Entertainment Film Shrek Viral

All the jarring details in the Shrek 5 trailer that prove why we can’t stand to look at it

Everything just feels... wrong

Harrison Brocklehurst
28th February 2025, 11:29
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To say the world is hyped for Shrek 5 would be a massive understatement – it’s one of the animated films that brings us all together. Shrek as a franchise, apart from the dismal third which we won’t bring up, has always been the benchmark for animated films that hit all target audiences. Family friendly with clever and witty jokes for all ages, amazing embedded pop culture references and a meta approach to fairytales and daftness. The world has been crying out for a new Shrek film, but now we’ve seen the first trailer perhaps Dreamworks shouldn’t have actually bothered. The Shrek 5 trailer is so jarring, and all these points prove exactly why none of us can handle its weirdness and wish it wasn’t happening in the first place.

1. The Shrek redesign

The new art style is the main cause of concern here – and mostly it’s due to the fact Shrek just looks … off. It looks lime you asked AI to do its best attempt at creating Shrek from memory. It’s uncanny valley core. It’s not even the fact he’s aged – of course he’d be older and that makes sense narratively as well. But why does he have a different vest! I don’t like it.

2. Zendaya’s character doesn’t make sense with the babies we’ve seen

So the daughter we saw in the past Shrek films had blue eyes – who the hell is this stroppy teenage gen-z diva being voices by Zendaya? We’re drawing blanks.

3. Fiona’s hair

It just doesn’t feel right. Never miss with my mother Fiona. Bring the old hair back.

4. The fact it’s the ringer of that old meme

The classic weird crunchy meme of the Shrek family in the shopping centre? It lives.

5. Shrek and Fiona had triplets!!!!

So please tell me where the hell the children are that aren’t being voiced by Zendaya?

Shrek 5 might pull it off, but the reaction to its teaser trailer prove that people find it more jarring than joyous. It’s just bizarre. And whilst Shrek has always been meta, the jokes we’ve seen so far clearly referencing today’s pop culture have the same energy of boomers trying to write what they think the kids of TV are doing on the internet. I fear I may be cringing.

But time will only tell.

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