The people who once only played a passive role as consumers literally had a field day with their favorite ogre. Eventually, though, the internet’s artisan memers took over the franchise. In retrospect, the marketing strategy resembled nothing more than multi-million dollar memes, saturating the public zeitgeist with an image until it becomes overbearing. Shrek Twinkies oozed “Ogre Green Creamy Filling.” If they could make it green, they made it Shrek. In a strange display of early crossover culture, Heinz and DreamWorks dropped green Shrek ketchup.

Between every new release, Shrek’s corporate masters saturated the market with ( mostly awful) video games, costumes, and birthday party kits.

How did it become so strangely ubiquitous and weirdly potent? DreamWorks, the studio behind the film, certainly put a lot of effort into making sure their star ogre was everywhere, but a triumvirate of Shrek-related happenings in 20 might just mark the moment when the fans picked up Shrek’s momentum - for better or worse.Īfter the 2001 film that started it all, DreamWorks made sequels, spinoffs, and TV shorts, most of which couldn’t live up to the original.

Shrek, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, went from “ scrappy, brash comedy” to, according to some, “ the pinnacle of human creation.” Over the past two decades, Shrek became a movie, a franchise, an unstoppable meme, a cruel god, and a generational symbol of love, life, and togetherness.

Shrek horror game meme