I thought love was only true in fairy tales
Meant for someone else but not for me
But now I’m in love
And I’m a believer
-I’m a believer OST Shrek
You can easily sum up this cute little animated motion picture in those two lines.
This is Shrek
What is Shrek?
Not a what... but a who. Shrek is an ogre. And like all creatures of his kind, he too is green, ugly and desires to be left alone. He just wants his own quiet peaceful little place where nobody can trouble him. He is not wanted by the world and he doesn’t want the world either.
Fionna
Well she’s a damsel in distress, trapped in a castle waiting to be rescued by her prince. Instead she is rescued by Shrek on behalf of the prince. Naturally on meeting the prince she isn’t too excited since his royal highness is only three feet tall.
Zach
He’s an ass. Ooops... didn’t want it to sound like an insult, but that’s what he is. Zach is a donkey who accompanies Shrek on his mission to save the princess from the castle which is guarded by a dragoness (is that even a word?) Shrek finds him highly irritating, but Zach comes across as a very lovable donkey with a great sense of humour. His one-liners are a treat and they’re what makes this movie great for even adults to watch.
The Animation
It’s as good as any other animated movie and the expressions are truly a delight to watch. The song at the end of the movie called ’I’m a believer’ by the donkey is awesome. Don’t walk out the hall till you’ve finished hearing this song.
The Humour
It’s charming and very refreshing. While the animation will keep the kids glued.. the humour will keep you adults from any snack breaks. The humour is the highlight of this movie.
The Tale
The prince takes over the swamp that Shrek calls home. In order to win his swamp back he has to rescue the princess Fionna, from the dragoness. Zach accompanies him and they succeed. On their journey back home, Shrek falls in love with the beautiful Fionna. He’s too afraid to put his feelings across to her for obvious reasons... he’s an ogre and she is after all, a beautiful princess...
If I told you I loved you,
would you push me away?
Or would you let me fall into your arms,
where, forever, I would stay?
The twist in the plot is that Fionna had been cursed as a child that she would turn to an ogre by nightfall. This curse would come undone when she is kissed by her true love. After the kiss she would take her ’true love’s form’. She loves Shrek but doesn’t know how he’ll react to her turning into an ogre by nightfall...
If I told you everything,
could you still feel the same?
When you know exactly who I am,
would you still be mine to claim?
Thus neither is able to successfully profess love for the other for fear of being rejected thinking...
What’s the use in trying
All you get is pain
When I needed sunshine, I got rain
On the day of her wedding to the midget.. err.. prince, Fionna lets Shrek see her ogre-form after nightfall.
The love that Shrek feels for Fionna is not shaken by her appearance and he let’s her know that she is ’beautiful’. No, he wasn’t trying to ’get with her’... he simply told her what he truly saw.. the beauty that was her soul and the beauty that was their love.
...and they lived happily ever after
Love an ogre??
We’ve been told that true love has nothing to do with the outward appearance. Ever so often we find ourselves being affected by what’s on the outside. Not our fault. We were meant to be this way. But that also means that we’ve not found true love yet, or rather... true love hasn’t found us.
True love doesn’t mean loving an ogre, it means looking at the person and not seeing the ogre :)
Just go watch it.
Note: Some stanzas in ‘The Tale’ are from poems on lovepoetry.com