Shrek 2/Trivia

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This is a list of trivia for Shrek 2.

Cultural References

Movie References

• When Fiona is kissing Shrek while he's upside down, the kiss is similar to the 2002 live-action film Spider-Man, where the titular character is being kissed by Mary Jane Watson.
• The mermaid that washes up on Shrek in the beginning of the film bears a strong resemblance to Ariel from Disney's The Little Mermaid.
• The dinner scene where the camera cuts to different characters saying each other's names references a scene from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
• When the potion factory is being flooded with a potion flow. two workers were turned into living objects resembling Lumiere and Cogsworth from Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
• The character Puss in Boots is based on Zorro, a character played by Banderas, who also voices Puss. His behavior references Zorro as he appeared in the 1998 film, The Mask of Zorro.
• Donkey yells out "I'm melting!" when it starts to rain, which is a reference to the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz.
• When the Fairy Tale creatures rescue Shrek, Donkey, and Puss, Pinocchio dives into the prison attached to puppet strings, a reference to Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible. The theme music can be heard in the background as well.
• When Mongo sinks into the moat in front of the castle, he says "Be good." to Gingy, referencing E.T. (Steven Spielberg, director of E.T., was a co-founder of DreamWorks).
• When the Fairy Godmother appears to Fiona on her balcony when she sheds a tear due to the fight at dinner, the gold dress in which she makes Fiona wear, blows upward in reference to the Marilyn Monroe film The Seven Year Itch.
• When Puss is attacking Shrek and crawls through his shirt, he bursts out of the front, a reference to the chest buster scene from the 1979 film Alien.

Culture references

• Elements and landmarks in the fictional kingdom of Far Far Away bear reference to elements and landmarks of Southern California, particularly the areas of Los Angeles, Hollywood, and Beverly Hills. For example, the kingdom bears a "Far Far Away" sign obviously modeled after the famous Hollywood Sign; and the "Friar's Fat Boy" restaurant which King Harold, Fairy Godmother, and Charming "drive-thru" references the Southern California chain, Bob's Big Boy.
• Donkey references former Price is Right host Bob Barker's ending quote "help control the pet population and get your pets spayed and neutered".
• When Shrek, Donkey, and Puss are having drinks at The Poison Apple, Puss laments "I hate Mondays" in reference to the cartoon cat Garfield's catchphrase.
• Several parodies of well-known business exist in Far Far Away, such as "Farbucks", a parody of Starbucks, "Baskin Robinhood", a parody of Baskin Robbins, "Burger Prince", a parody of Burger King, "Abercrombie & Witch", a parody of Abercrombie & Fitch, "Versarchery," a play on the designer label Versace and "Old Knavery", a parody of Old Navy.
• In the scene where fairytale creatures witnessed Shrek, Donkey, along with Puss getting arrested on KNIGHTS is a reference to the FOX true crime reality show, COPS.
  • The way the knights had arrested Shrek, Donkey, and Puss were reference to the ways the modern day American police departments featured on COPS arrest suspects they encounter while on duty - e.g. Use of crossbows as the medieval versions of the modern police-issued firearms, use of pepper grinders as the medieval versions of the modern police-issued pepper spray, commonly known as capsicum spray or mace.
• In the chase scene where one of the knights refers Donkey as "a white Bronco" is a reference the O.J. Simpson Bronco Chase where double murder suspect, O.J. Simpson attempted to escape from the police in family friend, Al Cowlings' white 1993 Ford Bronco, driven by Cowlings.
• The Far, Far, Away Police Department (FFAPD) is a parody of the Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as the LAPD.

Trivia

• This was the first film to have a dedication to someone.
• This was the first film to use the 2004 DreamWorks Animation logo until 2009's Monsters vs. Aliens.
• Despite DreamWorks Animation becoming its own separate studio in 2004, this film, along with Shark Tale, Madagascar, and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, were still distributed by DreamWorks Pictures.
• This was the last Shrek film to be released on VHS.
• This is the last Shrek film to be distributed by DreamWorks Pictures (the then label from Universal Pictures), the next movies would be distributed by Paramount Pictures.
• Shrek is DreamWorks' second film to become start a film series, after The Prince of Egypt.
• This is the last DreamWorks Animation film to use the "DreamWorks Pictures Presents" credit.
• This is the first DreamWorks Animation film to have a mid-credits scene.
• This is third DreamWorks film to premiere in theaters during May, following its predecessor and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.
• This is the third DreamWorks Animation film to be co-produced with Pacific Data Images (aka PDI/DreamWorks), with the first two being Antz & Shrek.
• Antonio Banderas and Rupert Everett were in this film, Shrek the Third, Altamira and Justin and the Knights of Valour.
• Eddie Murphy and John Cleese were in The Adventures of Pluto Nash.
• While Joseph: King of Dreams is DreamWorks' first overall non-original film, this film is their first non-original one to be released theatrically.

General

• In the Fairy Godmother's factory, some workers are putting potions bottles on a conveyer belt. One of the bottles is marked "Viagra".
• Antonio Banderas also provides the Puss in Boots' voice both in the Spanish and Latin America version, and even in Italian.
• Shrek is the first DreamWorks Animation film to become a franchise.
• Along with Shark Tale, this is the first time since 2000 that DreamWorks Animation releases two animated features in the same year.
• Shrek's human form intentionally resembles his voice actor, Mike Myers.
• There's a real Cameron Diaz burp during the dinner party scene.
• Jennifer Saunders performed all her own singing in the film.
• This was the first Dreamworks sequel ever nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
• Shrek is the second computer-animated film to become a franchise, after Disney/Pixar's Toy Story.
• When Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey are leaving for Far, Far Away, Donkey starts singing "Rawhide." Eddie Murphy ad-libbed the version that was put into the film.
• When Mongo is hit by the warm milk, his roar is the same roar as the original Japanese Godzilla.
• Jennifer Saunders got a voice coach to help her sing for the Fairy Godmother's opening number.
• In one draft, Prince Charming was a lot more childish and immature and he frequently threw tantrums.
• Shrek's face is so expressive because it has 218 working muscles in it.
• John Cleese and Julie Andrews recorded most of their scenes together at the same time, an unusual practice for an animated film.
• Originally, the Dragon from the first film was to have a major role, and turn into a Pegasus when Donkey drank the potion.
• This is the first film to have a release of over 4,000 theaters in the USA.
• The Gingerbread Man's legs have been re-attached with little bands of frosting.
• This is the first DreamWorks movie to use the new DreamWorks Animation logo.
• This is the last Shrek film to be distributed by DreamWorks Pictures.
  • It is also the only sequel from DreamWorks Animation to be distributed by DreamWorks Pictures, Beginning with Shrek the Third, their sequels will be distributed by Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, or Universal Studios.
• Last Shrek film to be released on VHS.
• Over 300 Hewlett Packard workstations were employed in the making of the film.