Trivia
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Spoilers (1)
Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, Oscar nominees for writing the screenplay to the first "Shrek", opted out of returning for the sequel as they felt that the basis for the storyline needed to be a traditional fairytale and disagreed with the producers' choice to follow a different plot line.
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The fairy godmother Dama Fortuna was originally created for the first Shrek but was cut out and now featured in this sequel.
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The Wolf is found reading a magazine named Pork Illustrated with the front page featuring an image of a posed pig in a bikini. This is a spoof of the swimsuit issue of the magazine Sports Illustrated. In the trailers, however, the magazine is "The New Porker".
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While Larry King lent his voice to episodes of The Simpsons, this was the first time that he voiced a character other than himself in an animated movie or television series.
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The Fairy Godmother says, "What in Grimm's name..." - a reference to the Brothers Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm who published collections of fairy tales including the ones used in the movie.
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The potion which Fairy Godmother gives to the King to make Fiona fall in love with the first man she kisses is labeled "IX", making the bottle "Love Potion Number 9". ("Love Potion No. 9" is a popular song.)
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The entrance to Far Far Away closely resembles the entrance to the Paramount Studios lot.
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When Shrek, Fiona and Donkey first enter Far Far Away, the camera pans over a distinctive Far Far Away sign at street level (as opposed to the huge one in the hills that resembles the "Hollywood" sign). The street-level sign is an obvious parody of the official "Beverly Hills" sign that welcomes visitors as they enter the city via certain boulevards. The sign is also used as the official city logo.
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On the premiere day of "Shrek 2" in Italy, the distribution agency completely purchased the commercial space of the top seller sports newspaper "La Gazzetta dello Sport". The trademark of "Gazzetta" is that it has been printed on pink paper for more than a century - and for the occasion the issue was released in green paper. Half of the cost of the operation (about 120,000 euros) was given to charity.
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It became the second film in Australian cinema history to gross more than $50 million. Titanic was the first.
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An initial story concept was to have Fiona's father, King Harold, appear nude throughout the film, as in "The Emperor's New Clothes".
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John Cleese and Julie Andrews recorded most of their scenes together at the same time, an unusual practice for an animated film.
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As of 2010, the second highest rated grossing animated film of all time after Toy Story 3.
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The crowd scene when Shrek and Fiona arrive at Far Far Away's castle involved over 600 animated characters.
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Hair is a notoriously difficult thing to render convincingly in computer animation so, to help the animators, a wigmaker came to the studios to educate them in the art of making realistic hair.
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The producers swear that when they decided to put a Sir Justin Timberlake poster above Princess Fiona's bed, they had no idea that Cameron Diaz had just started dating the singer in real life.
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There are some other spoofs of famous signs and stores in the background of Far Far Away:
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- Burger Prince (Burger King)
- Olde Knavery (Old Navy)
- Far Far Away sign (Hollywood sign)
- Saxon Fifth Avenue (Saks Fifth Avenue)
- Romeo Drive (Rodeo Drive)
- Versarchery (Versace)
- Gap Queen (Gap Kids)
- Farbucks Coffee (Starbucks)
- Friar's Fat Boy (Big Boy)
- Tower of London Records (Tower Records)
- Baskin Robinhood (Baskin Robbins ice cream)
- FFPS (US Postal)
- Barney's Old York (Barney's New York)
Scored the biggest opening ever for an animated film, topping Finding Nemo's $70.2 million opening.
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In the tavern "The Poison Apple", the man with the hook playing the piano is voiced by Tom Waits (singing "Little Drop of Poison") and then again by Nick Cave (singing "People Ain't No Good").
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When Donkey and Puss emerge from their hiding place inside the metal cart in Dama Fortuna's factory, Donkey references Puss' "fine Corinthian footwear". This is a reference to the Chrysler Cordoba commercials featuring Ricardo Montalban pitching their "fine Corinthian leather" interiors.
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A couple of kids during a test screening asked director Andrew Adamson what Dragon turned into. Adamson said that Dragon turned into a Pegasus creature (a horse with wings).
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The re-united Pixies recorded a new song together (their first output in 12 years), written by Kim Deal, called "Bam Thwok," which was originally written for the soundtrack to 'Shrek 2'. But the movie company chose a song by Counting Crows instead, and "Bam Thwok" ended up helping to inaugurate the European version of iTunes.
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The pickup line used by the donkey when the carriage is driving through Far Far Away - "Hey, good looking. We'll be back to pick you up later" - is taken from a 1970s commercial for Mr. Microphone, which turned any radio or stereo system with an FM tuner into a PA for a hand-held wireless microphone. This line was also used, under very different circumstances, in the Death Proof segment that Quentin Tarantino directed for Grindhouse.
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Some of the signs up in "The Poison Apple" are: "Unhappy Hour 5-7", "No one under XXI admitted", "We reserve the right to BEHEAD anyone", and "NO SKIN NO BONES NO SERVICE".
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This is the second film series starring Mike Myers in which the sequel grossed more in its first two weeks of release than the original did its entire box office run. The first was Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, which grossed more its opening weekend than Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery did altogether.
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When Shrek, Donkey and Puss come across the Fairy Godmother's factory, Donkey calls it, "The Old Keebler Place," a reference to the Keebler Elves.
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When Shrek awakens in the barn surrounded by women, one of the women tells him she fetched him a pail of water. The woman later introduces herself as "Jill", as in Jack and Jill.
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The Fairy Godmother billboard is a parody of the famous Hollywood signs of model Angelyne.
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In the UK version, the voices of Larry King and Joan Rivers have been replaced by home-grown TV presenters Jonathan Ross and Kate Thornton, though King and Rivers are still credited.
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Antonio Banderas also provides the Puss in Boots' voice both in the Spanish and Latinamerican versions.
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William Steig, writer of the original book, died during production. This film is dedicated to him.
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Jennifer Saunders got a voice coach to help her sing for the Fairy Godmother's opening number.
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As Jennifer Saunders was in the midst of filming another season of Absolutely Fabulous, her vocal performance was recorded in England.
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Young artist Butterfly Boucher recorded a new version of David Bowie's "Changes" specially for the film. Bowie himself was so impressed with this rendition that he provided backing vocals on it.
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Pinocchio's solo on the dance floor during the Ball scene closely resembles Michael Jackson's famous "Bad" routine.
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In the police montage, the camera following a "white bronco", is a direct reference to the infamous 1994 California highway chase where cops were chasing O.J. Simpson in a white Ford Bronco. The montage's camerawork and overall appearance resembles the appearance of the television show Cops.
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A careful look at Puss-in-Boots' eyes in the famous "doe eyes" scene reveals a reflection of the RE/MAX real estate agency logo and characteristic balloon.
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Originally the Dragon from the first film was to have a major role, and turn into a Pegasus when Donkey drank the potion.
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Most of the paintings in the castle are paintings of real kings and queens (example: a famous portrait of young Queen Elizabeth I of England can be seen a corridor).
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Puss-in-Boots' famous "doe-eyes" scene was an homage to the painter Gig who was popular in the 60s and 70s as an illustrator for children.
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John Powell, co-composer of Shrek, dropped out of the film due to working on the music score of Robots.
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The scene when Shrek, Puss, and Donkey walk in on Fairy Godmother while she's pouring potion ingredients into a large cauldron is a nod to a scene in Disney's The Little Mermaid when Ursula is preparing the spell to make Ariel human. Jennifer Saunders (who voices the Fairy Godmother) had originally auditioned for the role of Ursula (but was turned down) and was cast for her role in Shrek 2 after Steven Spielberg heard Saunders performance on the audition tape.
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When Fiona is talking to her dad after Shrek and Donkey meet Puss, her necklace is in the shape of a claddagh, an ancient Celtic symbol for luck and harmony.
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The Spanish phrase that Puss-in-Boots says after he is accidentally thrown off of Donkey (¡Hey tú, pedazo de carne con patas, ¿Cómo te atreves a hacerme esto!?) roughly translates to "How dare you do this to me, you four-legged bag of meat!".
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The Counting Crows song that plays during Shrek and Fiona's honeymoon montage replaced a track by Weezer which didn't quite fit to the timings of the visuals. When the Crows came on board, they however had to ensure that their new track did, as the visuals had already been locked down and couldn't be changed.
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When Shrek, Fiona and Donkey were leaving for Far, Far Away, Donkey starts singing "Rawhide." Eddie Murphy actually ad-libbed the version that was put into the movie.
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For the "Hair Ball" sequence, actor Antonio Banderas has said that he strained his voice over a long period of time. He was also appearing nightly in "9" on Broadway. The octave range for the musical had to be lowered due to the vocal strain. It also took 3 hours to record just right.
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In the scene where Mongo is approaching the castle, a frightened group of patrons run from a Farbucks coffee shop across the street into another Farbucks. This is a reference to Lewis Black's comedy routine "The End of the Universe" in which he claims that the end of the universe is finding a Starbucks across the street from a Starbucks.
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In one draft, Prince Charming was a lot more childish and immature and he frequently threw tantrums.
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Before Shrek 2 was released, and was in production, Dreamworks released a special presentation at Universal Studios, called Shrek 4-D. A 3D show of Shrek, it showed Farquad's soul coming back to haunt Shrek and Fiona, and Dragon and Donkey helping them overcome him. It was originally a plot for Shrek 2, but the writer of the book disagreed on it.
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The BBFC gave this film a U certificate for its cinema release in the UK. Many parents complained about this, as there are numerous occasions where the fairy godmother says 'bloody', which some consider an offensive word.
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In the scene where King Harold and Queen Lillian are in talking in their bedroom, Queen Lillian is reading a book called 'Kings are From Mars, Queens are From Venus' (an obvious nod to the real-life book 'Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus').
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In the Fairy Godmother's factory, some workers are putting potion bottles on a conveyor belt. One of the bottles is marked "Viagra".
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In the scene where Gingi, Pinocchio, the Big Bad Wolf, the Three Blind Mice, and the Three Little Pigs are shocked into silence after seeing Shrek captured on "Knights", the positions of the Three Little Pigs resemble those of the Three Wise Monkeys (see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil) - the little pig with the yellow baseball cap has his hooves over his eyes, the little pig with the train engineer's hat has his hooves over his ears, and the little pig with the straw hat has his hooves over his mouth.
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When Shrek, Donkey and Puss are in the bar, Puss is drinking milk. There is a bottle of milk beside him with a label of a bull with curly hair. This is a deliberate caricature of Antonio Banderas who voices Puss.
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Spoilers
There are numerous references to the King being a frog throughout the movie:
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- He has a painting of his human self standing over a pond next to his bed
- His wife reminds him of their first date by the lily pond, their "first kiss"
- His bed sheets and most of his furniture are leafy green
- Above his and Queen Lillian's bed hangs a giant tapestry of a pond filled with lily pads
- A female frog in the bar asks him, "Do I know you?"
- He calls Queen Lillian "Lilly" as in lily pad
- Fairy Godmother threatens to send him back to the pond
- The King's revulsion to living in a swamp hints at his own living in one
- When the king offers princess Fiona a cup of tea, he tells her that he has changed a lot for her mother
