Shrek fans disturbed by ‘strange’ detail in Shrek 5 teaser trailer
Shrek 5 has officially announced a release date in a first-look teaser, but a strange new animation detail has left fans perturbed.
On Thursday, Universal Pictures released the first trailer for the next installment in its iconic Shrek franchise, which will see Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy reprise their respective roles as Shrek, Donkey and Princess Fiona.
It will also welcome Zendaya as Felicia, one of Shrek and Fiona’s triplets. The couple’s three ogre children were first introduced in the third movie, Shrek the Third (2007).
In the clip, Shrek, Donkey, Princess Fiona, and Felicia gather around a magic mirror to ask, “Who’s the fairest of them all?”
“Why Shrek, of course,” the mirror responds, going on to show a series of images of Shrek in a pair of glasses making a duck face, dancing in a skintight body suit, and a doctored image of him with abs.
The last picture causes Shrek and Donkey to shriek in fear while Felicia reacts in disgust, saying, “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.
It’s been 15 years since the last Shrek movie, Shrek Forever After, was released in 2010. And while the news of Shrek’s revival has left fans ecstatic, some viewers found the details to make the characters appear older, including Shrek’s forehead wrinkles and Donkey’s greying fur, disturbing.
“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 took issue with the new art style of the characters, which gave them a more rounded look than in previous iterations of Shrek.
“Did they get botox why are they like that?” one questioned. “Why did y’all change the animation? it looks cheap,” a second wrote.
“Please change the animation style,” a third begged. “Don’t make us sonic you,” they added, referring to Paramount and SEGA’s redesign of its Sonic character for its 2020 movie Sonic the Hedgehog following fan backlash.
“wtf is this art style,” another demanded, with someone arguing: “I can’t even tell if this is actually real this s*** looks strange as hell.”
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.
