Cast Announcement: Shrek 5
That’s right; today, we got our first look at the animation for the upcoming DreamWorks sequel, Shrek 5, in the form of a casting announcement. In this brief clip, we see Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, Pinocchio, and a grown-up Felicia. Felicia is Shrek and Fiona’s only daughter who was previously seen in Shrek the Third and Shrek Forever After (the title of which no longer makes sense). She is one of three triplets born to Shrek and Fiona, the other two being her brothers, Fergus and Farkle. The purpose of this ad is to announce the return of original cast members Mike Myers as Shrek, Cameron Diaz as Fiona, and Eddie Murphy as Donkey, as well as the addition of Zendaya as Felicia. On the one hand, the returning cast seems obvious and essential to any Shrek installment. However, it would be a mistake to do anything without them, so I kind of get the choice to emphasize their involvement. Without any further blustering, check out the clip here:
There’s not much to talk about in the Shrek 5 casting announcement, aside from the elephant in the room: why do the characters look like that? Specifically, Shrek and Donkey look wrong, and something is off with Fiona, too. Shrek’s head is narrower at the top, where it used to be more of an oval shape. Donkey’s head also gets skinnier at the top, and he has less hair than he did before this one. Something doesn’t look right about Fiona’s face, but it’s not as noticeable as the others, and I can’t quite put my finger on it. If anyone knows why she doesn’t look right, please let me know so I can rest at last! They’ve also given more definition to the Magic Mirror’s face, but Felicia was a baby when last we saw her, and Pinocchio looks normal to me. This is giving me big Incredibles 2 vibes in that they seem to be using new technology as an excuse to redesign the characters. I don’t like it; the characters look a certain way, and when you change their features, it’s inconsistent and distracting to long-time fans. By all means, improve hair and textures and add more reflection to the eyes and glass, but why would you radically alter the physical appearance of your lead character and his sidekick? I don’t think it looks particularly good in addition to being a distraction.
I don’t have much to say about the cast; I like Zendaya, and I’m glad the main actors from the previous films came back. I’m not surprised, but like I said, you can’t do a Shrek movie without Mike Meyers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz. Before DreamWorks and Universal – their latest corporate overlords – released this little teaser, my main concern was with the very notion of another Shrek movie. Shrek Forever After was clearly intended to be an ending, just like Toy Story 3 was before Pixar crapped out the next movie in that series. I know these movies make big money, but come on; at some point, the bubble has to burst. We don’t want subpar installments undoing satisfying endings. DreamWorks has been on fire lately when they’re not making bizarre creative decisions, but ramping up on Kung Fu Panda and Shrek movies doesn’t feel like a good next step for them. But I’m open to seeing this movie; it feels less offensive than reopening Toy Story, for example.
But what did you think about this Shrek 5 clip, the movie’s cast, or that animation style change? Let us know in the comments below!
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