‘Shrek’ Arguments Dominate Twitter on the Film’s 20th Anniversary

Two decades ago at the Cannes Film Festival, the animated hit Shrek debuted. While it snagged the Oscar for Best Animated Film and is lauded for its grand soundtrack, stellar cast of voice actors (Mike Meyers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz, to name a few), and viral memes, the film has opened up a massive debate on the internet today. After The Guardian published an article bashing Shrek as “an unfunny and overrated low for blockbuster animation,” Shrek haters and defenders alike took to Twitter to state their case on the swampy film.

“Shrek is a terrible movie,” writes The Guardian‘s Scott Tobias. “It’s not funny. It looks awful. It would influence many unfunny, awful-looking computer-animated comedies that copied its formula of glib self-reference and sickly sweet sentimentality. Three of those terrible movies were sequels to Shrek and one was a spin-off with a sequel in the works. The curse has eased but not lifted.”

With that, the Shrek supporters flocked to the film’s defense, taking real offense to the movie being dragged through the mud (and not in a fun, Shrek way). They argued against points made in the article, also continuing to argue that Shrek is, indeed, a good movie.

“Love the bloke at Guardian who thought there’s not enough misery in the world currently so he better say Shrek is shit,” wrote Twitter user Tom Rosenthal.

While many argued against The Guardian‘s article against Shrek, some did agree with the take. “Has anyone who thinks Shrek is at all good, like, watched as an adult?” one Twitter user wrote. Other folks pointed out the spiral downwards in animation after Shrek‘s release.

And, of course, others used the opportunity to whip out all the best Shrek material — just what the big green ogre would’ve loved.

Whether you enjoy the film or not, happy Shrek day to all. The film is currently available to stream on Hulu, so you can make the call yourself (and then of course Tweet about it).

Where to Watch Shrek