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Shrek (2001)
Episode 4134th May 2026 • What's Our Verdict Reviews • What's Our Verdict
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This podcast episode delves into the multifaceted nature of the animated film "Shrek," elucidating its cultural significance and the duality of its comedic and narrative structure. The discussion commences with an acknowledgment of the film's satirical commentary on traditional fairy tales and Disney's narrative conventions. Throughout the episode, we dissect the film's initial act, which is laden with humorous jabs at established tropes, contrasting sharply with the latter portion that adheres more closely to a conventional love story. We explore the film's impact on meme culture and its resonance with audiences, particularly highlighting the juxtaposition of childlike humor with deeper philosophical themes. Ultimately, the episode culminates in a thoughtful evaluation of how "Shrek" resonates differently across generational lines, reflecting on its enduring legacy in the realm of animated cinema.

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Transcripts

Speaker A:

Added to that is in the background.

Speaker A:

Got cauldron boiling with a night cookbook.

Speaker A:

And it's pointing out, like, all the.

Speaker A:

All the best parts of a night.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

The delicacy.

Speaker B:

Welcome to the what's up every Podcast, where we fashion ourselves cinematic judge and jury.

Speaker B:

My name is J.J. crowder.

Speaker B:

I'm here with my co host, Alec Burgess.

Speaker A:

Let's get it.

Speaker B:

We appreciate you tuning in.

Speaker B:

Go hit that Follow subscribe.

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Like bell notification buttons.

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Hit all of them.

Speaker B:

Help you keep up with the podcast.

Speaker B:

New episodes, what's going on with us.

Speaker B:

Hopefully some new stuff coming.

Speaker B:

Things like that.

Speaker B:

Anyway, the other thing you should do is go to W. GG and get yourself some energy powder like this one.

Speaker B:

And if you notice, the lid's off.

Speaker B:

So we're gonna do a little live demo.

Speaker B:

Live demo.

Speaker B:

So I've got my 20 ounces of water and my little baby scoop.

Speaker B:

Okay.

Speaker B:

And I'm gonna dump that sucker in there.

Speaker A:

I love it.

Speaker B:

Yes.

Speaker B:

There he is.

Speaker A:

Her.

Speaker A:

See?

Speaker A:

Simple.

Speaker B:

I didn't bring a straw, but we give the little finger stir because, you know, that's how we ghetto folk do it.

Speaker A:

I meant to grab.

Speaker A:

God wanted to use us.

Speaker A:

Wanted us to use straws.

Speaker A:

He wouldn't have put convenient fingers on the end of our hands.

Speaker B:

Exactly.

Speaker B:

That's.

Speaker B:

My big fat fingers are great stirrers.

Speaker B:

Or you can have a really nice mug that you can shake and not spill water, too.

Speaker B:

So I'm doing that.

Speaker B:

So, yeah, you just put that one little scoop in there.

Speaker B:

Give it a shaky.

Speaker B:

Shaky.

Speaker B:

It doesn't leave any kind of powder residue.

Speaker B:

It's not like one of those little.

Speaker B:

Like, sometimes you get the little chunks of, like.

Speaker B:

It doesn't do that.

Speaker B:

It's very fine powder, so it dissolves really nice.

Speaker B:

I mean, I don't recommend, like, pouring it in there and then just getting right after it.

Speaker B:

Right?

Speaker A:

Give it a little shake.

Speaker B:

Give it a little shaky, shaky.

Speaker B:

A little mixy.

Speaker B:

Mixy with your finger or straw or spoon.

Speaker B:

But then once you're done, just give it a little sip.

Speaker A:

Bon appetit.

Speaker A:

What flavor you got?

Speaker B:

Tastes just like rainbow sherbet, dude.

Speaker A:

Oh.

Speaker B:

Tastes like a rainbow sherbet.

Speaker B:

Push pop.

Speaker B:

And it legit does.

Speaker B:

Like, no joke.

Speaker B:

And, yeah, I was needing it.

Speaker B:

It's.

Speaker B:

Listen, we're recording.

Speaker B:

I've got a.

Speaker B:

A live stream on whatnot coming up later.

Speaker B:

I've got to pack for this work trip I gotta go on.

Speaker B:

And then sounds like I need some juice.

Speaker B:

So we got.

Speaker B:

You'll be seeing me sifted throughout the episode.

Speaker B:

If you're watching here on YouTube.

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If not, go wherever you're at.

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Go to W. GG as you're checking out, put in the code our verdict, all one word and it'll get 10 off of your order.

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It also gives us a little commission.

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Not a ton, but a little bit.

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Helps the podcast stay up and running.

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I don't know if you guys know, but podcasts aren't cheap, so we enjoy doing it, but we need the love.

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So appreciate you.

Speaker B:

Go to WG, go get your 10 off with the code, our verdict, and then support them and enjoy the the energy that saves you money in the long run.

Speaker B:

So there it is.

Speaker B:

All right, let's get into this episode.

Speaker A:

Do it.

Speaker B:

It's a new month.

Speaker A:

New month May.

Speaker B:

How are we in May?

Speaker B:

Like, that's just insane.

Speaker B:

And with May nut comes a new topic, as always.

Speaker B:

And we are into animated movies, which we've done some in the past, but never a month, though.

Speaker B:

And I won.

Speaker B:

Finally.

Speaker A:

I don't want to play anymore.

Speaker B:

I won.

Speaker B:

It's the first time all year I've actually won.

Speaker B:

We've tied a couple of months, but I have.

Speaker B:

This is the first time in five months.

Speaker A:

Oh, five months.

Speaker B:

To win in:

Speaker B:

So we won.

Speaker B:

But to kick it off is not my pick, but it is Shrek.

Speaker B:

ng up on an anniversary there:

Speaker B:

It was written by William Stigma, Ted Elliott, and Terry Rocio.

Speaker B:

It was directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicki Jensen.

Speaker B:

It stars Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, John Lithgow, Vincent Castle, Peter Dennis, Clive Pearson, Jin Cummings, Chris Miller and Kathleen Freeman.

Speaker B:

It is about.

Speaker B:

Well, I gotta throw in Codrad Vernon because he plays my favorite character in this, which if you know, you know.

Speaker B:

So there it is.

Speaker B:

It's about a man, a mean lord, who exiles fairy tale creatures to the swamp of a grumpy ogre who must go on a quest and rescue a princess for the lord in order to get his land back.

Speaker B:

That was very detailed.

Speaker B:

Very detailed.

Speaker A:

It doesn't do it justice, though.

Speaker B:

No.

Speaker A:

Not even.

Speaker B:

I don't know.

Speaker B:

I'm gonna have a hot take on this.

Speaker B:

This movie, so I'm excited to hear.

Speaker B:

Why'd you pick Shrek?

Speaker A:

Mostly for the memes.

Speaker A:

It's gotten a huge meme culture that's come about from Shrek, which I don't always agree with, but I enjoy this movie and I love that, like, for the first 35 minutes of this movie, all it is is a dig at Disney.

Speaker B:

True.

Speaker A:

That's the entire purpose for the first 35 minutes is we're going to take a dig at the mouse.

Speaker A:

And then they, then it was like they wrapped up that.

Speaker A:

And they're like, okay, now we got to actually have a story here.

Speaker A:

They start telling the story, but I die.

Speaker A:

There's so many parts in this where it's really just a movie full of satire.

Speaker A:

Like Shrek could have been an SNL skit.

Speaker A:

And I mean, just to throw it out there and get it out of the way is the fact that they made Robin Hood French.

Speaker B:

Oh, yeah.

Speaker B:

Fantastic.

Speaker A:

Just giant middle fingers were going in, in the storyboard room.

Speaker A:

And so it's little things like that, little details that just make it an enjoyable watch.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

And that's why I picked it.

Speaker A:

But also the memes fair.

Speaker B:

It does have some pretty epic memes that follow it around, you know.

Speaker A:

Okay, I'm interested for you.

Speaker B:

Oh, man, this movie is such a double edged sword for me because let me explain.

Speaker B:

There are parts of this movie that I absolutely adore.

Speaker B:

Like, like you said, the first 20, 30 minutes.

Speaker B:

Hysterical.

Speaker B:

Because I was like, oh, this whole movie is just going to be one giant off Disney.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

You know, because they had the market cornered for 50 years.

Speaker B:

Right.

Speaker B:

And then now all of a sudden you, you got.

Speaker B:

Before they bought it, you had a couple of different ones.

Speaker B:

Dreamworks, you had whatever the one they bought that's now part of Pixar.

Speaker B:

So you had these animation studios that were popping up and you still have some that are smaller.

Speaker B:

Like there's one, there's Titmouse, who does a lot of great animation.

Speaker B:

So there's a lot now that Disney doesn't own it anymore, which is why they've dabbled more in like the live action.

Speaker B:

Trying to, you know.

Speaker B:

Anyway, so I say all the comic books.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

When, when this movie does what it's intended to do and it's just cutting loose.

Speaker B:

It's amazing.

Speaker B:

The movie as a whole, though, it's just not my bag.

Speaker B:

Like, I just don't enjoy it.

Speaker B:

I enjoy moments in this movie and I think we've talked.

Speaker B:

I know I've talked a lot about this in the past.

Speaker B:

Like one of my big issues with what's why Matson would be pissed at me.

Speaker B:

The dude that did Batman and Superman, Batman v Superman and 300 and I know, right?

Speaker B:

Having one of the.

Speaker A:

I'm having a Snyder.

Speaker B:

Zack Snyder.

Speaker B:

The reason I struggle with Zack Snyder is he makes beautiful visual films that have really great moments in them.

Speaker B:

But to me, what makes a great movie is great scenes.

Speaker B:

Okay.

Speaker B:

And great scenes can have great moments.

Speaker B:

Movies can have great moments.

Speaker B:

But if it has great scenes that connect well and go together, then I have a great movie.

Speaker A:

Right?

Speaker B:

Because there's no way to tell a movie from start to finish without cutting or moving on to a different.

Speaker B:

Because you have to have the.

Speaker B:

The pieces come together.

Speaker B:

This is another movie that has great moments.

Speaker B:

And it's.

Speaker B:

It's by design, right?

Speaker B:

Like I'm not sitting here saying that they're trying to make some fucking epic 300 style movie or Batman v Superman kind of shit.

Speaker B:

This is fucking intended to be a great movie with great funny moments.

Speaker B:

And to your point, they were like, yeah, we should probably have some sort of story in there, right?

Speaker B:

And so it was never one of those things that was generated to be a great end to end film.

Speaker B:

And I feel it when I watch it.

Speaker B:

Like there are parts that.

Speaker B:

And it's funny because you talk about the memes.

Speaker B:

This is a clip it movie, huh?

Speaker B:

This is a movie I get on.

Speaker B:

If I'm like, okay, I need some funny in my life, I'll google or I'll go to YouTube and I'll search certain scenes that make me laugh.

Speaker B:

Like anything with donkey in it.

Speaker B:

Like this just.

Speaker B:

Eddie Murphy is one of my favorite comedians on the planet.

Speaker B:

So anything that donkey's in, I'm laughing my ass off.

Speaker B:

Lord Farquaad.

Speaker B:

The.

Speaker B:

And don't even get me started on the goddamn gingerbread man, because I don't.

Speaker B:

I'm a two year old, I guess, because that just makes me laugh.

Speaker B:

And then it plays out in real life.

Speaker B:

So off.

Speaker A:

Yeah, too.

Speaker A:

You know how many times I've used the phrase, do you know, come often,.

Speaker B:

Man, have you seen the video of the dude in the hospital?

Speaker B:

They're laying in like those bays in the emergency room type area, like a clinic type thing.

Speaker B:

And they got the little.

Speaker A:

I think I have where they got the curtains closed.

Speaker B:

Yeah, the curtains going.

Speaker B:

And the guy, there's some lady's like, do you know the Muffin man?

Speaker B:

And you can hear in the back of the Muffin man, like, I lose my every time.

Speaker B:

But that's all this movie is to me.

Speaker B:

Like, it's not something that I know a lot of people like, oh, I'm gonna go watch Shrek because it's one of my favorite things.

Speaker B:

And I have never in my life done that.

Speaker B:

Like I'm always like, okay, here's a funny.

Speaker B:

Okay, some Shrek popped up on my feed.

Speaker B:

I'm gonna watch it because this shit's funny.

Speaker B:

I've never gone, I need to go watch the entire movie of Shrek except for the podcast now, like, this is the first time that I actively went, I want to watch Shrek.

Speaker B:

Let's go watch Shrek.

Speaker B:

Normally it's with somebody else has been like, hey, you want to go see Shrek?

Speaker B:

Or little clips?

Speaker B:

Or it's been on.

Speaker B:

And so we've watched it, but it's just not.

Speaker B:

And I know that's a hot take because this is like, one of the most popular movies ever made, but it's just not my thing.

Speaker A:

It might be a hot take, but it's not a wrong take because it's.

Speaker A:

It's very, like, skit based.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

And this.

Speaker A:

The scenes are not really scenes, they're skits.

Speaker A:

And so it's.

Speaker A:

It's interesting that you bring it up because it.

Speaker A:

You can feel it.

Speaker A:

It's like right after they pick up Princess Fiona is at the point where they're like, all right, we actually need a movie.

Speaker A:

And everything leading up to that is really just poking fun at Disney or poking fun.

Speaker A:

Fun at something else, like the WWE and throwing in the professional wrestling.

Speaker A:

But it's just so great.

Speaker A:

Like, the beginning of this movie, the first half, this movie is so strong.

Speaker A:

The back half is not really that good.

Speaker A:

And those moments or those kind of, like, digs and what this movie thrives on become further and further apart as you starting to get this, like, more of this message about not treating people with that, you know, judging people before getting to know them and all this stuff.

Speaker A:

Which a good lesson.

Speaker A:

But when you opened up with, you know, Smash Mouth All Star.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Like, as the opening song, like, you don't need to lecture me.

Speaker A:

Or you.

Speaker A:

You haven't earned the right to go ahead and get that.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Like.

Speaker A:

Or you got Joan Jet going bad reputation doing a WWE spiff.

Speaker A:

Like, that's where the Shrek movies and all of them.

Speaker A:

Right.

Speaker A:

Because they're now up to like, five that they're making.

Speaker B:

Yeah, something like that.

Speaker A:

Now, like, this is a huge franchise, but you can go through the second one, the third one there.

Speaker A:

They get more bitty as they go along because that's what sells for this makes it work, is the making fun of the, you know, fairy tale market that was Disney's for 60 plus years.

Speaker A:

And making fun of, you know, the.

Speaker A:

hat are going on in the early:

Speaker A:

And dig here, dig here.

Speaker A:

And then adding in, like, oh, you know what?

Speaker A:

We're gonna make our.

Speaker A:

Our villain short, and we're gonna make that a running gag throughout the entire thing.

Speaker A:

But it was.

Speaker A:

It's, like, so brilliantly done in those parts.

Speaker A:

And then you have this, you know, philosophical talk between Shrek and Donkey and then Donkey and Fiona.

Speaker A:

And it's like you take Eddie Murphy, right, as Donkey, which great foil, anyway, shape or form.

Speaker A:

But then you kind of make him the therapist.

Speaker A:

Like, I don't see it.

Speaker B:

Right.

Speaker A:

It doesn't make any sense to.

Speaker A:

To do that with what you've already kind of put through and told me.

Speaker A:

And so it.

Speaker A:

It falls off.

Speaker A:

Off about 45 minutes or so into it.

Speaker A:

And then you only get very little flashes of, you know, kind of greatness coming through.

Speaker A:

Whereas the first 45 minutes is just giggles.

Speaker B:

Oh, yeah.

Speaker A:

I'm just cackling.

Speaker B:

Oh, yeah.

Speaker B:

So another thing about this movie that kind of gets me that I didn't know, but made a lot of sense after I was watching an interview with John Lithgow.

Speaker B:

So I don't know if we talked about this before in Parker, but I have an obsession with John Lithgow.

Speaker B:

Like, he's one of my favorite actors of all time because he's one of those guys that's never been really a leading actor.

Speaker B:

Like, he's not the face of a franchise 90% of the time.

Speaker B:

Right.

Speaker B:

The closest he ever got with that was Third Rock from the sun, that TV show.

Speaker B:

But most of the time, he's a bit character.

Speaker B:

He's a.

Speaker B:

He's a main.

Speaker B:

Like a leading, but, like, side character.

Speaker B:

Not like.

Speaker B:

Or he's a villain.

Speaker B:

He plays a great villain when he plays a villain, as we can see kind of in this.

Speaker B:

Right?

Speaker B:

But if you've never watched season four of Dexter, the TV show, good Lord, you should, because he is amazing in that.

Speaker B:

Anyway, so I love John Lithgow.

Speaker B:

So I've watched a lot of interviews with John Lithgow and read a lot of stuff from John Lithgow.

Speaker B:

And he did an interview back.

Speaker B:

Way back when this came out where he talked about animation.

Speaker B:

So another thing that I really love is animation, when it's done well.

Speaker B:

So I always pay attention to what goes on.

Speaker B:

And nowadays, most of the time, if you have an ensemble cast like this, they get them in a room together and they record so that you have some level of that, you know, that chemistry, if you will, that even though you can't see it play out, you can feel it in the dialogue and the interaction.

Speaker B:

They didn't do that with Shrek.

Speaker B:

Shrek was all solo recorded with readers because it's cheaper that way.

Speaker B:

And I understand that they were trying to save money, right?

Speaker B:

Because this was like a.

Speaker B:

Let's see how this fucking works.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

But even John Lithgow said he was like, look, I love doing Shrek and I love playing Lord Farquaad, but I wish we would have been in the same room together.

Speaker B:

I wish I could have gotten to work with Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz and all these major actors, but they never did.

Speaker B:

And I can.

Speaker B:

It confirms something for me.

Speaker B:

Like, I didn't know whether they did or they didn't, but when I watched that interview, I was like, you know what?

Speaker B:

I can see that.

Speaker B:

And that's not to say that the voiceover, the acting's bad, but there's a difference.

Speaker B:

Like, you can tell in animation when they're in that circle in the room together and they're interacting and they're playing off of each other or when there's a lot.

Speaker B:

Because there's still a lot of animated movies that are solo record and they send it off.

Speaker B:

A lot of voice actors talk about, especially like during COVID they would record shit in their closet and then fucking ship it off to get, you know, edited and, and mixed and put back in the box.

Speaker B:

But you can tell, you can always tell, in my opinion, when one was done in the same room and when one wasn't.

Speaker A:

Oh yeah.

Speaker A:

100.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

And you can also tell in the later movies that they didn't do it that way because there is some, like, especially I think back in.

Speaker B:

Outside of Shrek itself, but the Puss in Boots films, huh?

Speaker B:

You can totally tell that they were in the same room when they did that.

Speaker B:

At least the main core actors, right?

Speaker B:

Like, because that the one.

Speaker B:

The chemistry has been built over a series of movies.

Speaker B:

But two, like, you can just tell because the interaction's different when they're, when they're playing off each other.

Speaker B:

There's.

Speaker B:

There's more of a feel than just lines being read and then dubbed in and then mixed in together.

Speaker B:

So, yeah, I. I think that's a big deal.

Speaker B:

And I thought it was interesting that it was a call out of.

Speaker B:

Of this monstrous actor that everybody knows that he was like, I wish we could have done it in the same room.

Speaker B:

So.

Speaker A:

Well, it's interesting you brought that up because I.

Speaker A:

Because nobody did it right.

Speaker A:

But I think, if memory serves me right, that in the Lion King, Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella, who are Timon and Pumbaa, did record together.

Speaker B:

They did.

Speaker A:

And they're like the best side characters in any animated film.

Speaker A:

Most memorable because they were in that same room.

Speaker A:

Playing off of each other.

Speaker A:

Because a lot of acting, even if you're a voice actor, you're not doing as much as just improv back and forth.

Speaker A:

You, you know, you have a stage partner or an acting partner, and you're just going off what they're giving you.

Speaker A:

And so someone who's reading, like, I could be a reader.

Speaker B:

Yeah, right.

Speaker A:

Like, I'm just read out the lines.

Speaker A:

I'm not putting the same emotion.

Speaker A:

I'm not invested into it.

Speaker A:

I've probably done this for, you know, all 45 characters that are in this movie up to this point.

Speaker A:

Like, I. I don't care.

Speaker A:

Right.

Speaker A:

It's a job for me that I'm just, you know, filling in.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

So it's my nine to five in a sense, and.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

But having the ability to play off of each other, like, you know, Mike, I. I'm pretty sure they didn't do it because if you put Michael Myers in the same room with Eddie Murphy, oh, nothing's going to get done.

Speaker B:

That's fair.

Speaker A:

That's fair.

Speaker B:

That's fair.

Speaker A:

Your budget is gone the first week.

Speaker A:

It's the same thing.

Speaker A:

Like, you couldn't pair anybody up with Robin Williams.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

It wasn't going to happen because just leagues apart from anybody else.

Speaker A:

And like, Robin Williams especially would.

Speaker A:

Gets a sick kick out of, you know, making people break.

Speaker B:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker A:

And so you have that going in there as well.

Speaker A:

But if you were able to get them in a room in productive.

Speaker A:

Oh, it'd been brilliant.

Speaker A:

And then you throw in Cameron Diaz, I still would have left John Lithgow a little bit separate because he hardly shares any scenes.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

But you got the three of them and you could stay productive in a recording session.

Speaker A:

Oh, it'd be brilliant.

Speaker B:

Oh, yeah.

Speaker A:

Be amazing.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

Because she's funny too.

Speaker B:

Like.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

Funnier than most people give her credit for.

Speaker A:

And if you're playing off of some of two other people.

Speaker A:

Who.

Speaker A:

Comedian.

Speaker B:

Oh.

Speaker A:

They made their living off of being funny.

Speaker B:

Oh, yeah.

Speaker A:

And they're just gonna give you.

Speaker A:

They're just gonna toss you softballs.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

Oh, yeah.

Speaker A:

That's gonna make you, by comparison, appear to be way more funny than you actually are.

Speaker A:

Just, you know, it's that guilty by association.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Like, you're gonna be in the group and you're gonna just rake in off of what they're giving you because they are going to be working the room back and forth.

Speaker A:

They understand how to work a group, work an audience, work a stage partner.

Speaker A:

And so it's.

Speaker A:

It's a darn shame that people that there are studios out there who still do the separate recording.

Speaker B:

Yep.

Speaker B:

I agree.

Speaker B:

I wish I could say it was different, but.

Speaker B:

And this is a movie that like when people talk about it, it's so adored and revered and beloved and I get it.

Speaker B:

I wish I felt the same way.

Speaker B:

Like fully.

Speaker B:

Right.

Speaker B:

Like, what I do love, I love.

Speaker B:

Because I'll tell you what, there's some scenes that like again, the Muffin man dude, like when he pulls his leg out, like, seriously, I.

Speaker B:

Tears.

Speaker B:

The first time I was in the theater watching it, like I was a 20 year old kid, dude.

Speaker B:

And I was cackling like tears rolling down my face, laughing at the nursery rhyme puns that they turn into this like violent goddamn comedy or super sad.

Speaker B:

Like something we think about that's really funny.

Speaker B:

And then it's.

Speaker B:

But it's.

Speaker B:

You're like.

Speaker B:

They play it real sad.

Speaker B:

I'm trying to think.

Speaker B:

But seriously, there's so many of these, like fairy tales that you grow up with that you're like, that shit's hilarious.

Speaker B:

Or the nursery rhyme ones.

Speaker B:

Me, dude.

Speaker B:

Like in a vacuum.

Speaker B:

Some of the funniest shit you'll find.

Speaker B:

But pieced together, it feels pieced together.

Speaker B:

And I don't know why it bothers me so much.

Speaker B:

It probably shouldn't, but it does.

Speaker B:

Like, it just distracts me.

Speaker B:

I think.

Speaker A:

Well, I think it's because Whiplash.

Speaker A:

But I think it's because you don't really get the story until you're a ways into the movie.

Speaker A:

And at that point they've already hit you with Gut Busters.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

So like right off the bat.

Speaker A:

Right.

Speaker A:

You don't know what to expect.

Speaker A:

You're:

Speaker A:

So you're like, cool, I know what's going on.

Speaker A:

And then you get hit with the.

Speaker A:

Like that'll ever happen.

Speaker B:

Right.

Speaker A:

And then it's.

Speaker A:

Then it's all star.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

And so now you're like, whoa.

Speaker A:

Like, no, this never been done before.

Speaker A:

And then we get this whole kind of thing and then we're introduced to the bad guy.

Speaker A:

Right.

Speaker A:

And so at this point we kind of understand, like, this isn't a typical fairy tale theme.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Right.

Speaker A:

But then they, they hit you right before the funny with the size joke, right.

Speaker A:

Where they have the, they have that forced perspective of Farquhar who's like half on the screen.

Speaker B:

That's fair.

Speaker A:

Just to get that, like, you know, it's it's just to get that one little laugh going before he walks into show he's short.

Speaker A:

And then you have pretty much dunking a gingerbread cookie into milk.

Speaker A:

And it makes as a chess, a torture device.

Speaker A:

And it lands so much better because they set up the short joke for it.

Speaker B:

So great.

Speaker A:

And so like that first 10 minutes, they haven't told you the story.

Speaker A:

They haven't told you what's going on.

Speaker A:

You.

Speaker A:

You don't know where anything's going.

Speaker A:

But they are setting the tone with that.

Speaker A:

And then the problem is it turns into just a typical fairy tale love story by the end.

Speaker A:

And so they, they.

Speaker A:

It's all.

Speaker A:

It's almost like a bait and switch, but a really well done bait and switch.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Because it's not designed to, you know, like, purposely, you know, switch you out of your money or whatever, take advantage of you.

Speaker A:

It's more like that's just logically where they ended up because they started with the.

Speaker A:

We want to make a movie to challenge Disney, so we're going to make fun of Disney in every single way possible.

Speaker A:

And then by the time they got to the end, they realized.

Speaker A:

We got to wrap this up somehow.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Or you have to have these now.

Speaker A:

You have to connect all the dots.

Speaker A:

And so there's.

Speaker A:

There's a lot of just kind of like loose ends or, you know, storylines they could have gone somewhere with but ended up just going right back to, you know, the typical fairy tale love story.

Speaker A:

And it took them a while to get to that point.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

You know what?

Speaker B:

As you were talking.

Speaker B:

Sorry.

Speaker B:

Those watching on YouTube probably saw my screens flickering because I was looking something up while August talking.

Speaker B:

Because you made me think about a movie that we've done.

Speaker B:

I don't.

Speaker B:

Did you do A Knight's Tale with.

Speaker A:

Us or was that before I did A Knight's Tale?

Speaker B:

Did you.

Speaker B:

So as you were talking, it made me think of A Knight's Tale, which same year.

Speaker B:

Right.

Speaker B:

2001.

Speaker B:

gust, if I remember right, of:

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

I don't know.

Speaker B:

I'd have to look anyway.

Speaker B:

I think for me, like, I think on what you're talking about, where they're like, okay, let's flip this genre on its head.

Speaker B:

Right.

Speaker B:

Let's take it.

Speaker B:

We got this fairy tale animation and we're gonna make it not what you expect, but we're going to tease you with it.

Speaker B:

Like, I think you start.

Speaker B:

I was like, A Knight's Tale did it better.

Speaker A:

Right.

Speaker B:

Like, yes, because it did the same thing.

Speaker B:

It took this like jousting medieval, you know, nightly King Arthur and the, you know, all that.

Speaker B:

And then they.

Speaker B:

They with you a little bit because you start off and you get this like weird ass scene and you see them jousting and, and then you have this knight that dies and you're like, yeah, wait, what?

Speaker B:

That doesn't, that's not normal.

Speaker A:

And then the spark of his life is smothered in shade.

Speaker A:

His spirit is gone.

Speaker A:

But it's.

Speaker A:

That answer your question.

Speaker B:

We should do a series of revisiting old episodes anyway.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

So like, it was one of those things where I think about that and, and because then the same thing, you get this song that you're like, what the.

Speaker B:

Because then it was we will rock you.

Speaker B:

You're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Speaker B:

What's happening right now?

Speaker B:

So that intermingling of time and how that works really works.

Speaker B:

So yeah, I, I get what you're saying.

Speaker B:

It makes sense.

Speaker B:

But that's what I was thinking is like there's other movies that did it a little better as a, as a cohesive whole.

Speaker B:

Right?

Speaker B:

Because a Knight's Tale is a very good front to back story that's very connected and still does what Shrek does to the knights.

Speaker B:

You know, the King Arthur, Knights of the Round Table jousting, all that medieval time stuff that Shrek does with the animated fairy tale stuff.

Speaker B:

The difference being the connected storyline that's from start to finish in the Knight's Tale is a little bit of a miss in Shrek because they, they either, they start off real strong and then like you said, they kind of bail on it and go, oh, we don't have a story.

Speaker B:

We just have this troll living in a goddamn or an ogre living in a swamp that has been overrun.

Speaker B:

So it's like, yeah, it's one of those weird things, but yeah, it's a good call out.

Speaker B:

But that it made me think of it.

Speaker B:

As you were talking about the music, I was like, why do I. Knight's Tale, which is one of my favorite movies.

Speaker B:

Oh, sorry about the mic smack of all time.

Speaker B:

Like, if you haven't watched that, go back and listen there, watch that episode because I'm sure I was laughing my.

Speaker A:

Ass off the whole.

Speaker A:

I. I remember because I think it was just the two of us.

Speaker B:

I don't think it probably was because I probably would have killed Matson when he said it wasn't funny.

Speaker B:

Like, I probably would have flown to Seattle and punched him in the face because that movie is one of the greatest of all time, in my opinion, anyway.

Speaker A:

Yes.

Speaker A:

But it's.

Speaker A:

It also is a little bit.

Speaker A:

It's hard with the animation because in addition to, like.

Speaker A:

It was almost like as soon as they found the story, they stopped hiding all the Easter eggs.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Because it was like a gear switch.

Speaker A:

I don't know, maybe there was a change in leadership or something that came in and cleaned everything out.

Speaker A:

But.

Speaker A:

Because, like, something that.

Speaker A:

Because in the first half of the movie, I'm always finding things that I didn't see before.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

And one that I didn't see on this Washu, but I saw relatively recently was you're in the castle, Right.

Speaker A:

And the dragon's got a cookbook for cooking nights.

Speaker A:

And it's not pointed to, it's just in the background and it's like in a passing screen.

Speaker A:

But it's just.

Speaker A:

It's just one of those, like.

Speaker A:

Like funny things that they.

Speaker A:

That was someone's like, oh, this will be funny.

Speaker A:

Let's throw this in there.

Speaker A:

And it adds to the overall, you know, environment and the kind of experience of watching it, because in the forefront, you have Shrek, who's doing everything possible to take the stigma of a knight, Prince Charming, knight in shining armor, and throwing it out.

Speaker A:

And it's.

Speaker A:

It's brilliant.

Speaker A:

And then added to that, is in the background, got cauldron boiling with a night cookbook.

Speaker A:

And it's pointing out, like, all the.

Speaker A:

All the best parts of a night.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

The delicacies.

Speaker A:

So it's.

Speaker A:

But you don't really see that much later in the.

Speaker A:

In the episode as they start to really speed things or start in the movie, they start to speed things up and they start to really kind of like, okay, let's wrap it up.

Speaker A:

Let's.

Speaker A:

We have to advance essentially 40 minutes of story into 15 minutes of, you know, screen time.

Speaker A:

So we're gonna just kind of shove it through.

Speaker A:

And so, like, the last little bit for me, where I'm like, oh, I really.

Speaker A:

I really chuckle.

Speaker A:

Is the Robin Hood.

Speaker A:

I said at the beginning, like, Robin Hood coming out, being French.

Speaker A:

Hilarious.

Speaker A:

You're British folk here.

Speaker A:

Now he's French.

Speaker A:

And then they're doing.

Speaker A:

There's a sequence where they're.

Speaker A:

Where he and his merry men are like Irish river dancing.

Speaker B:

So.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

So whoever was in charge of that animation was like, the British.

Speaker B:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker B:

No, so funny.

Speaker A:

But it's such a great sequence that, you know, robbers in the woods, you have someone swing by in a vine.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

They took the stereotypical straight from like the Medieval Pages Robin Hood picture.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

And then just paid a French, this.

Speaker B:

French accent on him and it's just,.

Speaker A:

It's just so brilliant.

Speaker A:

But then once we get past that now it becomes like, okay, we, we did our four or five ideas that we had and.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

So how are we gonna wrap this up?

Speaker B:

Let's get to the end now.

Speaker B:

That's fair.

Speaker B:

I think too.

Speaker B:

Animation suffers from a lot of that because it's geared towards kids 99% of the time.

Speaker A:

Right.

Speaker B:

Like, I've thrown in at least one in this month that was never geared towards kids.

Speaker B:

But there's still the focus on animation is towards children, which is great.

Speaker B:

That's what it should be.

Speaker B:

But that also lends itself to the attention span of a child.

Speaker B:

Right.

Speaker B:

So it's hard.

Speaker B:

I will give credit where it's where credit's due.

Speaker B:

We talk a lot about the story being disjointed in a lot of ways, but it's hard to have a start front to back storyline with the attention span of a child.

Speaker A:

Like especially in an hour and a half.

Speaker B:

Yeah, exactly.

Speaker B:

So you gotta like rush and do things.

Speaker B:

So I think most animation that's geared toward kids first is always going to have a little bit of that wonkiness to it because they're like, we have to have like change things up and make things a little weird to grab the attention again to keep them from getting bored.

Speaker B:

And because I've watched that a million times with like nieces and nephews or like, they're like having a great time and then if you don't shift.

Speaker A:

Yeah, you know, uncle jj, can we go do this?

Speaker B:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

Speaker B:

They completely lose sight of focus and I'm like, I get it.

Speaker B:

I'm the same way.

Speaker B:

But yeah, so it's interesting.

Speaker B:

So I always want to make sure that I throw that like out there because I don't want it to be like, oh, I'm on this kids movie.

Speaker B:

Yeah, I understand it's a kids movie, but I also have to watch it for the perspective of an adult and go, is this a movie that I want to sit down and watch if I don't have kids there with me?

Speaker B:

Right.

Speaker B:

So anyway, I just wanted to throw that piece out.

Speaker A:

That's a good shout.

Speaker A:

And I do appreciate that they kind of put in stuff that would go over kids heads without making it too obvious and blunt.

Speaker A:

Like the whole mama bears a rugby so bad.

Speaker A:

It's so dark, messed up.

Speaker B:

Oh, it's up.

Speaker A:

And especially when you like watch it through multiple times.

Speaker A:

And you realize why baby bear is crying at the beginning.

Speaker B:

Oh yeah, it's up.

Speaker B:

It's up.

Speaker A:

It's not because he just had to move to the swamp.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

His mom got turned into a rug.

Speaker B:

It's up.

Speaker B:

It's like too.

Speaker B:

I always think of robots.

Speaker B:

You remember that?

Speaker B:

And they walk by this bathrooms and there's the men's and women's and it's two sides of the plug.

Speaker B:

There's the outlet and then the actual plug itself.

Speaker B:

And I lose my every time because kids are like, oh, that's funny.

Speaker B:

But I'm like, that's also dirty.

Speaker B:

So I love a good subtle nod to adults in a kid's animated film because it.

Speaker B:

We have to go and sit through it for the kids.

Speaker B:

But if I can get a giggle that they don't understand, it's worth it.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

So you don't want them to understand it, right?

Speaker B:

Yeah, no, no, no.

Speaker A:

I don't want as possible.

Speaker A:

But yeah, it's.

Speaker A:

It's so great.

Speaker A:

And they do a good job in this.

Speaker B:

Yeah, they do.

Speaker A:

Of having enough sequences where adults will get it, kids won't.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

But they don't put it right in the face.

Speaker A:

It's just those little kind of tidbits or snatches what they're showing.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

All right.

Speaker B:

Should we rate it?

Speaker A:

Let's do it.

Speaker A:

My movie.

Speaker B:

Your first.

Speaker A:

I'm going four and a half.

Speaker A:

I really do love this movie.

Speaker A:

It is the.

Speaker A:

It might be because I was eight when it came out, so I like grew watching it a lot.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

But the cohesive story doesn't turn me off enough from the.

Speaker A:

Or the lack of a cohesive story rather doesn't turn me off enough to really hate on it.

Speaker A:

And the parts that make it good are so good.

Speaker A:

And so if I can, I can get through the first half real easily.

Speaker A:

And then by that point there's only about 40 minutes left.

Speaker B:

That's fair.

Speaker A:

And it's a quick.

Speaker A:

It's a quick 40 minutes because they're telling a 80 minute story in half the time.

Speaker A:

So it's watching on two times speed.

Speaker A:

But I just get a cackle and giggle and Mike Myers doing his oh, dude, Scottish, Irish, North African, Eastern European accent all mingled together as an ogre.

Speaker A:

It's great.

Speaker B:

It's fantastic.

Speaker A:

Just an amalgamation.

Speaker A:

But I'll give it a four and a half.

Speaker A:

And I will watch Drake again.

Speaker A:

It's one that I visit fairly frequently.

Speaker B:

It's good.

Speaker B:

I'm gonna give it a three and a half.

Speaker B:

I want to give it higher, but I just don't have.

Speaker B:

And I.

Speaker B:

You call.

Speaker B:

It's a good point.

Speaker B:

You were a child when this came out.

Speaker B:

I was 20 years old.

Speaker B:

So there's a definitely a different.

Speaker B:

It's funny, we talk about it all the time on the podcast, like the, the nostalgia factor.

Speaker B:

But it also.

Speaker B:

You can't just say nostalgia because it.

Speaker B:

, to both of us, nostalgia is:

Speaker B:

Yeah, on some level.

Speaker B:

But it's a different nostalgia because I was nostalgic for adult things at 20 years old.

Speaker B:

It's still a kid.

Speaker B:

Don't give a what anybody says.

Speaker B:

20 Years old.

Speaker B:

I'm still a kid.

Speaker B:

But it's very different nostalgia than an eight year old.

Speaker B:

Right.

Speaker B:

And so I don't have the level of attachment to this movie.

Speaker B:

And I think that's a great call out that you do.

Speaker B:

From the same lens I have it from.

Speaker B:

This was funny satire on animation for most of my young life.

Speaker B:

I think it's funny as an adult, but it's good for that and that alone.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

For a child that's now an adult.

Speaker B:

When you think back on it, it was good from a lot of perspectives because now you get both sides of it.

Speaker B:

Right.

Speaker B:

As in.

Speaker B:

So I, I love that call out.

Speaker B:

And that's probably where the main difference, because this is a funny movie.

Speaker B:

It's well done, it's hilarious, it's well voiced, it's well written.

Speaker B:

It's all the things that you could want with the exception of that through line from start to finish.

Speaker B:

So I think that's great informational thought process that we just went through together there.

Speaker B:

And it helps me understand why I was like, God, why do I feel so differently about this movie than a lot of people I know?

Speaker B:

But I look back and the people that I feel super different on it.

Speaker B:

There's a big age gap and so there's a different lens that's coming through.

Speaker B:

So three and a half for me.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

You'll find the millennial kind of later.

Speaker A:

Millennial almost to Gen Z. I'd put it at like 90 to 95.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

You're pretty much Gen X.

Speaker B:

Pretty much.

Speaker B:

I'm like a year or two off.

Speaker B:

That's it.

Speaker A:

But you'll find like 90, 95.

Speaker A:

Very attached to it.

Speaker A:

And you go a little bit further, less so and a little bit earlier completely.

Speaker A:

It's.

Speaker A:

It just like about five years.

Speaker A:

Being born in the perfect time.

Speaker B:

Yep.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

What do they call us that?

Speaker B:

Us Exennials.

Speaker B:

Because we're.

Speaker B:

We're Gen X and millennials.

Speaker B:

The cuspers Anyway yeah, it's a good call out.

Speaker B:

I will watch it again.

Speaker B:

Like listen, it's that good.

Speaker B:

Like I'll watch it.

Speaker B:

It's funny.

Speaker B:

I frequently watch clips of Shrek so yeah, should definitely go see it if you haven't.

Speaker B:

But Alec, tell everybody they can find us when we're not hanging out in the animated swamps.

Speaker A:

Oh oh I like that.

Speaker A:

Animated swamps.

Speaker A:

That's good.

Speaker A:

I'm happy to tell everybody they find this Best place is on YouTube where you can see our smiling faces as we can google back and forth talking about nostalgia and movies that had nothing to do with this episode that remind us of them.

Speaker B:

That's right.

Speaker A:

Aside from that, Patreon at what's our Verge reviews is the best place to get involved with the content.

Speaker A:

We are doing this back and forth thing where our votes now have matter to them and I lost this month first time this year.

Speaker A:

It's terrible.

Speaker A:

But each month we do a topic.

Speaker A:

We provide topic movies within that topic and then you guys get to vote on them on Patreon and they decide the real world consequences of having a list of movies that we don't want to watch respectively getting put up on Patreon as being able to be purchased to add pain and suffering to either one of our lives.

Speaker A:

So you lose your month, your list goes up and it's available.

Speaker A:

So my list is up there right now.

Speaker A:

I'm not thrilled about it because there's a lot, a lot of horror on that list and next month we're doing horror adjacent stuff.

Speaker A:

It's going to be a big bad eight weeks for me.

Speaker B:

It's true.

Speaker A:

So that's up there.

Speaker A:

But Patreon at what's ever review reviews, it's completely free to vote so get on there.

Speaker A:

You can get involved in the content 100% free to do that if you don't mind a little bit of a paywall.

Speaker A:

There is upwards of 700 plus episodes of bonus content on Patreon.

Speaker A:

Everything from outtakes and bloopers all the way up to full length episodes of movies nobody should watch that we did.

Speaker A:

So that's on Patreon as well.

Speaker A:

Aside from that, check out w gg get your dubby 10 off code with or 10 off your order with the code.

Speaker A:

Our verdict.

Speaker A:

All caps.

Speaker A:

We appreciate the support and with that I'll kick it back to the Titan of Terror, the Colossus of clout a J.J. yes sir.

Speaker B:

Thanks Alec.

Speaker B:

Yeah, go check us out in all those places and go get yourself some W. It's good.

Speaker B:

I'M feeling good.

Speaker B:

I'm ready to take.

Speaker B:

Tackle the rest of my.

Speaker B:

My day now.

Speaker B:

It did its job, and that's all it took was one episode worth of.

Speaker B:

Of one cup and one episode, and I'm like, oh, yeah, I'm okay.

Speaker B:

I'm awake.

Speaker B:

This is good.

Speaker B:

All right, so there it is.

Speaker B:

As always, we appreciate you tuning in.

Speaker B:

We'll catch you on the next one.

Speaker A:

Hasta la vista, baby.

Speaker B:

Cinemagic out.

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