The Characters of Shrek and Lord Farquaad
In this essay I am going to analyse the characters of Shrek and Lord
Farquaad. I will also explore the different presentational devices
used by the film creators of Shrek to craft an unusual fairytale.
This film cost $6 million to produce. It is based on a traditional
fairytale type story but subverted.
The film was produced by Dreamworks - Steven Spielberg's production
company. Dreamworks make animated films. It has a rival animation
company in the form of Disney. It was Disney who first brought out a
long animated film which was Snow White in the 1950's.
The first computer generated animation was also brought out by Disney
called Toy Story in the 1990's.
In traditional fairy tales princes are tall, strapping, handsome and
charming. They are the good natured characters in the story who would
ordinarily rescue the princess. Ogres or giants or any general evil
being would be big, ugly, horrible, nasty creatures and would be the
wicked characters in the story. For example the story of Jack and the
beanstalk' where the nasty giant is chasing Jack shouting "Fe Fi Fo
Fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman!" and obviously trying to eat
Jack. He is evidently an evil character. The prince in 'Snow White and
the Seven Dwarfs' is a fine example of a typical classic fairytale
prince. He comes to rescue Snow White and kisses her when she was in a
deep, everlasting sleep to awaken her.
Language is an important device and I am going to write about how
language can create the impression of good and evil in both
characters, and in films. The film 'Shrek' begins as if we are reading
a book o...
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... unwelcoming as it should be as the storybook characters follow Shrek
into it quite willingly. Lord Farquaad's castle is also not as
traditional as it would be in an orthodox fairytale story. It has a
very modern image and is the setting for torture, violence and secrecy
instead of being a place of splendour and grace.
The use of lighting, music and sound affects helps to set the
atmosphere of the particular scene and helps the audience get to grips
with the idea of a subverted fairytale.
The reversal of a fairytale is a very bold move by Dreamworks who defy
the usual animation skills and traditional role of the characters and
storylines to create a totally unique and distinctive piece of
animation to be the start of hopefully more to come. A subverted
fairytale certainly provides original and interesting viewing!
Presentational Devices of Shrek and Reversal of Traditional Roles In this essay, I am going to analyse the characters in 'Shrek'. I will mainly focus on Shrek and Lord Farquuad. I will also write about how the film makers use different presentational devices to create an unusual film. Stereotypically the prince is good and the ogre is evil. In traditional fairy tales ogres are pictured as man-eating beasts, while the Princes are tall, handsome and save the Princess.
Bless the Beasts and the Children is a book about six naïve, immature boys who are sent away from their parents to The Boys Canyon Boys Camp where they are known as the 'Bed Wetters' and are considered the outcasts. Glendon Swarthout uses symbolism to show weakness and vulnerability in the characters and to fulfill the purpose of the novel. The radios symbolize the fear that the boys experience, at the beginning of the novel each one of the bedwetters has their radio going full blast. They use the radios when they are scared, like at night before they go to sleep to comfort them. The boys are neglected by their parents and the radios make them feel that something is there for them when they are afraid because their parents never are.
Shrek too numberless is just a funny good-hearted kid’s movie, that almost any child has seen. Shrek is not like numerous of the traditional fairy tales that people learn about as a child. Shrek did not date back to centuries ago, it was not told orally, then someone wrote it down, and it has not been rewritten in many countries and changed due to different cultures. While Shrek is a unique modern tale about Ogres, talking animals, magic and more surprises it is also a spoof and audience should recognize common characters. In the article “Shrek and Shrek II” by Jessica Tiffin, she presents the fairy tales that are most relevant in the film Shrek, not only are they the most relevant they are also the most incorporated. These fairy tales are
Although the movie The Lion King is often times viewed as nothing more than a child-based movie, in actuality, it contains a much deeper meaning. It is a movie that not only displays the hardships of maturation, and the perplexities associated with growing, but it is also a movie that deals with the search for one's identity and responsibility. As said by director Julie Taymor, "In addition to being a tale about a boy's personal growth, the `Lion King' dramatizes the ritual of the `Circle of Life'." Throughout The Lion King, Simba must endeavor through the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth to take his place in the circle of life, as king of the pridelands.
The epic Beowulf is one of the oldest poems written in English. According to the Norton Anthology, "the poem was composed more the twelve hundred years ago, in the first half of the eight century. Its author may have been a native of what was Mercia, the Midlands of England today, although the late tenth-century manuscript , which alone preserves the poem, originated in the south in the kingdom of the West Saxons" (Norton 21). Although the poem is of English origin, it speaks of tribes (the Danes and the Geats) that are from the "Danish island of Zealand and southern Sweden respectively" (Norton 22). The main character, Beowulf, demonstrates that he is a warrior who places heroism and bravery over his own well-being and life. Beowulf is a hero and an example of a great warrior. His actions give us a good example of the pagan warrior mentality. The pagan society is a warrior society, in which courage and bravery are extremely prevalent. Beowulf fights against monsters and dragons, and he would rather die in battle, then anywhere else. Beowulf is called upon to help defeat Grendel, who is a monster that has taken over the hall of Heorot. He is greeted with great hospitality. Hrothgar, the King of Denmark, is relived to see Beowulf. There is some skepticism by Unferth, who recalls a fight in which Beowulf lost in Battle. Unferth is wrong, and Beowulf says this great line: "fate often saves an undoomed man when his courage is good." Beowulf defeats Grendel with great ease and the people of the hall are gracious to Beowulf.
- Haim, Juliane. “Disney Dads.” Marge Champion: The Real Life Snow White, 94, Danced in Her Dad’s Footsteps. 2 July 2013
The works of Karl Marx have had a great effect on the world. They influenced many people including Vladimir Lenin. The works of Vladimir Lenin have also been influential. Together they influenced the African Che Guevara who is named Thomas Sankara. Thomas Sankara was a revolutionary hero that enacted sweeping social and economic changes throughout Burkina Faso and inspired many people to believe that Africa could be autonomous and self reliant.
The Chronicles of Narnia are veritably the most popular writings of C.S. Lewis. They are known as children’s fantasy literature, and have found favor in older students and adults alike, even many Christian theologians enjoy these stories from Lewis; for there are many spiritual truths that one can gleam from them, if familiar with the Bible. However, having said this, it is noteworthy to say that Lewis did not scribe these Chronicles for allegorical didactics of the Christian faith, but wrote them in such a well-knit fashion that young readers might understand Christian doctrine through captivating fantasy and thus gain an appreciation for it. With this in mind, and in the interest of this assignment, the purpose of this paper is an attempt to analyze one of the many doctrines of the Christian faith from The Lion, The Witch, And, The Wardrobe (LWW), namely, temptation and how Lewis illustrates it through an individual character, Edmund.
Beowulf, written between the 8th and 10th centuries, is an epic poem set in southern Sweden. The poem illustrates the Anglo-Saxon’s strong belief in the heroic code. The loyalty between the warrior and his king bound the culture together. The warrior was the ultimate hero who represented strength and courage. Beowulf, the hero in the poem, illustrates the Germanic principles of the heroic code. Through the battles and character interactions, Beowulf converges loyalty, strength, courage and forgiveness into the hero archetype.
about a snowman he once stole he says “I wanted him, a mate with a
In Beowulf, the protagonist Beowulf is shown as a hero with extrodinary strength. This is not what makes him a hero. By definition, a hero is a man of exceptional quality. However this term does not do Beowulf justice. His self-imposed purpose in life is to help others, and eventually sacrifices his own life in doing so. Beowulf’s battle with the dragon serves as a critique of the notion that Beowulf is a hero. The Dragon section displays many of Beowulf’s heoric characteristics. Beowulf establishes himself as a hero by fighting the dragon, exemplifing strength and courage when fighting the dragon, and sacrificing himself so that others can live.
boy, when Pip is at the Three Jolly Bargemen with Joe, a strange man who seemed to be a
This legend is based on the Brothers Grimm parable which is one of their earliest works. In the Grimm story, the Queen is the princess’s real mother. When the queen finds out from the mirror that her daughter is more beautiful than herself, she becomes jealous and grows to hate her own daughter - who is “fairest of them all” (The Origins of Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty" 2) at only seven years old. The queen sends the huntsman to kill Snow White like in the original story, however she requests the lungs and liver of her daughter, not the heart. The huntsman lets her go mostly because he thinks the wild animals will kill her anyways. During her sojourn with the dwarfs, the queen knows she is there and makes three more attempts on her life. The dwarves manage to save her the first two times, but they conclude that she is deceased the third time, when she gets a piece poison apple caught in her throat. A prince comes along one day and falls in love with the unconscious beauty. He then proceeds to take the corpse everywhere he goes, referring to her body as “his dearest possession,” (The Origins of Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty" 3). The piece of apple is dislodged waking the princess, and she falls in love with the prince. At their wedding, the queen is forced to put on red-hot iron shoes and dance until she dies. Although this tale had a happy ending, it contains a few gory details that the Disney animation did not
The animated film Shrek is a Dreamworks fairy tale that teaches us to look beyond what we expect to see, by completely subverting the traditional fairy tale concepts of gender, appearance and beauty. The characters in Shrek are vastly different from what we would expect to see in their appearance and behaviour. With unexpected plot twists, the directors of Shrek create important messages and morals that would not usually be conveyed, using techniques such as humour. The techniques have been placed strategically to result in an entertaining and educational film.
The stepmother poisons an apple, Snow White eats it and then dies. After this, Gaiman’s version strays significantly from the fairy tale happy ending. As did the Queen’s and Snow White’s character change, so did the Prince’s. In Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the prince kisses the princess and breaks the curse. In the Grimm brothers version, which is more like Gaiman’s, the piece of poisoned apple is dislodged from her throat and she comes back to life. In “Snow, Glass, Apples”, the prince’s true motives are uncovered. “He bade me remove my shift, and made me stand in front of the opened window, far from the fire, until my skin was chilled stone-cold. Then he asked me to lie upon my back, with my hands folded across my breasts, my eyes wide open – but staring only at the beams above. He told me not to move, and to breathe as little as possible. He implored me to say nothing”(Gaiman 342). The prince’s requests are strange and uncommon but the Queen complys. The prince is trying to make the Queen seem dead. This reveals the prince to be a necrophiliac, which is why he shows great interest when he first discovers Snow White’s body. He is willing to give the dwarfs anything in turn for Snow White’s corpse. They give it to him and while he is having his way with it, the piece of apple that is lodged in her throat becomes loosened and she comes back to life. Snow White stayed cold and always looked as if death was upon her, so the prince’s desire for her was not diminished when she awakened. The prince is not the valiant savior he is thought to be, but a lust driven necrophiliac in search of