Donkey (Shrek)

Donkey is a fictional talking donkey created by William Steig and adapted by DreamWorks Animation for the Shrek franchise. The character is voiced by Eddie Murphy.

Character description

Donkey is a euphoric and talkative character, who also has a sweet tooth. Eddie Murphy called Donkey "a really positive character. He's always looking at the bright side of everything, trying to work it out. A happy-go-lucky donkey." This only appears to be true sometimes, while other times Donkey is portrayed as a weak and sensitive character. Donkey was modelled after Perry (born 1994), a real miniature donkey from Barron Park, Palo Alto, California. Donkey is well known for acting annoyingly and irritatingly towards other character was, especially Shrek.

Donkey in Shrek films

Shrek

Donkey first makes his debut at a sale of mythical characters from beloved fairy-tales being sold to the evil Lord Farquaad's knights. An old woman attempts to sell Donkey, but magic pixie dust accidentally is unleashed upon him from a caged fairy, thus giving him the temporary ability to fly. However, the spell unleashed upon Donkey then breaks and he falls to the ground, being chased by Farquaad's knights into the woods, where he meets Shrek. Shrek is at first reluctant to meet the talkative and annoying Donkey, who begins following him around.

Donkey

The donkey or ass (Equus africanus asinus), is a domesticated member of the horse family, Equidae. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African wild ass, E. africanus. The donkey has been used as a working animal for at least 5000 years. There are more than 40 million donkeys in the world, mostly in underdeveloped countries, where they are used principally as draught or pack animals. Working donkeys are often associated with those living at or below subsistence levels. Small numbers of donkeys are kept for breeding or as pets in developed countries.

A male donkey or ass is called a jack, a female a jenny or jennet; a young donkey is a foal. Jack donkeys are often used to mate with female horses to produce mules — the biological "reciprocal" of a mule, from a stallion and jenny as its parents instead, is called a hinny.

Asses were first domesticated around 3000 BC, probably in Egypt or Mesopotamia, and have spread around the world. They continue to fill important roles in many places today. While domesticated species are increasing in numbers, the African wild ass and another relative, the onager, are endangered. As beasts of burden and companions, asses and donkeys have worked together with humans for millennia.

Donkey (disambiguation)

A donkey is an animal.

Donkey may also refer to:

See also

Donkey (film)

Donkey (Croatian: Kenjac) is a Croatian drama film directed by Antonio Nuić. It was released in 2009. It was successful at the Pula Film Festival.

Cast

External links

Shrek!

Shrek! is a picture book written and illustrated in 1990, by William Steig about a repugnant and monstrous ogre who leaves home to see the world and ends up saving a princess. The name "Shrek" is derived from the Yiddish and German Schreck (Yiddish שרעק) meaning "fear" or "fright". The book served as the basis for the popular Shrek film series over a decade after its publication.

Awards

Adaptations

Steven Spielberg acquired the rights for the book in 1991, planning to produce a traditionally animated film based on the book. However, around the time DreamWorks was founded, producer John H. Williams brought the book to DreamWorks, and co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg was interested in the concept. As a result, DreamWorks ended up acquiring the rights for the book in 1995, and Katzenberg quickly put the film in active development.

Shrek was released in April 2001, starring the voice talents of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz. (Chris Farley had originally been cast to voice the title character in the film, but died before being able to complete the project in December 1997; in August 1998, DreamWorks then recast the role to Mike Myers.) The film was an immediate commercial and critical success, and won the first ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. The film's triumph ultimately led to the releases of three sequels: Shrek 2 (2004, which was also an instant success), Shrek the Third (2007), and Shrek Forever After (2010).

Shrek (franchise)

The Shrek franchise from DreamWorks Animation, based on William Steig's picture book Shrek!, consists of four computer-animated films including: Shrek (2001), Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek the Third (2007), and Shrek Forever After (2010). A short 3D film, Shrek 4-D, which originally was a theme park ride, was released in 2003. Two television specials, the Christmas television special Shrek the Halls (2007) and the Halloween television special Scared Shrekless (2010), have also been produced. A spin-off film titled Puss in Boots was released in October 2011, and a 2008 Broadway musical adaption was produced for two years.

The series primarily focuses on Shrek, a reclusive but kindhearted ogre, who becomes a respected hero with an ever growing collection of friends and family in a fairy tale world in spite of himself.

In May 2010, The New York Times called the principal Shrek characters "brilliantly realized" and said "nearly a decade after the first Shrek film they remain as vital and engaging fusions of image, personality and voice as any characters in the history of animation."

Shrek (video game)

Shrek is a video game, based on the first installment in the popular film franchise Shrek. Shrek is one of 22 launch titles that were available the day of the Xbox's launch on 14 November 2001.

A port of the game for the GameCube, entitled Shrek Extra Large, was released on 31 October 2002 in North America and on 24 October 2003 in Europe.

The game was also noted for being one of the first commercial titles to make use of deferred shading, a feature which was relatively uncommon in games until the release of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl and Grand Theft Auto IV.

Plot

Shrek is based on the first installment of the popular movie franchise Shrek. Shrek is delivered a message by the infamous Magic Mirror that the lovely Princess Fiona has been captured by an evil wizard, Merlin. Shrek must travel to Merlin's Dark Tower Fortress of Pure Evil, but an impassable fog has been laid across the Fairy Tale Lands. The fog and Merlin's Fortress can be passed through the completion of Good Deeds. The Magic Mirror gives Shrek a Book of Good Deeds and offers to teleport him to places where Good Deeds are required.