The excitement for the newest installment of the Shrek series has escalated ever since the fifth movie was hinted at. It has been fifteen years since the last movie in the series, which has left large expectations from fans who wish to see these iconic characters once again. We finally got the first teaser trailer for the film and the thoughts on this short peek have been rather conflicting for a few reasons.
One thing that stuck out immediately was the updated character designs. By no means do I think they are bad, but they are far different from what longtime fans were expecting. While some fans are disappointed with the new designs, I can get behind the style that the animators are going for.
People forget that the films began during the early 2000s, which was still an awkward time for computer-generated animation. As much as I enjoyed many of those movies, the visuals don’t hold up as well compared to animation nowadays. This new design looks sleeker and cleaner, which is off-putting for people who grew up with the films. Plus, Shrek and Donkey look much older in this teaser, which makes sense if the film takes place when all of Shrek’s kids have grown up.
My concerns are less about the designs and more about the contents of the teaser, which dedicates its time to remark on the impact that Shrek has had on the internet. Shrek did once have a large meme culture online, but it has not been relevant for years and I fear that the film might lean into these outdated jokes. Of course, the teaser will likely not correlate with the film and only serves to list the return of the original cast, but it is hard to tell if the film will have a genuine purpose of being made outside of making money. Despite these concerns, I am excited to see more about the upcoming movie and if future trailers will give us a better idea of what is to come.
