There’s a new Shrek movie on the way, so now’s the perfect time to dive into the rest of the franchise from start to finish.
Shrek is one of the most successful animated movie series in celluloid history. Loosely based on the children’s book of the same name by William Steig, the films revolve around the titular ogre, who embarks on adventures with his pal Donkey, and his beloved Princess Fiona.
Mike Myers voices Shrek, Eddie Murphy is Donkey, and Cameron Diaz plays Fiona. Meanwhile, the likes of John Cleese, Julie Andrews, Antonio Banderas, John Lithgow, Rupert Everett, Jennifer Saunders, Justin Timberlake, Eric Idle, John Hamm, and Jane Lynch have all voiced characters.
The Shrek movies have been a box office phenomenon, grossing nearly $3 billion at the box office. With so many films, spinoffs, TV series, and a new movie coming, it’s important to get your ogres in order.
Shrek franchise from start to finish
There are a total of four Shrek movies so far, with a further two TV movies, and two Puss In Boots spinoff movies.
The first Shrek movie arrived in 2001 and was a huge hit. It was followed by Shrek 2 three years later, which is one of the best sequels ever made.
2007 produced two Shrek entries: Shrek the Third was a fully-fledged sequel, and Shrek the Halls was a Christmas movie special, made for TV.
A similar pattern followed in 2010, with Shrek Forever After being the fourth movie in the main timeline, and Scared Shrekless offering a child-friendly Halloween movie special made for TV.
Once all that was done, the Shrek team moved on to telling stories about Puss in Boots. The first spinoff arrived in 2011, and we had to wait 11 years for its sequel, The Last Wish.
As for TV shows, there’s The Adventures of Puss in Boots, which ran for six seasons from 2015. You can also see the ogre himself in Swamp Stories, Swamp Talk, and DreamWorks Spooky Stories.
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Will there be a Shrek 5?
Shrek 5 is officially going ahead, and will be released in July 2026.
We’ve got the lowdown on everything you need to know about Shrek 5. But, the great news is the core cast of the original movies will be back.
Murmurs of this long-awaited sequel have been going on for years. Way back in 2014, DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg told the Fox Business Network (as quoted by Variety): “I think you can be confident that we’ll have another chapter in the Shrek series. We’re not finished, and more importantly, neither is he.”
In January 2023, Eddie Murphy told Etalk: “If [DreamWorks] ever came with another Shrek, I’d do it in two seconds. I love Donkey. They did Puss in Boots movies. I was like, ‘They should have done a Donkey movie.’ Donkey is funnier than Puss in Boots. I mean, I love Puss in Boots, but he ain’t funny as the Donkey.”
Funnily enough, Murphy will get his wish, as a Donkey spinoff is in the works, too.
In April 2023, Chris Meledandri – who serves as a creative partner to DreamWorks Animation – said he was approaching the Shrek sequel like the recent Super Mario Bros movie.
“It’s not that dissimilar to the process that we went through with Mario. You look at the core elements that audiences loved, and you do your very best to honor those core elements.
“And then you’re hard at work to build story elements and new characters that take you to brand new places. The original cast is a huge part of that,” he told Variety.
For more long-overdue sequels, here’s what we know about Beetlejuice 2, Toy Story 5, and Frozen 3.
