Shrek 2 (2004)

The indisputable best of the main franchise entries, Shrek 2 – the first sequel to the Oscar-winning Shrek (2001) – is so chock-full of sight gags, quotable lines, and clever satire that you can miss them the first time around.

The sequel also benefits from the introduction of several characters who would become fan favourites – particularly the Zorro-coded Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas).

After marrying Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz), the lovable green ogre Shrek (Mike Myers) faces the most unenviable quest of all: meeting the in-laws – Fiona’s parents, King Harold (John Cleese) and Queen Lillian (Julie Andrews).

Unfortunately, Fiona’s parents are completely unaware that their daughter chose to remain an ogress – let alone that she had married a 700-pound ogre.

The family meeting gets even more complicated thanks to a villainous corporate-minded Fairy Godmother (Jennifer Saunders) and the suave feline assassin Puss, who is hired by the king to eliminate the ogre but ends up befriending Shrek and Donkey (Eddie Murphy) instead.

In a desperate bid to win his father-in-law’s approval, Shrek steals a “Happily Ever After” potion that transforms him into a handsome, muscular human man and Donkey into a noble white stallion.

The potion also reverts Fiona back into her human form at the castle. Shrek rushes back to find her, but the Fairy Godmother intercepts him and locks Shrek, Donkey, and Puss away, while Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) pretends to be Shrek in human form to trick Fiona into falling for him.

Meanwhile, Shrek’s fairy-tale pals from back home (Pinocchio, the Three Little Pigs, the Big Bad Wolf, and the Gingerbread Man) break their friends out of the royal dungeon and enlist the local baker to create ‘Mongo’ – a colossal, giant Gingerbread Man.

Riding Mongo, Shrek and his friends storm the castle gates, defeat Prince Charming and the Fairy Godmother, and Shrek and Fiona transform back into ogres (and Donkey back into a donkey.

A massive castle party follows, and the story ends happily.

The plot isn’t hard to track, but the animators were clearly having a ball filling the Beverly Hills-esque land of Far, Far Away with all manner of comedic twists and fairy-tale puns.

Shrek (voice)
Mike Myers
Donkey (voice)
Eddie Murphy
Princess Fiona (voice)
Cameron Diaz
Puss In Boots (voice)
Antonio Banderas
Queen Lillian (voice)
Julie Andrews
King Harold (voice)
John Cleese
Prince Charming (voice)
Rupert Everett
Fairy Godmother (voice)
Jennifer Saunders
Wolf (voice)
Aron Warner
Page/Elf/Nobleman/Nobleman’s Son (voice)
Kelly Asbury
Pinocchio/Three Pigs (voice)
Cody Cameron
Gingerbread Man/Cedric/Announcer/Muffin Man/Mongo (voice)
Conrad Vernon
Blind Mouse (voice)
Christopher Knights
Herald/Man with Box (voice)
David P. Smith
Mirror/Dresser (voice)
Mark Moseley
Fast Food Clerk (voice) 
Kelly Cooney
Bar Frog (voice)
Wendy Bilanski
Ugly Stepsister (voice)
Larry King
Receptionist (voice)
Guillaume Aretos
Humphries/Magic Mirror (voice)
Chris Miller
Doll/Jill (voice)
Latifa Ouaou
Joan Rivers (voice)
Joan Rivers

Director
Andrew Adamson
Kelly Asbury
Conrad Vernon