Shrek 4-D

Entrance sign to the ride.

***Shrek 4-D*** was a 3D special effects show located in the Production Central section of Universal Studios Florida. It was based on the *Shrek* film series by DreamWorks Animation (now a subsidiary of NBCUniversal), and was set between the events of the original 2001 film and its 2004 sequel, *Shrek 2*. The show features guests accompanying Shrek and Donkey, as they set off to save Shrek's wife Fiona from the film's main antagonist, Lord Farquaad, who is now a ghost. All of the primary cast members from the first film returned to provide the voices for their respective characters. The attraction opened on June 12, 2003, and Closed in January 10, 2022 along with *Donkey's Photo Finish*, as a replacement for *Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies*. Similar rides with the same name exist at Universal Studios Japan and Universal Studios Singapore (which also features an entire section themed to the *Shrek* franchise), with a former location at Universal Studios Hollywood. Universal Studios Hollywood has since opened a DreamWorks Theatre in its place, which currently hosts an attraction based on fellow DreamWorks Animation franchise *Kung Fu Panda*. Outside of the Universal Parks and Resorts, the attraction also formerly operated for much shorter periods of time at Warner Bros. Movie World in Australia, and Movie Park Germany. The ride film has also been released numerous times, including as part of a compilation of DreamWorks shorts on Netflix.

## History

After the success of *Shrek* in 2001, Universal collaborated with DreamWorks Animation to create an attraction based on the film. With a second film already in development, it was decided that the ride would be a smaller adventure set between the original film and its sequel.

*Shrek 4-D* opened on various dates in 2003 at Universal Studios Florida, Universal Studios Hollywood, and Universal Studios Japan, and later opened with the rest of Universal Studios Singapore in 2010. The Singapore location also features a Far Far Away section in its park based on the *Shrek* franchise as a whole.

In 2016, Universal acquired DreamWorks Animation for $3.8 billion, making *Shrek*, and other various franchises such as *Madagascar*, *Kung Fu Panda*, and *Trolls* part of Universal's library, and eliminating the need to license the *Shrek* franchise for the attraction. Since then, DreamWorks has had a much larger presence in Universal Parks and Resorts, with each of the aforementioned franchises making meet-and-greet appearances at both Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure, including Alex the Lion, Gloria the Hippo, Po Panda, Poppy, and Branch.

The following year in 2017, Universal Studios Hollywood closed their version of *Shrek 4-D*, and replaced it with the DreamWorks Theatre. This attraction is intended to feature a rotating set of films based on all of DreamWorks' franchises, rather than only *Shrek*. Currently, the *Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor's Quest* attraction is located in the theatre. The *Meet Shrek and Donkey* attraction that is essentially the same as *Donkey's Photo Finish* in Orlando is still operating.

The attraction was annouced to be closed on October 6th, 2021, and closed on January 10th, 2022.

The attraction has been replaced by Illumination's Villain-Con Minion Blast, which is a moving walkway blaster attraction.

## Background

### Preshow

As guests enter the preshow room, which is a dungeon, an attendant informs them they are guilty of crimes against Duloc, and that they will be severely punished if they do not follow orders. After the attendant leaves, animatronics of the captured fairy tale creatures (The Three Little Pigs and Pinocchio) begin to have a conversation, with the Gingerbread Man, who is back in the torture room he was seen in during the first film. All five wake up the Magic Mirror, who they then ask to recap the story of the first film. Mirror provides a quick recap of the film, narrating the events while showing a few select scenes. Lord Farquaad then appears as a ghost, out for revenge, and demanding to know where Shrek is. Because the guests do not know, they can't answer. Farquaad, losing patience, sentences the guests to another torture room, where he will force the guests to comply. As he leaves, he commands the Mirror to lead them to the torture chambers. In order to avoid suspicion from aiding the other fairy tale characters, Mirror complies, and tells guests to fill up all the seats in the theater, and to not leave any gaps between seats.

### Main Show

Once guests are seated and have put on their Ogre-Vision goggles, a fairy flies across the screen, only to be caught by a frog that has mistaken it for a fly. However, the fairy is persistent, and attempts to escape. With the frog's tongue still caught on the fairy, the frog is carried through the area past various scenes until we see Shrek and Donkey, who appear to be lost. The fairy finally frees itself from the frog (now stuck in a tree), and hits Donkey in the nose, causing him to sneeze on the guests. Much to Shrek's dismay, the fairy lands on Shrek's map, causing the map and Donkey to begin to float away. Shrek manages to grab the map, while Donkey sneezes again, flying backwards into the onion carriage seen in the end of the first film.

Fiona is seen crying in the carriage, catching the attention of Donkey, who thinks she is crying from happiness. It turns out, the carriage as an onion is irritating her eyes, so Donkey opens the top of the carriage to expose her to the fresh air. Shrek then announces he has found a way out, and points towards a creepy-looking forest. Shrek, who is not the least bit concerned, but notices Donkey's fear, sees a spider creeping down from a thread of web. He grabs the spider, and begins to taunt Donkey with it. Donkey blows at the spider, swinging it towards the guests. Shrek then drops the spider, causing dozens more to crawl down, where they begin to crawl all over the guests. Shrek then tells Donkey that as an ogre, he's the scary one, and that there's nothing to be afraid of.

Thelonius, a masked man working for Farquaad, then arrives on a horse to kidnap Fiona. She attempts to fight back, but he breaks the fourth wall and moves out of the way while Fiona is moving in slow motion, and captures her. He then heads straight into the aforementioned creepy forest, leading Shrek to point at the guests to get in the onion carriage and help save Fiona. While traveling through the forest, a screaming Fiona passes by a crow, causing it to explode in a homage to the film. The Gingerbread Man, who is decorating a house in the middle of the forest, sees the chase approaching, and screams for Thelonius to stop, but he avoids any serious damage by ordering his horse to jump over the house. Unfortunately, Shrek and Donkey can't jump in the carriage, and much to Gingy's dismay, crash into the house. Gingy is then seen on one of the carriage wheels, where he is then launched into a nearby tree. The carriage approaches a cemetery, but crashes, launching Shrek and Donkey, who are almost crushed by the horses until the spell on them wears off, and they become the Three Blind Mice again. One of them exclaims he can finally see again, before being hit on the head by the onion that used to be the carriage, then says "Never mind."

Donkey, once again afraid of the creepy environment in the cemetery, urges Shrek to find another way, but Shrek continues to taunt Donkey, this time by imitating a zombie. The two then come across Farquaad's massive gravestone that depicts him fighting against the dragon. Farquaad's ghost then appears, urging the guests to be quiet. Donkey, convinced that the two won't reach Fiona at this rate, whistles for the Dragon. This unintentionally causes the gravestone dragon to come to life, as Farquaad reveals himself to Shrek and Donkey. He then orders the Stone Dragon to attack. Donkey tries whistling again in a last effort for help from the real Dragon. She suddenly appears and gives Shrek and Donkey a ride, with the Stone Dragon in hot pursuit. Shrek loses his grip on Dragon when she attempts to dodge one of the Stone Dragon's attacks, causing him to land on the Stone Dragon. Before the Stone Dragon can attack, Shrek farts, causing the flames to blast back towards the Stone Dragon's face. He then jumps off and lands back on the real Dragon. The three then fly into a canyon, where Dragon blasts a small hole into a wall of rock. the Stone Dragon follows, but its wings are destroyed due to the narrow shape of the whole, while the real Dragon slides through. The Stone Dragon, now unable to fly, falls to the waters below.

Meanwhile, Farquaad's ghost meets up with Thelonius and Fiona, who are at a river near a waterfall. Farquaad attempts to win Fiona's love once again, but is denied. He then sends her to the waterfall. However, Thelonius cluelessly unties the raft while still standing on it, leading to him being heavily scolded by Farquaad. Fiona then attacks Thelonius, who isn't phased by the attacks. She then stomps on a log used for the raft, launching the other side upwards and hitting Thelonius in the groin. The injured Thelonius then falls off the raft, while Fiona tosses a makeshift grapple to prevent the raft from reaching the waterfall. Dragon then arrives with Shrek and Donkey, as the latter two hop onto the raft with Shrek making sure Fiona is alright. Donkey notices the grapple has broken, and the trio approach the waterfall as Farquaad laughs.

The raft hits a large rock, launching all three as Farquaad continues to watch. Fortunately, Thelonius catches the three, as he had been hanging onto a tree branch. The branch snaps and all four begin to fall. As Shrek tells Fiona he loves her, Dragon flies from within the waterfall and catches all four. Farquaad, laughing and convinced he has succeeded, finds all five characters at the edge of the waterfall. Dragon then releases a large breath of fire, causing Farquaad's ghost to disappear.

Dragon then flies Shrek and Fiona to a hotel for their honeymoon, where the newlyweds depart. Donkey flies off with Dragon as the rest of the fairy tale characters appear to help Shrek and Fiona celebrate.

## Trivia

* Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow all reprised their roles as their respective characters for the attraction.
* The ride film has been released to the public in multiple formats. Most recently, it was released under the title *The Ghost of Lord Farquaad* for Netflix, with the 3D effects removed.
* A nearby attraction which was known as *Donkey's Photo Finish* was featured near the exit of Shrek's Ye Olde Souvenir Shoppe. Here, guests could meet Shrek, Fiona, and Puss in Boots, as well as an interactive animatronic of Donkey, operated by an unseen actor impersonating Eddie Murphy.