Shrek the Musical

Movie review by Grace Montgomery, Common Sense Media
Shrek the Musical Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 9+

Musical version is edgier, not as fun as animated movie.

NR 2013 130 minutes
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Parents say

age 12+

Based on 4 reviews

Kids say

age 7+

Based on 18 reviews

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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Shrek the Musical is a DVD release of the Broadway musical based on the Shrek animated movie. It has basically the same plot and characters and even much of the same dialogue as is in the original Shrek movie but with added song-and-dance numbers. As with its predecessor, it has quite a bit of adult innuendo, potty humor, and gross-out jokes, though the musical does seem to have a bit more adult humor than the cartoon. The play also adds more backstory to main characters Shrek and Fiona, both of which are quite dark and a little scary: Shrek is sent off by his parents at age 7 to fend for himself, and Fiona is sent to live in a tower alone as a young girl. There's also some mild profanity ("damn" and "hell") and some scary scenes with characters being threatened with execution and Shrek being chased by townsfolk with torches and pitchforks. The big bad wolf sings, "They tore my granny dress and called me a hot and tranny mess."

Community Reviews

ThisIsAProffesionalAdult
ThisIsAProffesionalAdult Adult
December 5, 2021
age 16+

This thing is trash

The story of Shrek where an intrepid ogre must rescue a princess for lord Farquad to save his swamp but ends up falling in love with the princess. An amazing story. Now imagine that as a musical. How bad could it be? In the year 2008 DreamWorks produced Shrek The Musical so that they could milk the franchise as much as possible. The musical itself was not bad, it had good humor and the songs weren’t too bad. The fact remains though that DreamWorks was just trying to make more money off of the series. After the Broadway production of Shrek The Musical it premiered in the West End at the Drury Lane Theatre, where it continued to play from 2011 to 2013. So this means that it is no longer running, thank god. If you were to take the movie out of context and just look at it you would see that it's not too bad. They had some pretty good sets - especially seeing as how this was a musical and it's pretty hard to get good scenes if you're trying to copy a movie. They had good lighting and it really helped the atmosphere of the musical. From what I could see/hear the sound was good and the actors' voices carried well across the audience. The costumes were… Cursed and that is the most I can say about that. The props were amazing although I thought they were a bit lacking since DreamWorks is trying to copy Shrek, they probably could have added a little to help the atmosphere. Out of the entire show there's one person who I think deserves more credit. “Sire, we have found the thing you most seek” “A pretty pony” said the best character in the entire musical. Lord Farquad is a very iconic character and out of everybody I think that his character stands out the most. He is one of the funniest characters and his size allows for great jokes. I think that Christopher Sieber (who played Lord Farquad) absolutely nailed the character. He made Farquad stand out in every way possible and I personally think he did the best out of everyone. Everything I have said so far has been while you look at the show without context, but if you put the context back in you get a very different result. Let's say you compare it to something simple, let's say Shrek, the original Shrek movie that pales in comparison to Shrek. The original was way better. It has the same plot and ending but it is executed so much more beautifully. You can actually look at the characters without wincing, the jokes are always perfect and the musical just can't live up to the original. To be fair that is a bit mean seeing as how the original Shrek is god tier but still it's supposed to be the same thing but the musical is just way off target. Overall I would give this movie a ⅕ and before you watch this - Dont watch it! Run before you get nightmares from this thing!
Bob T.
Bob T. Adult
February 20, 2018
age 13+
oh, it's beautiful.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
See all 4 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Shrek (Brian D'Arcy James), a hilariously grumpy ogre, finds his swamp taken over by fairy tale characters who've been banished by the evil Lord Farquaad (Christopher Sieber). In exchange for getting his swamp back, Shrek agrees to rescue the princess Fiona (Sutton Foster) from a fire-breathing dragon so she can marry Lord Farquaad. Shrek reluctantly sets off to save Fiona with the hilarious talking donkey, Donkey (Daniel Breaker). On their adventure, Shrek, Donkey, and Fiona all learn that appearances can be deceiving, and they learn the true meaning of friendship.

Is It Any Good?

As with Shrek the movie, SHREK THE MUSICAL is funny, clever, and charming, for all the same reasons the movie is. It takes your typical fairy tale characters and turns them upside down, making the ogre the hero and the princess anything but princess-y. Many of the same jokes and favorite lines from the movie are in the play, and often they're just as funny, but sometimes they seem to miss the mark when played by real actors dressed up as, for example, a big green ogre or a talking donkey. Also, somehow the burps and gross-out humor seem even grosser when not delivered by a cartoon character.

Mostly the play itself feels somewhat unnecessary. Shrek the movie hit all the right notes, with hilarious voice actors, silly humor, and a really great soundtrack. Shrek the musical doesn't really add anything to the mix that's better than the movie. Although the actors are very talented, none of the songs is memorable. And, although many of the sets are impressive (there's a giant puppet dragon and some great dance sequences), they don't catch your attention the same way on video they would if you saw them on stage. Kids will probably be entertained by the play's humor, but they may be bored by the numerous songs and the play's more-than-two-hour run time.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Why do you think they made Shrek into a musical? Do you think it works as a musical, or do you like the movie version better?

  • There are a lot of references to Disney movies and other Broadway-based movies in the play. Which ones did you notice?

  • Do you like the songs in the play? Do you like them better than the music in the movie? Why, or why not?

Movie Details

Our Editors Recommend

  • Shrek Poster Image

    Shrek

    Gross-out laughs meet a marvelous fairy tale mix.

    age 6+
  • Shrek 2 Poster Image

    Shrek 2

    Just as much fairy tale fun as the first one.

    age 6+
  • Shrek the Third Poster Image

    Shrek the Third

    Cute but not as fun as past movies; some cartoon violence.

    age 6+

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