
3Snow White (Amy Poehler)
The whole subplot of the princesses asserting that they can save themselves inShrek the Thirdfeels a bit preachy, in retrospect; Fiona rescuing herself after years of pain and loneliness inShrek Forever Afteris actually handled better. However, the princesses themselves are all given goofy personalities that are perversions of how they are generally thought of in pop culture.Snow White is probably the best one, who is written in direct contrast with the DisneyPri idea of herbeing the sweetest and most passive princess.
Snow White casually drops a few brutally mean comments,and the transition from sitting and waiting to be rescued (because she bluntly asserts that’s all they can do) to attacking Prince Charming’s (Rupert Everett) forces feels the most natural with her. Snow White and all the princesses would probably return together, but she could be the ringleader if Fiona wasn’t with them. Snow White also represents a slightly different kind of comedy for Amy Poehler, one which it would be great to see her return to.
Another highlight of the mainShrekgroup is the Big Bad Wolf,sometimes known as"Wolfie,“who may be a double character from different versions of both the Little Red Riding Hood and Three Little Pigs stories. Wolfie has always been voiced byShrekproducer Aron Warner, who adopts a bored intonation for the characters' lines. This enables Wolfie to have some funny beats where he coolly responds to everything happening around him.
The best of his moments — and possibly the funniest moment of the whole franchise — is Wolfie undercutting Charming’s whole heroic rescue sequencewith irritation that his reading has been interrupted and the casual announcement that Fiona is on her honeymoon. That, at least, is why I want Wolfie to return — if nothing else, as a reminder of this hilarious beat. However, the group that also includes Gingy (Conrad Vernon), the Three Blind Mice (Christopher Knights), and the Three Little Pigs (also Cameron) will probably also all return as a unit.
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1Fairy Godmother (Jennifer Saunders)
From Shrek 2
Resurrection is not an established part of theShrekworld. However, no one is going to deny that the Fairy Godmother is one ofDreamWorks' best villainsand a dazzling part ofShrek 2, with an epic cover of “Holding Out for a Hero.” She is a master manipulator and embodies a unique threat in this setting of trying to enforce a traditional fairy tale structure. Therefore,I would readily accept a half-baked resurrection storyline if it is used as a vehicle to bring the Fairy Godmother back.
She is a master manipulator and embodies a unique threat in this setting of trying to enforce a traditional fairy tale structure.
She is also set up for a straightforward arc of wanting to avenge Charming’s (her son) death. This would actually be new for her character, with less scheming involved and a more head-on, emotionally driven approach. This might be a far-fetched wish of mine forShrek 5, but it could be the basis of a new, hilarious, and heartfelt installment for the franchise.
