Shrek is a media franchise from DreamWorks Animation and loosely based on William Steig's 1990 picture book of the same name. It includes four computer-animated films: Shrek (2001), Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek the Third (2007), and Shrek Forever After (2010), with a reboot currently in the works. A short 4-D film, Shrek 4-D, which originally was a theme park ride, was released in 2003.
Two television specials, the Christmas television special Shrek the Halls (2007) and the Halloween television special Scared Shrekless (2010), have also been produced. A spin-off film titled Puss in Boots was released in October 2011, and a 2008 Broadway musical adaption was produced for two years. Another spin-off titled Puss in Boots: The Last Wish was released in December 2022.
The series primarily focuses on Shrek, a adventurer ogre, who begrudgingly accepts a quest to rescue a princess, resulting in him finding friends and going on many subsequent adventures in a fairy tale world.
In May 2010, The New York Times described the principal Shrek characters as "brilliantly realized" and said "nearly a decade after the first Shrek film they remain as vital and engaging fusions of image, personality and voice as any characters in the history of animation." The series was a financial success, becoming the 17th highest-grossing film franchise of all time and the second highest-grossing animated franchise. Shrek, Shrek 2 and Puss in Boots received positive reviews, but Shrek the Third and Shrek Forever After were met with more mixed reviews.
