The Intended Audience of Shrek 2

The Intended Audience of Shrek 2

For this essay I will evaluate the potential arrows that direct us to

believe that this film was actually intended for adults with the

perception of a children’s film. Here I will display the possible

arguments for and against the above criticism that will back up both

of the children and adult audiences, showing similarities and

differences within them and the comparison to other films. The film

also demonstrates abilities that combine the audiences together to

ensure that all appreciate the content, perhaps less often than

expected.

Shrek 2, a computer animated film directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly

Asbury, and Conrad Vernon, is frequently entertaining but is also,

just as frequently, uninteresting or even confusing to some fraction

of the audience.

Shrek (Mike Myers), a large, fat, green ogre with ears like tiny

mushrooms and his new wife, the podgy, green ogress Fiona (Cameron

Diaz), who had once been human by day and a monster only at night, are

invited by her parents, the King and Queen of the Land Far Far Away

(John Cleese and Julie Andrews) to visit them in their castle.

Unfortunately, Fiona's father dislikes the idea of his daughter

marrying an ogre and remaining one herself. Hoping to solve both these

problems, he conspires with the crafty Fairy Godmother, sends Shrek

into the forest, hires Puss in Boots to murder him, and arranges for

the Fairy Godmother's vain son, Prince Charming, to impersonate the

absent ogre.

For Shrek 2, relying on tried-and-true pop-culture riffs, fart jokes

and cute animals; catered to an audience that is probably more

important to an animated film than...

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... no modern day

references but simply jokes making it a defined ‘kid’s film’.

To conclude Shrek 2 most obviously shows strong signs of maturity from

the language to the actions. Although it carries some ciphers of

children it is clearly not enough to cover the adult references and it

is no wonder the film has made so much money as most of the

money-carriers are adults anyway. Shrek 2 being a comedy is just not

fulfilling. I think instead of making the film ‘O.K.’ for two

audiences why not make it ‘Brilliant’ for just one. And it is because

of this blatant desperation of trying to impress both that Shrek 2 had

lost my appetite.

Shrek 2 is definitely I feel is an adult context film probably not to

a far degree however. It may be suitable for teens but for young

children it is only right to be ‘parentally guided’.