SPOILER DISCUSSION

1.Donkey’s function in the film is brilliant: he’s the literal voice of the fairytale trying to break free. He’s the most honest character in the film and wears his heart on his sleeves. By the film’s end, he’s responsible for helping Shrek, Fiona, and Dragon (implied via montage) understand their own respective truths and come out healthier beings.

Likewise, his attempts at breaking into song are indicative of him helping the film’s “truth” reveal itself; he’s trying to let the non-diegetic bleed into and become part of the diegetic, thereby granting the pop-fused world of Shrek the same fairytale pedigree as the Disney films it references.

When he first meets Shrek, he tries to sing about “friendship” but is abruptly stopped. Shrek refuses to confront the truth at all and wants to be done with the experience before it changes him.

When the duo departs to Duloc, Shrek is forced to embrace some level of change. Accordingly, Donkey is allowed to hum; the song is beginning to take influence.

Once the duo gets to the marriage hall at the 75-minute mark, Donkey finally sings a full line to Shrek before the latter gets ready to object to Fiona and Farquaad’s union. The fairytale is beginning to take force.

Finally, after Shrek and Fiona happily get married, Donkey and the rest of the fairytale citizenry break into a diegetic performance of “I’m a Believer”. The song has the full blessing of Shrek and is allowed to be an organic part of the world in the film’s first true Disney-styled song-and-dance sequence: the modern, pop sensibilities of Shrek become part and parcel of the fairytale milieu.

2. “Fairytale” is used as a leitmotif throughout the film, demarcating the growth of Shrek and Fiona’s relationship. Obviously, the film opens with it before everything else, informing us of what’s to come.

When Shrek enters Fiona’s room in the guarded castle, the tune comes on again and keeps consistent through the sequence even while Shrek shakes Fiona awake in comedic fashion – this is the relationship that will furnish the fairytale.

Meanwhile, at the 49-minute mark, Farquaad sits in bed and watches the magic mirror’s presentation over Fiona over and over. The tune plays as a diegetic part of the presentation – Farquaad seeks to usurp the fairytale and claim it as his own.

At the same time, Fiona herself begins to sing the tune. A bird near her joins along and the two engage in a duet that hearkens directly to other similar Disney Princess moments. But the bird can’t keep up with Fiona’s pace and explodes. She can’t bring this track into the diegetic of the world of the film yet because she isn’t being honest with who she is yet.

However, at the 51-minute mark, Fiona begins to hum the tune after surprising Shrek with a belch and opening his eyes to the depths of her character; she’s revealed a part of herself and the song reflects this truth. But then, her humming is interrupted by Robin Hood who attempts to rescue Fiona from Shrek; he breaks into an traditional diegetic song-and-dance sequence but is quickly incapacitated by Fiona. She punches an accordion player who’s playing a rendition of “Fairytale” to end the sequence. The “modern” fairytale is coming into play as the “traditional” one tries to gain back control.

When Fiona understands the depths of her feelings for Shrek and seeks to tell to him, another rendition of the tune plays: as she embraces the nature of her desire, the fairytale comes to life. But the tune dissipates and fades out as the sun comes out and transforms Fiona back from ogre to human. Shrek rejects her due to a misunderstanding and the magic subsides.

During the wedding, when she finally reveals her true form to Shrek, the track starts up again. Farquaad is promptly defeated. And the track is allowed to finally finish as the loving couple, Shrek and Fiona, finally join each other for a kiss. The fairytale ending has been achieved and we cut to the wedding proper.

3. The “Hallelujah” montage is the singular best sequence from the film and emphatically demonstrates the depths of the characters’ longing. It’s filled with gorgeous dissolves that constantly reinforce the isolation Shrek and Fiona feel without one another and how desperately they want the other one back.

It starts with Shrek looking down at a shattered mirror; his sense of self is broken after the seeming betrayal from Fiona and Donkey. This dissolves to a view of Fiona reflected in a litany of tear-shaped mirrors, emphasizing her sorrow.

She looks out of a mirror for Shrek while he does the same; they’re both staring out of a shared frame in the dissolve but can’t see one another. Shrek takes a sunflower, a representation of his admiration for Fiona, and burns it in a fire; the pain from feeling betrayed is brutal.

Then, the camera tracks out of the fire and we’re back with Fiona. She stares at herself in a mirror and struggles to affirm herself. Her enthusiasm dissolves into an image of Farquaad staring into the magic mirror; he doesn’t care about seeing Fiona and only cares about seeing himself in the crown. He’s the only truly selfish character.

His body dissolves to a shot of the wedding cake, adorned with toppers depicting Fiona and Farquaad at an equal height. Fiona pushes Farquaad down to size in frustration and stares back at a suit of armor. This armor dissolves back into Shrek; they first met when he rescued her in a suit of armor and it’s his company that she desires.

Meanwhile the alienated shot of Shrek dissolves to a similarly lonely shot of Donkey. But Donkey looks up and sees a sullen Dragon sitting nearby. He goes to her and the two reconcile. They’re together in the same frame. Thus, we know that Shrek and Fiona have to come together to resolve their loneliness.

A final set of dissolves showing the soon-to-be couple separated at their respective dining tables reinforces the importance of their relationship and the value each of them brings to the other. By the song’s end, we’re more than ready to see the couple get together.

If there is a slight flaw with the scene, it’s with Farquaad whose status in the film is primarily to serve as a punch-line for short jokes (something which even this scene highlights) and as a generic villain, albeit one who wants to present as a hero. Thus, while his inclusion in the montage serves as a point of contrast – he’s the only lonely party who seems to be happy – it does not mesh as well with the emotional rhythm of the moment.

4.The ending brings all the relevant threads to a satisfying end. Shrek becomes a hero and gets the princess by destroying the hero proxy in Farquaad with the help of the Dragon he initially needed to slay to achieve the same results.

His union with Fiona is accompanied by one of the audience signs that Farquaad employed earlier in the film during both the initial hero selection trial and earlier within the wedding. However, the sign for this “new” moment is written in by Farquaad’s henchmen, cementing the reaction and the union as part of everyday procedure.

Finally, the storybook which Shrek narrated at the start of the film is restored by the end. The final page has now been redone to feature Shrek and Fiona riding off in their carriage. The book shuts and the cover, instead of being blank, now reads “Shrek.” His story is now a part of “fairytale” cannon.