Shrek the Third

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 83.104.57.254 (talk) at 17:00, 20 May 2007 (→‎Cast). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

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
(USA, Canada, Australia, Brazil, France, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, UK theatrical & worldwide DVD)
Universal Pictures
(Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Spain and Switzerland theatrical)
United International Pictures (Theatrical distribution in all other areas, directly and through various affiliates)
Release dates
United States May 18, 2007
United Kingdom June 29, 2007
Running time
93 min.
CountryUSA
LanguageEnglish

Shrek the Third is a computer animated / comedy film of the Shrek series. It is the sequel to Shrek 2, which was 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 & Ireland).

It was produced simultaneously with Shrek 2[citation needed] 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 synopsis

Template:Spoiler

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

The movie begins with Prince Charming (Rupert Everett), riding on a steed through a forest to rescue a beautiful princess. However, the "forest" is actually a screen being rolled by two dwarfs and his "horse" is made out of wood. Prince Charming has been reduced to acting at a dinner-theater and none of the audience members are pleased. The set is falling apart and worst of all, everyone is cheering for Shrek when the final scene falls. Charming storms off the stage and into his dressing room, which is really just a mirror and a table in the alley outside. Frustrated and angry, Charming glares at his reflection. He hadn't gotten his "happily ever after" and that just isn't fair. Looking at a picture of his long gone mother, Fairy Godmother, Charming starts to concoct a plan to avenge their honor.

Meanwhile, King Harold (John Cleese) has fallen ill in Far Far Away and Shrek (Mike Myers) and Fiona (Cameron Diaz) have been summoned to take his place for a few days. But Shrek doesn't do so well as the new heir. For example, he cuts a man while trying to knight him, sinks a ship as it's preparing to sail, etc. Shrek is given a makeover in hopes of at least looking the part, but he still ends up looking like a wolf in sheep's clothing. Shrek's only hope is that this won't last much longer. He tells Fiona how much he's looking forward to going back to their swamp, just the two of them. Fiona tells him that she's hoping for a few more too. After a few wrong guesses, Shrek learns that Fiona wants to have children. Shrek thinks about his friends' children, especially Donkey (Eddie Murphy), who has five dragon-donkey hybrids with his wife, Dragon, and tells Fiona that children are not his kind of thing.

Unfortunately, Harold is soon on his death bed. With his final breaths, he tells Shrek that there is only one other heir: Arthur Pendragon, cousin of Fiona, nephew to the king and queen, and son of an unknown father. He knows that Shrek would be a good king anyway, but that no matter what he chooses, it will be the right thing. The entire kingdom is in mourning of their king, and Shrek soon sets out to find the heir. Of course, joining him is Donkey and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) but Shrek feels that he never cares about them nor his other friends. As they're sailing off, Fiona runs to the dock and announces to Shrek that she's pregnant. A suprised yet shocked Shrek, learning that he will face fatherhood, begins to have several nightmares about his future children. Everyone assures him that fatherhood is a great thing, but Shrek is not so sure.

When they came upon a land, Shrek finds that Arthur (Justin Timberlake) was in an academy. All the students have a fairy-tale-style look to them. Unfortunately, this doesn't make Arthur any less of a "loser". Even the kids playing the medieval version of Dungeons and Dragons pick on him. When Shrek announces to everyone that Arthur is going to be king, the other kids only laugh. Aboard the ship, Arthur 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 old wizard teacher, Merlin (Eric Idle). Merlin was fired after he had a nervous breakdown, and now he has to stay in touch with nature and his inner self more. 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 and begins to get hit by green goop when the baby in the carriage throws up. 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. Merlin tells the boy that he's a nutcase and retreats to his hut.

Shrek decides to take 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 fear him for years 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 holds a coup d'etat for all the fairy tale villains, Captain Hook, The Wicked Queen, a Cyclops, Rumplestiltskin, Mabel the Ugly Stepsister, the Headless Horseman, Red Riding Hood and assorted wicked witches, black knights, dwarves, and magical walking trees, to conquer the kingdom. He convinces them 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 with her closest friends: Rapunzel (Maya Rudolph), Cinderella (Amy Sedaris), Sleeping Beauty (Cheri Oteri),Doris(one of Cinderella's step-sisters) and Snow White (Amy Poehler) Dragon and Queen Lilian(Julie Andrews). At the baby shower, Cinderella gives her a "baby poop scooper", Snow White gives her one of the Seven Dwarves as a baby sitter, and everyone else just gives her advice. Suddenly, Prince Charming arrives and crashes the kingdom. Fiona and her friends escape just in time, but the other citizens are not as lucky. The entire kingdom is thrown into chaos and the villains take over Far Far Away.

The Three Little Pigs (Cody Cameron), Big Bad Wolf (Aron Warner), the Gingerbread Man (Conrad Vernon), and Pinocchio (Cody Cameron) are still in the princesses' tea room, trying to seem normal. When Charming demands to know where Fiona and Shrek are, everyone manages to avoid the question, with the Gingerbread Man starts singing hysterically, Pinocchio talking in circles, and Big Bad Wolf just staying calm. But one of the Three Little 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 are minor, with Puss in Boots and Donkey switching bodies.

Fiona and the girls are still navigating the underground tunnels of the palace, but Rapunzel betrays them to become the new queen of Far Far Away and Charming's wife. The remaining girls are imprisoned, but Fiona's mother Lillian (Julie Andrews) teaches them to be independent and breaks them out of the prison. They return to the castle and save the city from Charming's schemes.

Shrek arrives at the city to find everything in complete disarray. Pinocchio has been imprisoned as a marionette doll, but he manages to give 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 captured 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, Charming and Arthur are stunned. Arthur storms off and Charming returns to the important task of getting rid of Shrek.

Charming's play is significantly better than the one he participated in at the dinner-theater, but the audiences still cheer when Shrek is led onto the stage. Just as Charming is about to kill Shrek and rid himself of the humiliation he's suffered, Shrek gives Charming one-liners about his clothing and attitude, to the delight of the audience. Fiona and her friends leap onto the stage, they quickly defeat the villains imprisoning Shrek, but Charming just summons more.

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. Charming is trapped inside one of the tower windows, defeated, and the crown hew was wearing slides across stage.

Shrek offers Arthur the crown again, but this time it's up to Arthur whether or not he wants to take it. Shrek will no longer throw away his own responsibilities to someone else who is just as unsure as he is. Arthur picks up the crown and smiles at the crowd. Fiona and Shrek are reunited at last and Arthur already looks like he's popular with his new subjects.

Donkey and Puss in Boots go to seek Merlin once again, and he manages to reverse the body-switching spell. However, their tails are still mismatched. Merlin starts to tell them, thinks better of it, and waltzes off.

A few months later, Shrek and Fiona are happily back in their swamp, Fiona having given birth to triplets. It's not as bad as Shrek thought it would be, although both of them are completely exhausted by the end of the day. The film ends with the children playing around with Donkey and his children, Lillian, and the swamp creatures.

Template:Endspoiler

Cast

Production

File:Shrek the third.jpg
Early Promotional movie poster for Shrek the Third.

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.

In total, its directors and art directors approved more than 5,000 characters for the film.[1] Five actors from NBC's Saturday Night Live appear in the movie, two of whom are currently on the show; Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cheri Oteri, Amy Poehler, and Maya Rudolph. Two members from the Monty Python troupe, John Cleese and Eric Idle voices are used in this movie. Cleese has reprised his role as King Harold, while Idle provides his voice for the new character Merlin.

Release

Reception

During its opening weekend, the film received mixed reviews (44% on Rotten Tomatoes). Critical reaction was fairly negative compared to the first two films in the series, the main complaint being a lack of emotional depth. The film did, however, yield many positive reviews from reviewers 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."

Box Office

Shrek the Third opened in theatres in 4,122 cinemas on May 18 2007. According to studio estimates, the film grossed a total of $122 million in its first weekend.

Sequel

Peter Zaslav said in an interview that the Christmas special Shrek the Halls will pickup from where Shrek the Third left off.[2] The film will also be followed by another sequel, Shrek 4, which will be released in theatres in 2010.[3] In an interview with Antonio Banderas, he has said they are making a fifth Shrek and a Puss In Boots movie entitled Puss in Boots: The Story of an Ogre Killer.[citation needed]

Merchandise

Many toys, games, books, clothes and other products have made the way to stores. A video game based on the film is being 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 McDonalds. 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 McDonalds has ever done without Disney, due to the previous contract the two companies had expired.

See also

Trivia

  • According to National Geographics for Kids, the part when Shrek uses slang to convince Artie to be king wasn't part of the script.[citation needed]
  • Justin Timberlake was signed on to play a part in Shrek 3 by his performance on SNL.
  • Banderas used a sword prop in order to voice and act like Zorro, a character he played twice.
  • In the beginning of Charming's play, the music played by the pirates aboard the ship bears a resemblance to the style and theme of the music from the Pirates of the Carribean films.
  • During Charming's performance at the climax of the film, the music playing in the background uses sections of Danse Macabre (Saint-Saëns).
  • It is shown that Rapunzel wears a wig and is actually bald.
  • When Gingy is threatened by Captain Hook, his entire life flashes before his eyes. One segment of this flashback is a scene from Shrek, where Farquaad is torturing Gingy in Duloc. It is also revealed that Gingy had a family before being captured by Farquaad.
  • This is the first time in the trilogy that the movie didn't open to a reading of a fairy tale book. The first opened with Shrek reading the story of Princess Fiona and the second had Prince Charming read the same story but differently.
  • This is also the first time in the trilogy that Fiona is not seen in her human form.
  • This is also the first time that the movie didn't end in a big musical number. In the first the cast sang "Im a believer" and in the second Puss and Donkey sang "Livin' La Vida Loca, however Puss and Donkey appeared in the credits singing a duet."
  • After smashing the second wall, the dazed Queen can be heard humming "A Few of My Favorite Things", an apparent nod to Julie Andrews' role in "The Sound of Music.
  • In the beginning of the film, in Prince Charming's dinner theater, coconuts are used for horse's hoofbeats, a nod to Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
  • When Shrek arrives at Worcestershire, two boys leave a smoking carriage, holding what looks to be a incense swayer used as a bong.
  • The Fairy Godmother only appeared on photos & statues in Prince Charming's dressing room.
  • Last appearance of King Harold

References

  1. ^ http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/2007/05/shrek-third-is-foxy-flirt-between-kids.html
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=17293

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Shrek the Third.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shrek_the_Third&oldid=132245376"