As much as I want to ignore Shrek the Turd I think it's a lot rewarding to address its flaws than take the easy way out. So here us a list of what I would've changed had I wrote the movie.
- the choice of song is rather out of place
- only serves to push a dramatic moment/shove Artie into the plot
- I actually like Harold :/
- Harold doesn't die. Instead he gets an old man crisis & Lillian decides to take him on vacation to recuperate; naturally leaving Fiona and Shrek in charge
- Harold does die but the moment is treated with actual respect.
- Harold doesn't die BUT there is a death: Artie's father. The Royal Family go to Camelot for the funeral and meets Uther's estranged son Artie. That way Artie's daddy issues has more purpose in the story bc he truly can't reconcile with his dad, and Shrek a more sympathetic reason to steps up as a father figure.
- Alternatively, Artie's mom dies and he is sent to live in FFW bc his father doesn't want custody. So Shrek AND Fiona has to deal with a teenager and both have fear of parenthood byt still wants to give Artie the best. This also allows Fiona and Artie to interact with each other
Problem: suffers what I call Chicken Little Syndrome, he's kinda bland and we don't know much about him. Also his bullied nerd background Only serves to make him sympathetic cuz everyone is so mean to him! Beyond being kind and kinda dramatic Artie doesn't have much else
- Everyone has beef with Artie because of his father's reputation. Perhaps Uther had a bad spending habit which left Camelot in financial ruin or his habit of flirting with women left a lot of illegitimate children now they're all fighting over rightful inheritance and puts down Artie bc he's the youngest/weakest
- Camelot has a very warrior like society but Artie is more diplomatic/soft, which makes him look weak in the eyes of everyone else. Eventually his softness saves Camelot
- Artie has a legitimate flaw (his trust issues) which makes him unable to properly communicate with others.
- Artie has a few true friends who are outcasts like him. But their support drives him to pursue a career in politics so he can help them and ppl like them (giving his speech more credibility)
Problem: most of them were boring at best, unlikable at worst.
- Give the princesses more likable personalities: say they WERE strong and capable but got so caught up in glamor bc they don't want to remember the painful past
Problem: Charming and Rapunzel
- Comes right out of nowhere
- doesnt make since given Charming's arc is all abput becoming villain why would he date ANOTHER princess?
- Rapunzel's new motivation is she doesn't want an ogre on the throne, or she got tired of the princesses bullying her for her baldness. Or that she's jealous the princesses still have their princes yet Rapunzel lost hers. Or maybe Charming DID save her and she's working with him as a favor.
- However she discovers Charming is not as cool as she thought bc he still treats her (and any princess) like objects and not their own person
- Keep Rapunzel in the princess group and create a new character from scratch
- this new OC is a part of the villains not because she is one herself but because they're the only ones who accepted her for one reason or another. This makes her a foil for Charming and Godmother's relationship. She's wants to help them & save the Poison Apple from closing.
- however Charming is very bad at being evil so she teaches him how to be more assertive and this sets up a romance.
Problem: Aside from being retooled as a school campus, the Arthurian mythos doesn't have much prominence in the story
-change the main goal to finding Excalibur or the Holy Grail (kiddie Monty Python)
- or have it where Camelot is in a crisis of succession so an election or tournament is held to decide the new king. Noblemen from all over participate (introducing us to the Princesses). Shrek and Fiona helps Artie while Charming joins so he can finally get his own kingdom
- Artie turns out to have magic instead of Merlin (who is just a wacky alchemist/scientist) but he lacks confidence
- At the end have it where Artie forms the knights of the round table (with some of the characters and villains as members)
- Maybe make Charming "Lancelot"
Problems: They were sidelined most of the movie, preventing Fiona from truly delving into her responsibilities as Queen. Also most of the girl characters like the Princesses & Guinevere were portrayed as shallow b*tches or not having much relevance
- Make Fiona the focus character this time and her story is juggling queenly duties and her trauma in the tower
- Have the princesses be an underground guerilla force they help her take out Charming during the movie
- or have it where the tower was actually a school to train princesses-to-be and Fiona's Kiss was part of a sceret test of character to see if she really is fit to be Queen; accepting her ogress form means she accepts EVERYONE, so she passed the test
- Fiona demonstrates her leadership skills by planning and carrying out targeted attacks, & taking care of civilians
- MAKE ARTIE A GIRL it makes a cool twist fitting for a franchise like Shrek. Or give Artie a female companion/love interest who accompanies him on his quest (perhaps Guinevere or a new character)
- instead of Merlin they meet Nimue/Lady of the Lake who takes the role of the kooky mentor
- Like I mentioned, explore why Rapunzel betrayed the team; perhaps make her have a change of heart and help her ex friends escape.
- Or like giving Charming a new love interest one who is a caricature of the Evil Sexy Villainess or YA Novel Girlboss Protagonist (have her learn it's okay to be vulnerable)
- have Shrek puss and Donkey be the ones in danger and fiona and her princesses are the ones to go on a journey to save them
Puss and Donkey's subplot
Problem: it doesn't do much to serve the story but for cheap comic relief. Donkey is a father himself but doesn't seem to do much to help Shrek and Artie
- make Puss absent of stay with the princesses to help them
- Donkey talks with Shrek about his experiences as a father
- Remove the body switch entirely
- or have a subplot where Donkey and Puss still aren't getting along and Merlin switches them so they can learn to see from a new perspective.
- Maybe have Puss admit he doesn't have a good relationship with his own dad or something, or is actually great with kids (stunning Shrek and Donkey)
- Issue: we don't delve much into his backstory, he only wants to shirk his royal duties instead of doing the smart thing and actually confronting them
- introduce more Ogres or Shrek's dad. Have it be a family reunion or Shrek's dad finds out he married into royalty and that sets up the overall conflict
- Have the babies born before the movie and the plot is spent with him being a stay at home dad or caring for them while in Camelot while Fiona is tbe working parent
- also sets up an arc where Fiona struggles to balance mother hood and her job
- artie gets more used to ogre (children) leading to a realisation he has to step up to make a better future for their sake (again a more sympathetic reasoning)
Issue: Charming is just Farquad 2.0, the rest seem to be props in their own story, Rapunzel
- Make a new character who represents the villain side we get an intimate look at how society treats outcasts
- Give the villains more screentime like say we follow a group of them during theur trip to capture Shrek. They eventually have a confrontation and in the fray Artie ends up helping a villain much to their shock. They realise Artie isn't a threat. Or have it set at the play
- give Hook or Doris a prominent role
- or a new major villain; make it Charming's dad who takes him under his wing under the guise of wanting to help his son but is just manipulating him for the throne
- Make Charming struggle how ti adapt to being a villain due to his upbringing
- make some of the villains less open to wanting him in his group or have it where they try to help him be more evil (setting up potential jokes)
- Have Charming and Fiona have an actual moment with Fiona pointing out she did dream of a prince but is happy with Shrek and warns Charming that he still wouldn't be happy even if he did get everything
- Give Charming an actual villain love interest as a foil to Shrek and Fiona
- Don't include Charming at all (marry him off to Doris even lol) and create a new villain inspired by Arthurian lore. Maybe the Black Knight? Mordred? Morgan le Fay?
- Or even Artie himself! he wants to use his new position to enact revenge on his bullies
- Instead of the villains taking over it's the other fairytale heroes led by a jilted Charming and Shrek teams up with the villains to save FFW
- Make Uther the main villain
