Donkey's Caroling Christmas-tacular

This 5 minute Shrek Christmas special was released back in 2010 as a part of Donkey's Christmas Shrektacular along with the Shrek: The Whole Story DVD/Blu-Ray set & the Shrek Forever After Blu-Ray. This would be one of many shorts/specials after the movies & given that the franchise is still going strong after 15 years (GOD, I feel old) with the Far Far Away section in Universal Studios Singapore, the Shrek's Adventure attraction in London & the still popular musical version, it's kinda clear Shrek has become an icon in modern animation. So can Donkey make Christmas spectacular like the title promises, or is this one Shrek Christmas special too many? Let's take a look!

Story: I can't really qualify this as a 'story' since there's no plot, conflict or goal for the characters to achieve whatsoever. All that really happens is that the characters we know & love from the Shrek universe (mainly post Shrek Forever After) celebrating Christmas in the Candy Apple (a nicer modified version of the Poisoned Apple bar) singing traditional Christmas songs but with altered lyrics depending on the characters along with a few comedic one-liners from the side characters inbetween. I will say that it is a pretty good concept & it works well as a 5 minute special rather than expanding it to 30 minutes & turning it into something like Shrek The Halls. However, I feel bad for saying this, but I ended up bored when watching this short despite only lasting five minutes. While it is fun seeing the characters doing something they love together during the holidays, this really didn't feel necessary to see. On top of that, the humour itself isn't that funny and can leave more groans out of you than chuckles. It doesn't really help that the execution can feel really obnoxious because it never leaves you time to take a breather before the next song. What it really is is just lots of noise which never shuts up and tries so hard to make you laugh for the limited time it has. I'm sorry that I don't have more to say about the 'story', it's just that it's not really the focus of this as the title suggests.

Animation: Given that this is Dreamworks & the Shrek universe, the animation is really good! I don't even think I need to go into the character designs because they're just the same as always, but I will say I like the varying designs on the other ogres who appear in this (I just wanted to bring that up because I haven't reviewed the fourth movie yet). The texturing is also very well done & I love the attention to detail put into the textures like the ogre's food (and Gingy/the other cookies), the Christmas decorations & especially the skin & fur of the characters. The character animation is also very well done thanks to the fun & fast paced choreography of the musical numbers along with the factor of animating different creatures like Donkey, the Dronkeys, ogres (which are much more humanoid in movement) & even. But without a doubt the best part of the animation is the background. While it's in one setting that we're all but familiar with (the former Poisoned Apple), the Christmas-y makeover all but makes up for it & it brings out a lot of the colour along with helping with the festive mood. Sure, it looks fantastic for a short, but given that it's Dreamworks, what else did you expect?

Characters: Yeah, don't be surprised that there's absolutely no development from the characters in this! They can all just be described as...themselves. Shrek is well, Shrek, Fiona is the loving wife, Donkey is the breakout character that cracks one-liners & Puss in Boots is the Spaniard Zorro-esque cat. That's about it with them & even if the voice actors are clearly having fun (especially Eddie Murphy & Antonio Banderas), it just sort of feels like they did most of their singing/lines in one or two takes. The side characters like Gingy, Pinocchio, the 3 Little Pigs, the Big Bad Wolf & 3 Blind Mice can easily be described as the comic reliefs, even if they can actually be funny with their own little quirks. Although one thing that surprised me was seeing characters return from the fourth film like Rumplestiltskin still being trapped in his cage and the ogres Brogan (Jon Hamm), Cookie (Craig Robinson) & Gretched (Jane Lynch). Even with that though, they're really cameos more than anything else & the ogres act like old friends to the characters even though Shrek had only met them in the alternate universe. Even the babies (I have no idea how old they are because they turned one in the fourth film & this clearly takes place after) sing & are old enough to talk but even at that, they don't have their own personalities other than liking the same disgusting ogre-themed things their parents like. The characters may be their same selves (if not bland for Shrek & Fiona), but I guess that's how it should be for this even if the comic reliefs take over.

Songs: Like I mentioned, the songs here are altered with the lyrics reflecting on stuff to do with the characters & honestly, none of them really interested me, which is ironic since the whole special is literally just the characters singing. The first one that everyone sings is a version of It's The Most Wonderful Time mostly lead by Donkey, just introducing everyone to the Candy Apple & is admittedly fun mostly thanks to Eddie Murphy's talented singing. The second one is a version of Jingle Bells pretty much about what the ogre characters like to eat around the holidays (the gross animation didn't really help). That's about it & I actually felt that one was the weakest. I suppose the most entertaining one for me would have to be the version of Feliz Navidad sung by Puss but altering it to Fleas Navidad, which was a surprisingly clever pun!And finally, it's Fairy Tale Rock, which would have to be the second weakest for me because it doesn't really add any unique twist to it. But even with that, the singing from the actors is pretty good, except for Cameron Diaz (need I remind you how terrible her singing was in Annie?), even if she barely sings in comparison to the rest. One or two songs in this are decent & clever, but a few of the others are pretty weak which doesn't really work when the songs are literally the point of the entire special.

If I can be honest, this special really disappointed me. While Donkey's Caroling Christmas-tacular boasts some very nice animation, a couple of clever puns & fun song and a few surprise cameos along with the voice actors doing a good job on their characters, it just feels like a pointless cashgrabber & something to get kids to shut up for about five minutes. If you really need a Shrek Christmas special fix, then just go & watch Shrek the Halls despite it's weak story. I mean, even if I had issues with it, I still enjoy watching it when I can in the holidays. And before I go, I just want to quickly go over my thoughts on the announced Shrek 5...bit late after nearly 10 years, huh Katzenberg?
Story: 😠
Animation: 😊
Characters: 😠
Songs: 😕
Overall: 😕