DreamWorks has just revealed a peek at the original concept art from Shrek 2, and it has fans going through a range of emotions.
If you are an animation fan, then you are surely already familiar with concept art. Concept art is used to create a preliminary idea of what the key art will look like in film, TV, video games, etc. Unlike a storyboard, which visualizes the process of a scene in motion, concept art gives us a general idea of the final aesthetic of the product and it's often repackaged in books sold for the public to enjoy if they partake in this niche interest.
The concept art for Shrek 2, led by production designer Guillaume Aretos, has been making the rounds for quite some time for those interested via books and more — lest we forget the movie premiered in 2004 — but a newly shared post by DreamWorks is introducing the art to a handful of new fans.
On September 3, 2024, the official Shrek social accounts posted a side-by-side of the concept art and final scene from the infamous "Are We There Yet?" scene from Shrek 2 to multiple platforms. "The glow up is real. Original concept art from Shrek 2," the post read, showing a closeup of Donkey, Fiona, and Shrek inside a carriage. (This particular image was already shared in John Hopkins's 2004 book Shrek: From the Swamp to the Screen.)
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Of course, people immediately took to the comment section to discuss said "glow up" and the reactions were hilarious. "Thought that was the first look at Shrek 5 for a second and I was mortified," a user pointed out, referring to the upcoming sequel.
"I mean something about it looks better, but everything about it looks wrong," someone said. "Surprisingly not that bad, but the final look def can't be beat," someone else commented while someone pointed out that "Shrek looks so genuinely concerned in the original concept art." (I mean, you'd be too if you were an ogre about to meet your royal in-laws!)
Another person claimed this was "one of the few times concept art looked sh*t compared to the real movie," while someone simply commented: "I would have loved you anyway."
