Shrek 2 is a 2004 American computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 1990 picture book Shrek! by William Steig. Directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, and Conrad Vernon, it is the sequel to Shrek (2001) and the second installment in the Shrek film franchise. The film stars Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz, who reprise their respective voice roles of Shrek, Donkey, and Fiona. They are joined by new characters voiced by Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Rupert Everett, and Jennifer Saunders. Like its predecessor, Shrek 2 also parodies other films based on fairy tales and features references to American popular culture. Shrek 2 takes place following the events of the first film, with Shrek and Donkey meeting Fiona's parents as her zealous Fairy Godmother, who wants Fiona to marry her son Prince Charming, plots to destroy Shrek and Fiona's marriage. Shrek and Donkey team up with a swashbuckling cat named Puss in Boots to foil her plans.
Development began in 2001, and following disagreements with producers, the screenwriters from the first film were replaced with Adamson. The story was inspired by Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), and new animation tools were utilized to improve the visual appearance of each character, particularly Puss in Boots. The lead actors also received a significant bump in salary to $10 million, which at the time was among the highest contracts in their respective careers.
Shrek 2 premiered at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or, and it was released in theaters on May 19, 2004. Met with favorable reviews like its predecessor, the film grossed $919.8 million worldwide. It scored the second-largest three-day opening weekend in U.S. history and the largest opening for an animated film at the time of its release. It went on to become the highest-grossing film of 2004 worldwide. Shrek 2 is also DreamWorks Animation's most successful film to date, and it held the title of being the highest-grossing animated film of all time worldwide until Toy Story 3 surpassed it in 2010. The film received two Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song, and its associated soundtrack reached the Top 10 on the US Billboard 200. The sequel, Shrek the Third, was released in May 2007.
CN Premiere: April 28, 2012
Plot[]
Newlyweds Shrek and Fiona return from their honeymoon to find they have been invited by Fiona's parents to a royal ball to celebrate their marriage. Shrek refuses to go at first, but Fiona talks him into it, and along with Donkey, they travel to the kingdom of Far Far Away. They meet Fiona's parents, King Harold and Queen Lillian, who are shocked to see both their daughter and son-in-law are ogres, with Harold particularly repulsed. At dinner, Shrek and Harold get into a heated argument and Fiona, disgusted at their behavior, locks herself away in her room. Shrek worries that he is losing Fiona, particularly after finding her childhood diary and reading that she was once infatuated with Prince Charming.
Harold is reprimanded by the Fairy Godmother and her son Prince Charming, as Charming was to marry Fiona in exchange for Harold's own happy ending. She orders him to find a way to get rid of Shrek. Harold arranges for Shrek and Donkey to join him on a fictitious hunting trip, which is actually a trap to lure them into the hands of an assassin, Puss in Boots. Unable to defeat Shrek, Puss reveals that he was paid by Harold and offers to come along and make amends. The three sneak into the Fairy Godmother's potion factory by pretending to be representatives of a worker's union and steal a "Happily Ever After" potion that Shrek thinks will make him good enough for Fiona.
Shrek and Donkey both drink the potion and fall into a deep sleep, awakening the next morning to discover its effects: Shrek is now a handsome man, while Donkey has turned into an elegant white stallion. In order to make the change permanent, Shrek must kiss Fiona by midnight. Shrek, Donkey, and Puss return to the castle to discover that the potion has transformed Fiona back into her former human self as well. However, the Fairy Godmother, having discovered the potion's theft, has already sent Charming to pose as Shrek and win Fiona's love. At the Fairy Godmother's urging, Shrek leaves the castle, believing that the best way to make Fiona happy is to let her go.
To ensure that Fiona falls in love with Charming, the Fairy Godmother gives Harold a love potion to put into Fiona's tea. This exchange is overheard by Shrek, Donkey, and Puss, who are arrested by the royal guards and thrown into a dungeon. While the royal ball begins, several of Shrek's friends band together to free the trio with the help of the Muffin Man's monster-sized gingerbread man, which breaks through the castle's defenses. Shrek is too late to prevent Charming from kissing Fiona, but instead of falling in love with Charming, Fiona knocks him out instead. Harold reveals that he never gave Fiona the love potion, whereupon the now-enraged Fairy Godmother tries to kill Shrek. Harold tries to save Shrek, and his armor reflects Fairy Godmother's spell back at her, disintegrating her; however, he is turned back into the Frog Prince, his true form. Harold apologizes for his earlier behavior, admitting his use of the Happily Ever After potion years earlier to gain Lillian's love, and gives his blessing to Shrek and Fiona's marriage. Lillian assures Harold that she still loves him.
As the clock strikes midnight, Fiona rejects Shrek's offer to remain humans, and they happily let the potion's effects wear off and revert to their ogre forms, while Donkey also changes back to his natural form. In the mid-credits scene, Dragon, who had previously married Donkey, reveals that they now have several dragon-donkey hybrid babies, much to his surprise.
Cast[]
- Mike Myers as Shrek
- Eddie Murphy as Donkey
- Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona
- Julie Andrews as Queen Lillian
- Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots
- John Cleese as King Harold
- Rupert Everett as Prince Charming
- Jennifer Saunders as Fairy Godmother
- Joan Rivers as Red Carpet Announcer
- Kate Thornton provides the voice for the UK version
- Larry King as Doris the Ugly Stepsister
- Jonathan Ross provides the voice for the UK version
- Aron Warner as Big Bad Wolf
- Cody Cameron as:
- Pinocchio
- The Three Little Pigs
- Christopher Knights and Simon J. Smith as Three Blind Mice
- Conrad Vernon as:
- Gingy
- Muffin Man
- Mongo
- Cedric
- Announcer
- Chris Miller as Magic Mirror
- Mark Moseley as Dresser
- Kelly Cooney as Fast Food Clerk
- Kelly Asbury as:
- Page
- Elf
- Nobleman
- Nobleman's son
- Andrew Adamson as Captain of the Guard
- Cameos
- Joan Rivers' cameo marked the first time that a real person had been represented on screen by the Shrek animation team. Her part (though retaining her visual representation) was redubbed by presenter Kate Thornton for the United Kingdom release.
- On the DVD special features and in the U.S. edition VHS (just before the credits), Simon Cowell appears as himself on Far Far Away Idol, a parody of American Idol. (see Home Media)