Zendaya will appear in the upcoming film in the well-known DreamWorks Animation series as Shrek’s daughter.
In a first-look trailer, Shrek 5 formally revealed its release date, but fans are upset with a peculiar new animation element.
The first trailer for the upcoming Shrek movie, which will include Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, and Eddie Murphy reprising their respective roles as Shrek, Donkey, and Princess Fiona, was unveiled by Universal Pictures on Thursday.
It will also welcome Zendaya as Felicia, one of Shrek and Fiona’s triplets. The third film, Shrek the Third (2007), introduced the couple’s three ogre offspring.
“Who’s the fairest of them all?” is the question that Shrek, Donkey, Princess Fiona, and Felicia pose as they assemble around a magic mirror in the video.
The mirror replies, “Why Shrek, of course,” and then displays a number of pictures of Shrek dancing in a tight bodysuit, making a duck expression while wearing glasses, and a Photoshopped picture of him with abs.
Donkey and Shrek scream in terror at the final image, and Felicia responds with disgust, exclaiming, “Ew, dad.”
“Oooh, mama like,” Fiona adds.
“Who’s making this stuff?” Shrek asks, to which Pinocchio pops in to say, “Not me,” causing his nose to grow
The last Shrek film, Shrek Forever After, was out in 2010, which is fifteen years ago. Even while fans are thrilled about Shrek’s comeback, some viewers thought that certain elements, like Donkey’s greying fur and wrinkles on Shrek’s forehead, made the characters look older.
“Eyo why does Shrek look so old,” one fan questioned on X. “What’s up with their faces?” a second noted.
“Bro has seen enough,” another quipped of Donkey’s tired look.
Others objected to the characters’ new artwork, which gave them a more balanced appearance than in earlier Shrek versions.
“Did they get botox why are they like that?” one questioned. “Why did y’all change the animation? it looks cheap,” a second wrote.
A third pleaded, “Please alter the animation style.” They went on to say, “Don’t let us sonic you,” alluding to the outcry to Paramount and SEGA’s remake of Sonic for their 2020 film Sonic the Hedgehog.
Someone argued, “I can’t even tell if this is actually real, this s*** looks strange as hell.” Another person demanded, “WTF is this art style?”
News of the long-awaited sequel first broke last June when Murphy told Collider: “We started doing [Shrek 5] months ago. I did this, I recorded the first act, and we’ll be doing it this year, we’ll finish it up. Shrek is coming out.”
Shrek 5 is expected to arrive in theaters on Christmas 2026. It will be directed by Walt Dohrn, who has a long history with the franchise. He was a writer and artist on Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third and served as head of story on Shrek Forever After. He also voiced Rumpelstiltskin in the latter film.
