‘Shrek 5’ and the Fear of the Anachronistic

I admit it; I’ve been excited about Shrek 5. When Dreamworks returned to the franchise in 2022 with Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, it signified a revival for the characters. Instead, I worry Hollywood is growing afraid of the old-school and anachronistic.

Focused on Puss In Boots, who was introduced in the 2004 sequel Shrek 2, the character was fleshed out more than what the previous films had allowed– as he grappled with the fear of death, a quest for immortality, and the vulnerability of friendship in The Last Wish. The movie was charming, hilarious, and yet deeply thought-provoking. The art style also stood out as a triumph for the film. Blending 2-D and 3-D animation to create colorful, rough-around-the-edges movements, Puss In Boots: The Last Wish breathed new life into Shrek films. Puss still looked the same, but the advancements in 3D art gave more detail to his fur, expressions, and overall movement. 

So when Puss In Boots: The Last Wish ended with a teaser for Shrek 5, I was eager to see how Dreamworks would apply what they learned to Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey. 

Then on February 27, 2025, the first teaser trailer dropped. 

Sporting new designs, the Shrek cast feel almost uncanny. Fiona’s face has been flattened and made smaller. There’s a more distinct oblong shape to Shrek’s face and nose. Donkey sports more hair and textures than in the previous films. It is, for lack of a better term, odd. The changes made are neither subtle or obvious, but a secret third thing. 

The characters still look like themselves, but the advancements in technology have smoothed them out in a way that reminds me of Instagram filters. Long gone are the pixels and slow moving frames of early 2000s animation. Don’t get me wrong, the redesigns of the characters are good. They’re interesting, indicate the characters’ aging, and use shape and color to expertly signal personality. But are they needed? 

I think the redesigns signal a new problem in Hollywood: fear of the anachronistic. Referring to references of days past or the imagery of another time period, anachronism is constantly lingering in Hollywood productions. As animation technologies improve, giving artists more tools to create life-like images, animation seems to be afraid of their old ways. Yes, Shrek is nearing its 24th birthday and it shows. Watching an old DVD of the film on a LED TV makes the movements look choppy and the limitations of early texture tools become obviously apparent. 

But there was still charm to the original designs. Something about their simplicity and lack of enhancements invokes nostalgia among older audiences and plays onto tradition for the younger. There is something authentic about keeping a character’s appearances the same. 

Of course, Dreamworks isn’t leading this rally of improvement. Disney has vamped up its characters over the past decade. Incredibles 2 and Toy Story 5 all showcased advancements in hair, fabric, and plastic textures: giving the characters more depth to their personalities. Except, the designs stayed mostly the same. Beyond adding a few freckles, wrinkles, or pills of fabric, nothing about the original characters was altered. They were still familiar, just sharper. 

I worry that Shrek 5 marks a new trend in animation, where anything old and flawed is bad and quickly made obsolete. Much like an Instagram filter, we have to cover up anything real about animation. It removes the role of nostalgia in a film and seeks to distance itself from its past. 

The use of meme images, displayed by the Magic Mirror, also indicates a tension between the old and new school. I love terrible Shrek memes as much as the next person, but their inclusion in the trailer feels forced and out of touch. Dreamworks teeters the line between knowing what their audience likes and wanting to remove all personality from it. 

Maybe I’m clinging too hard to the past. Or maybe I’m right in thinking that if something isn’t broken, you don’t have to fix it. 

Shrek 5 is set to premiere in theaters on December 23, 2026.

Author: Abby Kirby

Abby Kirby is a high school English teacher and fan studies scholar. She holds an M.A. in Media and Cinema Communications from DePaul University.

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