Why Shrek 5 Trailer’s New Animation Style Is Dividing Fans

The latest Shrek 5 trailer was released this week, showing more of the movie’s new animation look. To many, the fifth entry in the Shrek franchise looks like a far departure from its past films.

Shrek 5 is directed by Conrad Vernon, Walt Dohrn, and Brad Ableson, with Michael McCullers writing the screenplay based on a story by Christopher Meledandri. This comes nearly two decades after the theatrical release of Shrek Forever After. It features returning cast members Mike Myers as Shrek, Eddie Murphy as Donkey, and Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona. Joining them are franchise newcomers Zendaya as Felicia, Marcello Hernández as Fergus, and Skyler Gisondo as Farkle. The film will arrive in theaters on June 30, 2027.

Shrek 5’s animation style has resulted in a mixed reaction

The first thing many fans noticed when Shrek 5 began teasing its release was the way the movie looked. In a stark departure from the past films in the franchise, the new movie had a much more “cartoon-y” look to it. This was only further shown off in the film’s latest teaser trailer, which shows that some characters look the same, but others (like Eddie Murphy’s Donkey) have a pretty drastic new look, all things considered.

Fans were quick to split on the opinion. While some don’t mind the changes, others claim that the new look is emblematic of issues with modern animating. For others, the new look seem to miss what made the original Shrek movies so good. The original movies mixed the elements of realism and fantasy, and used that to help parody the stories of famous fairy tales throughout its movies.

Hot take

I don't like the animation and new art style.

Shrek was built on realism with a touch of fantasy, which contrasted with Disney. It lended itself to the satirical fairytale world they built. Making Shrek bouncy and cartoony feels like the antithesis of what Shrek is. https://t.co/KRyXly0IZb pic.twitter.com/OFTWPVslRH

— ?JemStarGold? (@JemStarGold) June 16, 2026

As many have pointed out on social media, however, the new movie seems to ditch that entirely. Instead, the characters look animated in a much more modern setting, resulting in the loss of any realistic blemishes that the originals had. Donkey, specifically, has seen many complaints thrown its way, as the character has lost the realistic and sometimes unpleasant look he had, and instead now looks much more like a fully animated character.

It’s unclear whether or not DreamWorks will change any of this in time for the movie’s release next year. Paramount infamously changed the design of Sonic the Hedgehog ahead of its movie release after large complaints online, but changing a character’s model is a lot easier than changing the entire style design of a movie. In any case, fans will continue to debate the issue as we get closer to the movie’s release.

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