Cast _* Story _* Interesting Facts _* Directors Interview _* Shrek 4D

Directed by: Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon (Andrew Adamson's involvement is unclear)
Written by: Joe Stillman (Joseph: King of Dreams) and Andrew Adamson
Music by:

Production Started On: May 30, 2003 (originally scheduled for Fall 2001 then January 2003)
Released on: May 21, 2004 (previously set for Memorial Day 2004 then June 18, 2004)
Running Time:  minutes

Budget:
Box-Office: $ million in the U.S., $ million worldwide
 
 

CAST
 

Shrek... Mike Myers
Princess Fiona... Cameron Diaz (this character was originally casted as Janeane Garofalo)
Donkey... Eddie Murphy
Queen Lillian (the mother of Princess Fiona)... Julie Andrews
King Harold (the father of Princess Fiona)... John Cleese
Prince Charming... Rupert Everett
The Fairy Godmother... Jennifer Saunders
Puss 'n Boots... Antonio Banderas
The Evil Stepsister... Larry King
 
 

STORY

Official

In this highly-anticipated sequel the fairytale continues as Shrek, Donkey and Princess Fiona depart to visit Fiona's parents in the Kingdom of Far, Far Away and embark on a whirlwind of new adventures.
 

In Jeffrey Katzenberg's own words from an April 2002 press junket: "After returning from their honeymoon and showing 'home movies' to their friends, Shrek and Fiona learn Fiona's parents have heard their daughter has married her true love and wish to meet the husband and invite him to their kingdom, called Far Far Away. When Shrek and Fiona arrive, the fun begins, because the parents had assumed that she had fallen in love with Prince Charming [and are a bit shocked to learn thier son-in-law is a 700-pound ogre with horrible hygeine and a talking donkey]. So it's a little bit of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner meets Shrek."

Jeffrey Katzenberg revealed a few more nuggets in a June 2003 interview: "Shrek 2 is about coming to terms with the fact that everything that happened in the first Shrek was a gigantic mistake. Shrek was not meant to rescue Fiona. Her true love was meant to be Prince Charming. There was a whole plan of what was going to happen to Fiona, her future and her kingdom, and Shrek has made a fine mess of all of it." That means straightening out the tangled plot. "It begins with an invitation from Fiona's mom and dad, who, you recall, locked her away in a castle to await Prince Charming's kiss," he says. Fiona's folks, voiced by Julie Andrews as Queen Lillian, and Cleese, are in for a surprise when a rude, crude lime-hued dude arrives instead of a courtly prince. As Katzenberg says, "When Fiona steps out of the carriage, it's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? [Puss 'n Boots] and Donkey become rivals and, ultimately, buddies."
 

Unofficial
(published on July 17, 2003 at Counting Down)

The film begins with pages from a fairytale book (a la Shrek), showing how the magical world was upset by Shrek taking the place of Prince Charming by marrying Princess Fiona. It turns out Prince Charming is the son of none other than the Fairy Godmother, who has not given up hope for a Happily Ever After for her darling impossibly handsome child.

After a raucous honeymoon, including a spoof of the famous Here to Eternity beach scene where a mermaid tries to steal Shrek from Fiona, Shrek is taken to meet Fiona's parents. The only problem is, Fiona's parents (the King and Queen of Far Far Away Land) are expecting Princess Fiona and Prince Charming, rather than the two ogres that alight from the pumpkin carriage to greet them on the red carpet.

The sequel takes place in Far Far Away, a fantastic fairytale spin on Beverly Hills: instead of the Hollywood Sign, "Far Far Away" graces the nearby hills; various fairytale characters own large estates, including Rapunzel and Jack (the Beanstalk rises up from behind his gates). Far Far Away even sports its own Gap clothing store and stretch carriage limousines. When the King tries to have Shrek killed in favor of Prince Charming, the fun starts. The King employs the services of Puss 'n' Boots, who, despite his best efforts, fails miserably and joins Shrek on his quest for Fiona. After drinking a "Happily Ever After" potion to try and win back his wife, Shrek (and Donkey) are transformed into beautiful versions of themselves, which causes all sorts of mistaken identities; arrests; and an appearance by Shrek and Donkey on the Fairytale version of Cops: Knights. The episode of Knights is seen by Pinocchio, Gingerbread Man and the Three Little Pigs on television (the magic mirror) as they house-sit Shrek's swamp abode. Deciding to rescue Shrek and Donkey, the film moves into high gear as the Fairytale group resort to a ridiculously entertaining way to save them and storm the castle.
 
 

INTERESTING FACTS

  It was announced the week of Shrek's release that a sequel was already under way.  The movie's voice talents, including Mike Myers, were not contractually obligated to return for Shrek 2, which was originally rumoured to get a December 19th, 2003 sequel.

  Negotiations begun in early July 2001 with Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz to reprise their roles from Shrek for the film's sequel.  According to Variety, the three actors could pull as much as roughly $35,000 per hour for their work, which isn't really all that bad considering what their live-action performance paychecks usual haul in.  For the first film, the actors are said to have worked for a bit more than scale, with an additional end deal, which resulted in each pulling in about $3M. With the incredible success of the film, look for the three principals to get pay raises, possibly netting $5 million each up front, unusual in the world of animated films with the exception of the talent from Toy Story 2.  At this point, the trade reports that that Eddie Murphy is the lynchpin in the deal, with whatever he negotiates setting the standard for Myers and Diaz.

  Shrek screenwriters Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott started writting the sequel in June 2001. They implied at the time that Evil Lord Farquadd (John Lithgow) could find his way back to mess with Shrek again! However, it was announced in June 2002 that the duo opted out over creative differences but are still remaining on the project as consultants. Joe Stillman is now charged with writing.

  Much of the work with CGI features is the design of the characters, so the turnaround time for this sequel--and any future sequels--is much shorter (Shrek took nearly five years to complete), since the programs for the lead characters had been already mostly complete by 2001.

  According to an August 19, 2001 report, PDI (Pacific Data Images) had decided to push Tusker back to 2003 and focus instead on Shrek 2, putting that film on a fast-track to a July 3, 2002 release (which turned out to be at least partly false). DreamWorks and PDI would be looking to capitalize on the success of the original film as quickly as possible while the lesser-known Tusker waits in turn in line.

  On October 17, 2001, Dreamworks announced that writers David Stem and David Weiss would handle the film's script, replacing Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott. While talking to Variety, Weiss gave his take on the stress of writing a sequel to a movie that pulled in over $440M worldwide, saying, "I have spent a fair amount of time curled up under my desk feeling paralyzed, but you can't think about that, or else you have to fill your office with toilet paper." He adds, "The process is actually very similar [to the live-action Clockstoppers], except that now, we talk to storyboard artists, we take their ideas and gags, and then take all the credit for them." Besides the mentioned Clockstoppers, directed by Jonathan Frakes, the writing duo's previous gigs include The Rugrats Movie and Rugrats in Paris. Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott were apparently too busy working on other projects including Zorro 2 (tentatively titled Zorro Unmasked); DreamWorks' CGI animated animal flick Tusker; and Disney's Treasure Planet. To keep the film on fast tracks, DreamWorks had to hand out the script to less busy screenwriters.

  On November 15, 2001, Variety announced that Andrew Adamson, who directed Shrek with Vicky Jenson, would do the sequel solo. He was then trying to hash out a story with scribes David Weiss and David Stem. "The worst thing was that we let Shrek and the princess get married, because we could have used that," he said. "At the time, we were hardly thinking about the sequel, we were just so thrilled that we'd worked all that time and people didn't think it sucked."

  Shrek 2 was originally scheduled to be released after Truckers, which Andrew Adamson would have directed first. Although Adamson has not yet signed on to direct the Shrek sequel, a DreamWorks representative said that he will be involved with the sequel, although his role has not yet been established. However, Adamson's Shrek directing partner Vicky Jenson was not supposed to be working on the sequel. She was slated to direct another unconfirmed DreamWorks CG project.

  Actress Cameron Diaz revealed during a press junket for Vanilla Sky, in December 2001, that she might be singing in Shrek 2: "I don't know what they have in store for me. I just guess I just keep trying to overcome my fear about putting myself out there over and over again." She added in another interview: "I'm thrilled to work with the directors again and with DreamWorks and with the whole creators and the Shrek crew. I can't wait to hear what this message is going to be because to me Shrek was such a great message - really positive and uplifting." Cameron's character in the animated movie was both the beautiful princess and an ugly ogre. She adds that she'd like to come back as the ugly character. "I like the ogre look. I thought she was beautiful. She had big eyes and she was round and soft and delicious. I mean I loved her so, you know, as both people. Both images are who she was and, so yeah, I can't wait to see what she's going to bring."

  Variety confirmed that Cameron Diaz, Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy signed again in December 2001 to provide the voice of the main characters in the sequel to Shrek, and would be paid $10 million each (based on factors including the picture's profits) for about a week's worth of time to lay down her lines.

  Jeffrey Katzenberg told CNN in January 2002 that the sequel would "pick up right where the first movie ended. The second film would begin with Shrek and Fiona returning from their honeymoon to find a letter from Fiona's parents inviting the newlyweds over for dinner. They have no idea that their daughter is now an ogre." A Dreamworks SKG official confirmed Friday that Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy have all signed on for the sequel. "They're not recording yet because the final script isn't done yet, but they've all signed on," studio spokesman Chip Sullivan said. As for John Lithgow, who voiced the evil but diminutive Lord Farquad in the original film, "he was eaten in the end, so I don't know whether he comes back or not," Sullivan added. Shrek 2, expected for a 2004 release, is being co-written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, the same team behind the original Shrek and the 1992 hit Disney-animated film Aladdin.

  PDI confirmed to Animated Movies in February 2002 that "the story for both Shrek 2 is ready for production. You'll see Shrek 2 in theatres around Memorial Day 2004."

  Minutes after receiving the Best Animated Feature Oscar for Shrek, producer Aron Warner said backstage that there won’t be a preponderance of Disney jokes in Shrek 2. "Anyway, our jokes were mostly about Disneyland."

  In March 2002, Jeffrey Katzenberg confirmed that the project was going well: "We’re storyboarding it and we have a great script and the cast is back, so we’re full steam ahead for the summer of '04."

  Cameron Diaz expressed specific hopes for the proposed sequel in an April 2002 interview, although she had not yet seen a script at the time. "I hope it allows it to just stay true to Fiona and to tell the message that Shrek has sent out," she said in an interview. Since Fiona became an ogre at the end of Shrek, Cameron could have a completely different character to play in part two, and she said she welcomes such a challenge. "That's the fun thing. Once I know what the story is, once there's a script, then you can start playing with it. There's such a creative, wonderful group of people who created Shrek, and so funny too, they have such a great sense of humor and really just good people that I think they'll come up with something very fun." Should Fiona turn back into a princess, Diaz would not be worried. "I'm sure there would be a good idea, a good reason for it, if she did," she said.

  Asked about the sequel at an April 2002 press junket for Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Jeffrey Katzenberg declined to reveal the plot and simply commented: "Really funny. Really, really, really funny."

  PDI/DreamWorks announced at the Annecy International Animation Festival that "fairy godmothers would have an important part in Shrek 2."

  The Hollywood Reporter published an article in July 2003 about the questionable recruiting method that DreamWorks used for Shrek 2. "While every studio has its own courting methods, DreamWorks Animation, with five ambitious projects in production, has left competitors scratching their heads over issues of fair play. It all started when the Glendale-based studio grew tired of flying candidates one by one from New Zealand's Weta Digital up to PDI, its Northern California facility where Shrek 2 is in production. Weta's artists are prime prey, not only because of their Oscar-winning work but also due to their impending availability once New Line's upcoming The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King wraps in the fall. So instead of racking up multiple frequent-flier points, DreamWorks simply sent its recruiters on a direct flight to New Zealand in hopes of attracting WETA talent.  Many Rings artists were invited to a DreamWorks party in a local hotel suite, where they were plied with liquor and seduced with talk of potentially lucrative deals. According to one WETA executive, DreamWorks recruiters also told partygoers that if they abandoned Return of the King on the spot for Shrek 2, they'd be given double the compensation package that they would otherwise receive if they left King after production wraps. DreamWorks head of animation Ann Daly contended that sending recruiters to New Zealand to host 'an open house' is all part of 'the normal process of doing business cost-effectively' and is not outside the bounds of what any other CG studio is doing in light of the current talent crunch. 'The thing that we won't do is that we will not interfere with an existing contract. That's not in the best interest of the community. We're only asking artists to join us if and when their existing employment is finished.' "

  John Cleese signed on to voice Princess Fiona's father in June 2002: working on the film is "much like radio,"said the Monty Python star. "I started out in radio. It's my favourite medium."

  Mike Myers said during an Austin Powers in Goldmember press junket in July 2002 that he is looking forward to the computer-animated movie because it will give him the opportunity of "just working with [DreamWorks honcho] Jeffrey Katzenberg and an entire team that loves animation and loves children's movies." He added in an interview, "It's just inspiring to be around people that are so committed to it being excellent." Myers was cagey when asked for details about the movie. "I can't tell you," he said. But, he added, "it will go well."

  PDI told Animated Movies in November 2002 that "story artists (doing story boards), visual development and 3-D modeling are all busy at work. Layout and animation start in January" on the sequel.

  Kelly Asbury, one of the two directors of Spirit: Stallion of Cimarron, was hired to direct Shrek 2 according to November 2002 reports. "The story starts when Shrek and Fiona return from their honeymoon to find a letter, its Fiona's parents inviting the newlyweds around for dinner, and are unaware of what happened to their daughter. June 18th, 2004 is the date for the Ogre couple to return to the big screen."

  AICN's Harry Knowles wrote in June 2003 that he had "recently been hearing fairly lame story elements about Shrek 2, apparently Shrek and his wife head to meet her parents which basically live in a 'Fairy Tale' version of Hollywood/Beverly Hills... Apparently the schtick is as thick as me.... i.e. neverending." DreamWorks however claims that the sequel will be even funnier, and better animated, than the original.

  Those who purchased a children's ticket to Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas when it opened July 2 received one free read-along CD-ROM, Shrek and Fiona's Honeymoon Storybook, that offers an early taste of what to expect from next year's Shrek 2. "This is Shrek 1½," said DreamWorks co-chief Jeffrey Katzenberg. The CD-ROM, narrated by John Cleese and based on the new Shrek 4-D attraction at Universal Studios theme parks, acts as a plot bridge between the two Shrek features: The honeymoon of Shrek and Fiona is disrupted by the ghost of Lord Farquaad, who kidnaps the bride. Shrek, Donkey and Dragon must rescue her, and more jokes at the expense of fairy-tale favorites follow. Says Mark Christiansen of DreamWorks theatrical distribution, "We're up against two mega-sequels (Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines). The CD-ROM will help Sinbad stand out."

  Jeffrey Katzenberg revealed a few nuggets in a recent June 2003 interview: "Shrek 2 is about coming to terms with the fact that everything that happened in the first Shrek was a gigantic mistake. Shrek was not meant to rescue Fiona. Her true love was meant to be Prince Charming. There was a whole plan of what was going to happen to Fiona, her future and her kingdom, and Shrek has made a fine mess of all of it." That means straightening out the tangled plot. "It begins with an invitation from Fiona's mom and dad, who, you recall, locked her away in a castle to await Prince Charming's kiss," he says. Fiona's folks, voiced by Julie Andrews as Queen Lillian, and Cleese, are in for a surprise when a rude, crude lime-hued dude arrives instead of a courtly prince. As Katzenberg says, "When Fiona steps out of the carriage, it's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? [Puss 'n Boots] and Donkey become rivals and, ultimately, buddies."

In July 2003, DreamWorks moved the sequel up a month to Friday May 21, 2004. Production on the movie is apparently a bit ahead of schedule, and May 18 was a lucky opening day for Shrek two years ago--not to mention Finding Nemo's May premiere helping it get a jump start on the crowded summer.

  Yahoo Movies! wrote in July 2003 that "this movie is in many ways a very close continuation of the first one. The themes and story arcs continue along logical courses, as we learn more about the world that Shrek and Lady Fiona live in. A key ingredient which will really win people over is... Puss-in-Boots, as voiced by Antonio Banderas. The energy, personality and *fun* Banderas injects in the tiny but brave cat warrior takes the movie up to a whole other level. Banderas and Mike Myers have a really good chemistry together from the first introduction of their characters, through the rest of the movie. This movie needed, I suppose, one good character that could emerge as a substantial addition to the Shrek mythos, and Puss-in-Boots is it. The first movie didn't generate that many toys and merchandise, but my hunch is that Puss-in-Boots definitely will... this is a genuine crowd pleaser of a character. I could even see him branching off on his own, for example, maybe as a video game hero? PDI just did a great job designing this character: imagine an orange tabby cat standing on two legs, dressed in a musketeet outfit, with a sword and an attitude. There is a vague similarity between Puss-in-Boots and some of the cats in Cats and Dogs (especially the Russian Blue), but Puss-in-Boots appears to be a much-better developed character. I have no idea what the finished film will end up being like, but Puss-in-Boots, at least, is a winner. Of course, I didn't really get to see what talk show host Larry King is like as the Ugly Stepsister."

  The contract of Shrek director Andrew Adamson supposedly allows him to choose to take sole director credit right up until the release of the sequel, in which case Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon would be relegated to "co-directors." Even if Andrew Adamson does not choose to take the credit, he is reportedly the executive producer and is writing the screenplay with Joe Stillman. In related rumors, the involvement of Jeffrey Katzenberg in Shrek 2 is apparently much less than it has been on all past DreamWorks animated features.

  On the last page of this year's U.I.P booklet, given out at the Australian Movie Convention in August 2003, Shrek 3 is one of the films "coming soon," and is described as "Shrek tackles the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table." An insider confirmed in September 2003 that Shrek 3 had been greenlit and "will be the story of how Shrek (now the king of Far Far Away after succeeding Fiona's father), is somehow responsible--in a Forrest Gump way--for the creation of Camelot and the Arthurian legends."

  John Cleese, who voices Princess Fiona's father in the animated sequel, said in an August 2003 interview that he had been fine-tuning the royal character over the course of four recording sessions. "It's actually in the course of recording the lines that you slowly begin to see that this inflection or this way of doing it seems to work and that inflection or that way of doing it doesn't. That's what I feel I'm doing when I'm recording. I'm slowly filing it down. I'm getting a better sense of what works for this character, this style of script." Cleese, who plays the king of Fiona's hometown of Far Far Away, added that he first listened to the filmmakers' ideas, because he felt they had been with the character longer than he had. "You're in the room with people who at that point have probably been thinking about the movie for six months, and you have very little idea indeed. So most of the first couple of sessions are trying to find out what's in their minds." Though he's open to improvising, Cleese said he had so far only made up four lines in his entire work on the project.

  Antonio Banderas said that "the process of making a movie like that is so weird. They call you, you do some scenes, and they try the scenes with first drawings. Monday I did like my 3rd session, it's very interesting because they put cameras on you so they can just copy your expressions and they put it on the cartoon later. It's a very interesting process how they do that and they brought some of the material there and we just cracked up."  He also revealed in August 2003 that "they are going to present the second one in Cannes Film Festival in 2004."
 
 

INTERVIEW WITH THE DIRECTORS

This chat with the Shrek 2 directors took place at the DreamWorks Animation Studios in Glendale, CA on July 15, 2003 and was transcribed by About.com.
 

Q: How did you guys land this coveted job?

Kelly Asbury: I had worked on Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and after that, it was just a case of timing I guess. Jeffrey [Katzenberg] just called me. And Conrad, we both had worked on the first one. Conrad had done a lot on the first one as a story artist.

Conrad Vernon: Yeah, I was a storyboard artist and did some voices and they liked what I had done on the first one, so they asked me to come and do the second one.
 

Q: How are you taking the comedy to the next level?

KA: Well, we like to think it’s bigger, better, funnier, everything. That’s always the goal when you make a sequel is to give the audience more.

CV: The first one was a real adventure when they’re on the trail and you’re kind of getting to know the world. Now we’re getting more into the characters and the emotions of the characters and where they go emotionally now that they’re all together.

KA: With any sequel, what I like to go to a sequel for is to see the further adventures of these characters that I've fallen in love with. And that's what we're trying to do with this. We're not just trying to recreate the first one. We're trying to take it to the next level emotionally.
 

Q: Is it a different sort of parody?

KA: I think if we're parodying anything here, we're more making fun of the Hollywood, Beverly Hills aspect of things.

CV: Again, we're dealing with beauty and, you know, it's only skin deep and everything. And we figured where her parents live in Far Far Away is a perfect place to do that.
 

Q: Was it important to bring back a lot of the old characters, like Gingerbread Man, etc.?

KA: We tried to keep it integral to the story. We tried not to just bring them back for the sake of them being there. We tried to work them in in such a way that felt organic to the process.

CV: We have a lot of new characters, so we kind of wanted to focus on them and explore them, but we didn’t want to leave the fairy tale characters behind, so we just found an interesting place to put them in
 

Q: How was the script developed?

KA: Oh, the development of the script, Joe Stillman’s been our writer. Andrew Adamson’s played a big role in that, the director of the first film. He’s working very heavily on this film as well as a director.  So, it’s been a long process of development as all these animated films are. You know, it’s pretty much through the storyboard phase and script phase, try this, try that, workshop it.

CV: As far as the writing of the script is done, we’ve worked a little bit differently on this one where the writer has been more involved from the beginning. It’s not like we had a script and then we go in and see what works and what doesn’t, start changing it. We actually worked from an outline on this one. And the writer helped us with the outline, the storyboard artists go and enhance it and bring new stuff to it. Then the writer comes back in and brings what he has to it. We’ve just been working really closely with the writer.
 

Q: What are the improvements you’ve made to the animation?

KA: Well, I think certainly on any kind of film, especially with CG, as technology improves, you have more opportunities and more flexibility with the characters. The animators, they’ve been more trained at this technique. Each step, we like to think, is an improvement.

CV: They put some new limitations on the characters which let us stretch them even further than they were able to stretch in the first one, so we’re getting a lot more out of their physical actions and with that comes more that you can do emotionally with them. Since they know the characters so well, they’re able to explore deeper.
 

Q: How do you mean limitations help you stretch them?

CV: For example, there were certain things in Shrek 1 where characters, just because of where the technology was, they’d be able to move in certain parameters. They went back in and stretched those parameters and built outwards technologically. And now we can move them.

KA: More facial expression, more general shoulder movement, neck movement, the things that the more you have of that stuff anatomically, the more your character is able to move in a more organic, true way.
 

Q: Are you spoofing more movies like Lord of the Rings?

KA: Little things, you know, little nods of homages in some cases, but yeah, we’re having fun with some of that. That’s the nature of the Shrek world. It’s kind of that Mad Magazine world that was created in the first one. We’re trying to carry that through, that same sensibility.
 

Q: Are you leaving it open for Shrek 3?

KA: That’s not for me to say. We’re just working on this movie.
 

Q: But is it open?

KA: I think like any film, if it’s a good story and the characters work and you like them, it’s open for possibly any future.

CV: One of the things they were saying about the first one is one of the biggest mistakes in it was marrying them off. Because now what do we do now? Okay, meet the parents, we’ll do that. But once you make that mistake once, you kind of say, "Okay, well, if there’s a possibility, we’ll try to work that" but you still have to end the film satisfyingly.
 
 

SHREK 4 D SHOW AT UNIVERSAL

Synopsis published at Jim Hill Media on March 12, 2003

"For the past year or so that this new CG 3D film (which will be presented in Ogrevision, by the way) has actually been in production, [and] Dark Horse Comics are currently prepping the comic book adaptation of Shrek 4D."

A JHM spy who saw an incomplete work print of the 3D movie explained that "this film is going to blow the doors off of anything that Disney's got. Shrek 4D debuts later this spring and Mickey's Philharmagic is really going to have to pull out the stops if it ever intends to top Universal's newest 3D movie.

Shrek 4D picks right where the original Shrek movie left off. Shrek and Princess Fiona are off of their honeymoon. Only they've somehow lost their way en route. In order to get to their honeymoon hotel, should they follow the road that takes them through the pleasant green glade... or the one that takes them scary, scary woods. As Shrek stands in the road, trying to decide which way to go, Donkey confers with Fiona. He asks why she's crying... and the Princess responds that she's tearing up because she's been riding inside of a coach that's been carved out of a giant onion!! Suddenly a masked man on a dark horse races by and snatches Fiona out of the coach. Shrek and Donkey give chase--with the audience seemingly now riding along with them in the back seat of the coach. (Look for some really funny gags here as the rough ride causes Donkey to repeatedly fly up out of his seat, almost landing in the audience's lap.)

This section of the film takes the audience through the scary, scary forest (but not before the ogre's coach has an amusing run-in with the Gingerbread Man from the first Shrek movie). It ends with Shrek and Donkey wandering around a dark and misty graveyard, searching for Fiona. As mysterious shapes rise up out of the fog, the audience realizes that Lord Farquaad has somehow come back from the dead in ghostly form. More importantly, the evil little monarch seems determined to exact his revenge on Princess Fiona, the ogre, and the ass. In order to do away with Shrek and Donkey, Farquaad uses his dark magic to bring to life an enormous stone statue of a dragon that's on display in the gloomy graveyard. The dragon now stomps around the cemetery, his jaws snapping, fire spewing, menacing the orge, the ass and the audience.
 

Shrek and Donkey seemed doomed until the Lady Dragon from the first Shrek movie swoops in and rescues them from the fierce stone dragon at the last possible moment. From this point forward, Shrek 4D really starts packing on the laughs and thrills. Riding on the back of the Lady Dragon, Shrek and Donkey have an epic air battle with the evil stone dragon. Only some quick thinking (as well as some close canyon walls) save these three from certain death. Meanwhile, Lord Farquaad and his henchman (You know? That executioner guy who wore a black mask in the first movie?) have tied Princess Fiona to a raft. They intend to send Fiona to her death over an enormous waterfall (So that--once the Princess dies--the princess will be free to marry Farquaad in the after-life). Shrek arrives at the last minute to try and rescue his bride. But the ogre bobbles his rescue attempt. Fiona and Shrek both go tumbling over the waterfall. It looks like they're goners for sure. When suddenly...

Well, you don't want me to give the whole movie away, do you, Jim? Let's just say that Shrek 4D ends happily and the folks at Dreamworks will have no trouble at all picking up Shrek's story right where Universal Studios Orlando and Hollywood leaves it off. Think of this short but funny movie as a brief but clever bridge between the original Shrek and Shrek II."