It’s Not Ogre – My Thoughts On Shrek Getting A Reboot

Some people have told us a reboot’s gonna roll us. I ain’t the best writer on Wordpress, but I am here to state that an upcoming and rather ironic reboot of the Shrek franchise has caused mostly negative reactions among social media [4] [10] [13]. But personally, I am not against reboots and reimaginings of iconic franchises since I believe that a reboot of an iconic and memorable franchise can be done correctly. Heck, I strongly approve of the Ratchet and Clank reimagining from 2016 for consisting of the charms of the original Ratchet and Clank series from 2002 to 2013 [14]. What makes the upcoming reboot more shocking is that it will be produced by Chris Meledandri, the one who produced Despicable Me [6]. Shrek’s legacy began with a children’s book written by William Steig in 1990 [2] [5] [20] [28] [29], but will the reboot taint the original intentions of the book and charm of the 2001 Dreamworks film [2] [12] [22]? Well, let us discuss what can make the new generation of Shrek at least acceptable. And of course, we can spread some awareness of what could make it moderately atrocious.

Hey now! It’ll be a reboot! [22]

I am not here to spread spoilers, but I am hoping that the story within the reboot that will be very faithful to what made the original Shrek film from 2001 a masterpiece [2] [12] [22]. The original film was memorable for setting up a magical world of many fairy tales and twisting it into a creative series of humourous moments [2] [4] [12] [22]. It would be interesting to see Puss to meet Shrek and Donkey on their quest to rescue Princess Fiona. A whole new aspect for the reboot’s interpretation of the original’s story I would accept would be giving Shrek the ability to breathe fire since he was able to in the book, along with heating up food by glaring at it [5] [20] [28] [29]. Could there be any new additional characters in the new era of Shrek? If so, then they ought to be a witch who strongly represents the one in the book and Shrek’s parents as they never appeared in any of the four original films, but sang to him in the musical based off the first original film [5] [8] [20] [24] [25] [26] [28] [29]. The reboot of the green ogre’s adventure should be able to mock the tropes of classic fairy tales in ways that can be refreshingly familiar.

Puss in Boots could meet Shrek and Donkey on their re-imagined adventure. However, rumour has it that a sequel to his own film from 2011, “Puss in Boots 2: Nine Lives And 40 Thieves” is set to be released in December 2018 [17] [18]. Nevertheless, it has been mentioned that Puss’ life will be rebooted as well [13].

Let us hope that the exceptional developments of the characters will remain. The way Shrek stormed out of his children’s birthday party and yearned for the days of when he was a “real ogre” may have decreased his likeability in Shrek Forever After [23], but hopefully, in the reboot, his moments of grouchiness may be more reasonable as he will be most likely feared by villagers again [21]. Donkey will definitely need to still be the comic relief with good intentions [15]. We all know Fiona was a cliché damsel-in-distress who yearned for her true love at first, who later turned out to be a skilled kung-fu fighter and became a caring and rational woman in the later Shrek films [12] [16] [22]. She will indeed revert back to the sometimes sassy, yet loyal human princess we knew from 2001 [12]. If Puss in Boots were to join in the new interpretation of Shrek’s first big quest with his noble steed, I hope he will consist of his bravery and charms of a ladies’ man [17]. As long as the upcoming incarnations of the beloved characters do not end up seeming like bizarre impostors, the reboot could turn out to be fairly decent.

Greetings, dear knight. Do you like what you see? You know the rules. And so do I. [16]

There is also hope that the other aspects of the writing for the reboot could also honour the memorability of the original film for our fellow 2000s kids, such as the humour [12] [22]. I have nothing against sudden new aspects with a reboot’s writing, as long as they are at least legitimate and not overshadowing. One thing that I would not want in the reboot would be too much reliance on current tropes and trends in real life, such as the term “hashtag” as it would affect the effort and originality of the humour and not really fit in a corrupted fairy tale setting that was established in the early 2000s [22]. Trust me, the moment when Sid the Sloth’s former bachelorette said to him “And by the way, you look nothing like your profile picture” in Ice Age: Collison Course did not work well since the Ice Age franchise is set over twenty-thousand years ago [1] [9]. As well as some new small elements for the current generation that do not rely on today’s trends, let us hope that there will be some clever adult humour for the older folks who grew up with the original Shrek film [7] [12] [22].

Surely the upcoming reboot cannot consist of adult jokes that are as deviously clever as the original film’s adult humour. [7]

It would be amazing of the original voice actors of Shrek, Donkey and Fiona will return for the reboot to reprise their roles. This would be a sign of Meledandri staying true to his motive of not completely revamping the property [10]. Eddie Murphy’s performances made Donkey’s upbeat personality and ability to sing timelessly outstanding in the original four films [2] [15]. If Puss were to appear in the whole new establishment, it would be highly likely that he would still speak in a smooth Spanish accent that suits his identity as a parody of Zorro purrfectly [17]. Alternatively, if not all of the voice actors are able to reprise their roles again; perhaps some other talented actors and actresses who can sound very similar to any of the characters can somewhat enchant our fellow brogres. For example, the alternative cast for “Thriller Night”, the parody of the music video for Thriller by Michael Jackson from 2011 did quite a great job at making their performances convincing [11] [27]. I do not wish to berate a whole new interpretation franchise for featuring different voices for characters, as long as the new voices sound very similar to the characters’ original voices.

Who knows? Some of the cast for the reboot can always be the original stars of Shrek: The Musical if not every original voice actor can show up. [26]

I have a feeling that the reboot could feature a whole new art style for the characters, compared to the stunning realism of the original films’ art style [2] [12]. It could be likely since Dreamworks and Illunination Entertainment both belong to Comcast nowadays and Despicable Me, the film Meledanri produced definitely had a different 3D art style that gave its characters more cartoonish anatomy [2] [4] [6]. It would be oddly interesting to see possible new designs of the main characters based on what they looked like in the book [2] [5] [20] [28] [29]. However, a more preferable choice would be making the final designs resemble the original designs of the characters from the four original Shrek films. As someone who adored the realistic beauty of Princess Fiona as a human in the original films [12] [16] [22], I just hope the final render of her human form for the reboot will be elegant and adorable. I prefer not to dislike a reimagining solely for a new art style and new character designs, but as long as there will be a convincing art style and some suitable character designs that stay true to the appeal of the original style [2] [12], the reboot should look very promising.

It would be quite cool to be the new 3D Shrek wearing Steig Shrek’s attire. [20] [21]

In conclusion, I am honestly neutral about the idea of the ogre starting his fairy tale all over again [10] [13]. The elements that will greatly reduce the chance of our fellow brogres berating the reboot are:
• Faithful writing that almost matches the appeal of the original film.
• Possibly new elements that at least seem valid.
• The same cast of voice actors and actresses.
• A possible new 3D art style that is highly convincing.
Since Comcast bought the rights to Dreamworks back in 2016, thus making Dreamworks a new neighbor for Illumination Entertainment [2] [4], let us hope that Meledanri’s statement remains truthful because making the moments of an ogre meeting a princess in a castle and having romantic feelings for her endearing again would definitely be essential [22] [26]. After the reboot is released, will we feel comfortable with being beyond of days of a certain extremely weird love story we all know [2] [3]? Or will somebody want to sign a contract from Rumpelstiltskin, thus giving up a day to prevent the reboot from ever being made [19] [23]? Move aside, Minions. Shrek and the crew need to do their best to rewrite the story in the best way possible for a new era.

Anyone for waffles later? [12]

References

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