Most of the fairy tales in Shrek had already been Disneyfied. They were mocking the Disney versions of source material that's actually very dark. Which is kinda done in Shrek, but in a humorous way.
He learns to accept help from other people and how to make friends and be less ogre-esque. He was still changed by the experience. If it were subversive the movie would end right before the Hallelujah montage except Shrek is totally content.
Shrek works because the fairytales were trite garbage after existing for hundreds of years.
Shrek is basically an inversion of the idea that good people have to be the conventional idea of a hero.
I think fairytales are good for kids and their development but at some point they've got to watch Shrek.
Most of the fairy tales in Shrek had already been Disneyfied. They were mocking the Disney versions of source material that's actually very dark. Which is kinda done in Shrek, but in a humorous way.
Every Disney movie that starred a dude had the same message.
Since when though? And Shrek was genuinely ostracised from society. The closest that comes to that is Wreck-It Ralph which was years after Shrek.
Alladin, Hercules, Pinocchio, The Sword in the Stone...it's a pretty normal heroes journey trope.
I don't think they quite work the same way.
All the heroes in those stories win by escaping the situation they were in. Shrek actually embraces his ogreness rather than rejecting it.
He learns to accept help from other people and how to make friends and be less ogre-esque. He was still changed by the experience. If it were subversive the movie would end right before the Hallelujah montage except Shrek is totally content.