On July 4, 2024, DreamWorks Animation Studios officially announced a fifth non-spinoff installment of the “Shrek” movie franchise.

Fans of not just the franchise, but movie lovers in general, were thrilled to hear the news and became eager for more details on the movie, specifically the plot of the movie and what the beloved characters from the “Shrek” movies will look like fourteen years after they last appeared in a motion picture.

On February 27, 2025, the long-awaited reveal of the new designs of the main characters were finally presented to the public on a teaser trailer for the movie and a majority of audience’s opinions on the reveal were harsh to say the least.

For starters, and most obviously, the designs of each of the characters definitely look really different compared to their classic looks.

In the first four Shrek Movies, the look of the characters was heavily inspired by early 2000s CGI animation, with an emphasis on exaggerated yet expressive features.

Shrek himself had a round, somewhat crude appearance that matched his ogre persona, while other main characters, such as Donkey or Princess Fiona also had distinct features and familiar characteristics that made them such recognizable animated film characters.

However, in this new iteration, fans noticed that the characters have been redesigned with a much more hyper-realistic yet oddly cartoonish aesthetic that many feel is an unnecessary change from the franchise’s signature look and feel.

Shrek’s face appears to be smoother, leaner, and slightly more human-like, leading many to claim that he looks less like a grumpy, yet loveable ogre, and more like a generic animated character.

Another major complaint the film has already received is the rather obvious plot that the movie will consist of that can be seen from miles away.

In the teaser, we are re-introduced to one of Shrek’s daughters, who is a teenager now, as time has passed by since the third and fourth movies where she was an infant.

Many fans are already speculating that she will be used as nothing but a plot device for the movie, using the cliche animated film trope of a rebellious teenage daughter of the main father character.

Most of these plotlines consist of the child wanting to escape out of the family’s comfort zone and explore the real world on their own, with the father disagreeing with this and pleading for them to stay until they have a big argument but eventually being on good terms at the end.

Fans hope that this will not be the case but have a bad feeling that this will be the direction that the film will go toward, which is disappointing for a franchise that has continuously produced fan and creative storylines that present unique ideas and situations that other movies just don’t have.

Whether this backlash will influence the final look of the characters or the direction of the film remains to be seen, but one thing for certain is that “Shrek 5” will have not only face the challenge of living up to the franchise’s successful and loved legacy, but also winning back the trust of its original audience.