Shrek and Reversal of Fairytale Tradition

Shrek and Reversal of Fairytale Tradition

Shrek directed Andrew Andamson and Vicky Jenson by contradicts the

traditional view of a fairytale characters and settings. Although your

first impressions may lead you to believe that that the story is

totally different to a traditional fairytale looking more closely you

find that there are a few similarities. This essay will be looking at

the characters and the different presentational devises used to show

how fairytale traditions are reversed. The presentational devices

which are looked at are camera angles, lighting and music. In a

traditional fairytale you would expect to find a prince and a princess

who fall in love and live happily ever after. For example in Snow

White and the Seven Dwarfs the prince comes and rescues Snow White and

then they live happily ever after. In Shrek the prince is revealed to

be evil, like the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk, and the princess

turns out to be an ogre and not as beautiful on the outside as first

impressions may lead you to believe. Throughout the film the ugly ogre

is slowly revealed as good whereas in a traditional fairytale the ogre

would have been evil throughout the story. During the film there are a

lot more differences which help us to see that the ogre is good and

the Prince is evil.

At the beginning of the film it opens like a traditional fairytale

using the well-known opening 'Once upon a time.' This is suddenly

interrupted by a hand snapping the book shut. Shrek then appears and

modern rap music starts to play. This surprises the viewers and begins

to give the audience the impression that this is not going to be a

conventional fai...

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discovered the true characters. By the end of the story the audience

feels hatred towards the lord and they want Shrek as a friend because

his character is so lovable. Shrek is revealed as lovable and fun

whilst the audience have seen right through the Lord's character and

seen him as the evil and manipulative character he is. The ideas about

the characters in a true fairytale are reversed yet the film still

comes across as a true fairytale. The ogre who should have been an

evil man-eating beast is shown as good and kind. The Lord on the other

hand is shown as the bad guy of the film whereas in the traditional

fairytale he would have been a true hero. The message of the story is

that you can't judge a book by its cover and that reveal a true person

you have to look deep within as first impressions can be deceiving.