Moving Pictures: Shrek Forever After's Villain SHOULD NOT EXIST GOSH DARN IT

Happy 15th birthday to the fourth Shrek film, Shrek Forever After! I was a little girl when it came out and I despised it (for silly reasons we’ll get into later), but on reflection, it’s a fun movie with interesting character development and relationships. Not my favourite, but it’s a decent watch.

However, something has always bothered me about the film. It’s why I was so against it as a child, and why, even after coming to terms with it being an okay movie, I still burn with childish indignation every time I think about it: why is Shrek Forever After’s main villain Rumpelstiltskin?

THE FAKE RUMPELSTILTSKIN

In a vacuum, I get that he makes sense to use, as the classic fairy tale character is known for making cruel deals that have to be worked around, and that leads to some very entertaining antics. He slots in nicely with the events of the series and makes for a unique antagonist compared to those that came before.

However, there was already a character named Rumpelstiltskin in the prior movie, Shrek the Third! He teamed up with Prince Charming, got his name made fun of a lot, had a cool hat, and turned to the side of good alongside a variety of other famous fantasy villains. He wasn’t a very important character, sure, but baby Erin really got a kick out of the guy (and his awesome hat)!

THE TRUE RUMPELSTILTSKIN

I suppose, in retrospect, reusing the same fairy tale character for two different Shrek films isn’t that bad. However, it taking place from one film into the very next release makes me wince. When I was a kid, I would whine about this injustice at every opportunity, and it soured the entire movie for me. Again, it shouldn’t realistically be a big deal, but it felt like I was being lied to, and nothing upset me more than that.

But if they make another version of him the villain again for Shrek 5, I will riot.