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Honest Trailer - Shrek

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Shrek is the 185th episode of Screen Junkies comedy series Honest Trailers. It was written by Spencer Gilbert, Joe Starr, Dan Murrell and Andy Signore. It parodies the 2001 computer-animated comedy film Shrek. It was narrated by Jon Bailey as Epic Voice Guy. This video is a musical episode and includes a parody of the Smash Mouth song "All Star", as heard in the film. It was published on January 31, 2017, as part of Screen Junkies' annual Fan Appreciation Month. It is 5 minutes long. It has been viewed over 4.8 million times.

Watch Honest Trailers - Shrek on YouTube

"Settle in for a story with an important lesson: 'Only ugly people can be together.' Wait, that can't be right: 'True love will turn you into a monster.' No, that's not it either. 'Stick to your own kind." Ooh, no: 'Short people deserve ridicule'?" ~ Honest Trailers - Shrek

Script[]

From the studio that brought you the "Dreamworks face" (shows characters from Dreamworks animated films with similar smiles on their faces) comes the animated feature that revolutionized kids' movies by adding ninety minutes of nonstop in-jokes:

Shrek

Meet Shrek, an ogre who used to sound just like Chris Farley (shows Chris Farley's Shrek footage), but when Chris passed away, he transformed into an ogre who sounds just like that one voice Mike Myers does (shows clips of Shrek, Stuart McKenzie from So I Married an Axe Murderer, and Fat Bastard from Austin Powers speaking with identical Scottish accents). When his gas-based way of life is threatened, he'll set off on a quest with Donkey, a character who's sadly more famous than Eddie Murphy these days; Fiona, a princess struggling with bi-ogre disorder; and an entire kingdom's worth of fairy tale characters that Disney had yet to snatch up. Together, they'll prove that nothing can overcome the power of true love, or more specifically, the power of having a dragon murder your enemies. (shows Dragon eating Lord Farquaad whole) Wow, they really just straight-up killed him at the end. Wait, so who's running the government now? (shows fairy tale characters dancing) You just started a coup. Why are you dancing in a swamp?

Enjoy early computer animation that looks just as good as modern computer animation...that hasn't finished rendering, for a story that parodies all the overused Disney tropes, full of overused Disney tropes like the reluctant, ugly hero who thinks no one can love them; the no-nonsense princess; the creepy, horny government official who wants to be king; and the lovable animal sidekick (shows clips comparing Shrek with various Disney animated films during this description). Hey, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, while at the same time mercilessly mocking them...? (shows Donkey and Shrek laughing)

Settle in for a story with an important lesson: "only ugly people can be together" -- wait, that can't be right..."true love will turn you into a monster" -- no, that's not it either..."stick to your own kind" -- oooh, no..."short people deserve ridicule"...?

Shrek: Men of Farquaad's stature are in short supply. (chuckles)

Ughhh...uh, hey, look, these guys are doing the Macarena (shows several Robin Hood characters doing the Macarena)! Ha, references!

So come along for the blockbuster hit that appealed to adults and kids alike and won the first Academy Award for Best Animated Film -- all by making fun of Disney's obsession with franchising and merchandising -- that spawned one great sequel (Shrek 2), two bad sequels (Shrek the Third and Shrek Forever After), a spin-off (Puss in Boots), a Broadway musical (Shrek The Musical), a ton of unfortunate green merchandise, and that Smash Mouth song that's been stuck in your head since 2001.

(sung to the tune of "All Star")

Singing: Back in the late '90s,/When Matrix jokes were timely,/You couldn't get away from these chords/Because Smash Mouth made a tune/Loved by children and buffoons/And it hit number four on the Billboards./Well, the plays start coming, and they don't stop coming,/Stuck in your head for, like, twenty years running./It's in more films than just this one:/Rat Race, Mystery Men, Digimon./This song is lame, this song is dumb,/But Shrek made it go triple plat'num,/And here's something you can't unsee:/The singer is Guy Fieri (shows pictures comparing Smash Mouth frontman Steve Harwell with Guy Fieri)...?/Smash Mouth,/They got Shrek rich,/Did the soundtrack,/Got paid./Smash Mouth,/Stuck in your head/Every time it/Gets played./And if you think we're unfair,/Go support them at your county fair.

Starring Chris Fartley (Mike Myers as Shrek), Beverly Hills Clop (Eddie Murphy as Donkey), Bi-Shrektual (Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona), Mini-Mean (John Lithgow as Lord Farquaad), Mother of Donkeys (Dragon), and Creepy Animation Errors (shows clips of pre-rendered character animation with elements missing).

Honest Trailers - ShrekOpen Invideo 3-49 screenshot

Honest title for Shrek - Swamp Thing. Title design by Robert Holtby.

Swamp Thing

What's up with all the Shrek memes I've been seeing? Let's see what this is all about. (opens a video called "Shrek is Love, Shrek is Life")

Teenage Boy (lying on his bed while Shrek stands nearby): It's Shrek. I'm so happy. (Shrek grabs him by his upper arm and crotch and lifts him up while grinning creepily) Shrek is love. Shrek is life.

Oh, no! (pauses the video) No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Shrek is not love, Shrek is not life. Ughhh, who likes this dreck?

 Trivia[]

  • This film was chosen in a fan poll for Screen Junkies' annual Fan Appreciation Month. It received the highest number of votes.

Reception[]

Honest Trailers - Shrek has a 98.1% approval rating from YouTube viewers. Hypable said the Honest Trailer was "hilarious." Uproxx remarked that "the honest trailer covers several facets, including the original voice acting from Chris Farley, unclear moral, and how it parodies Disney tropes while also falling back on those selfsame tropes." Slash Film said the parody of the Smash Mouth song was "amusing," but not as good as Michael Bolton's song from the Honest Trailer from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. In the same article, Slash Film also wrote "the jab about the animation looking like it’s not fully rendered yet is a bit of a cheap shot....The one part of the Honest Trailer that hit the nail on the head is when the snarky voiceover guy tries to figure out what the lesson of Shrek actually is, and basically comes up empty handed."   

Screen Rant noted that the Honest Trailer made several legitimate points, including its reliance on fart jokes, dated pop culture references and its nihilistic message, but also argued that "other complaints feel unfair, like pointing out that 2001's CG animation looks dated now, especially since Shrek's animation was phenomenal for the era. As for Honest Trailer's highlight of behind-the-scenes animation glitches - it's hard to see what relevance they have to even a tongue-in-cheek critique."   

 Production credits[]

Shrek

Video thumbnail for Honest Trailers - Shrek

Voiceover Narration by Jon Bailey

Title design by Robert Holtby

Series Created by Andy Signore & Brett Weiner

Executive Producer - Andy Signore

Producers - Dan Murrell, Spencer Gilbert, Michael Bolton, Christina Kline

Written by Spencer Gilbert, Dan Murrell, Joe Starr & Andy Signore

Edited by TJ Nordaker & Kevin Williamson.

External links []

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