Summary
Shrek 5hopes to bolster a legendary animated franchise with four previous canon films, a host of spin-off movies and shorts, and even a Broadway musical. The main characters, Mike Myers' Shrek, Eddie Murphy’s Donkey, and Antonio Banderas' Puss In Boots, have become household names forDreamWorks- and deservedly so. Shrek is a quick-witted, crotchety Scottish ogre and Donkey is everyone’s favorite ass. Puss in Boots, with his Oscar-nominated solo outing in tow, is a blockbuster force who’s worth fearing - if you dare.
There is one John Lithgow-voiced character, though, who doesn’t quite get the general fanfare that he’s definitely due. He is a small-stature, ogre-sized ego oligarch who rules the fairy-tale kingdom of Duloc. This tater-tot tyrant wears a long, velvet cape while known by the thinly veiled insult of a name - Lord Farquaad (you have to silence that ‘r’ for geohistorical accuracy.)
It’s ironic that Lord Farquaad hates magic, because ‘Lord Farquaad’ is the type of comedy sorcery that allows a grade school kid to skip around his Elementary yelling “Lord Farquaad” in Ye Olde English - without necessarily knowingwhyit’s funny - but also knowing it’s probably the funniest name ever derived for fiction.
Lord Farquaad is the type of man whose position is given, but his name is earned. Farquaad’s monicker has been imitated in spirit but never duplicated by the likes of animated villains such asAdventure Time’s ‘Lemongrab,’ the yellow citrus-headed stickler, who is famously rumored to have originally been named ‘Lemonsnatch,’ as a play on ‘sourpuss,’ which didn’t make it past censors. In a less crass manner,Phineas and Ferb’s pin-headed nemesis Dr. Doofenshmirtz’s last name translates from German into English as ‘fool in pain.’ Considering the Germanic township of Duloc and Farquaad’s long-suffering short man’s syndrome, ‘Lord Doofenshmirtz’ would also have fit him quite well.
Sure, Shrek and Donkey are hilarious, but they’ve received adequate credit for their contributions to animated comedy. The pair have earned it, as their buddy banter rivals Tarantino’s dialogue at its pulpiest. Lord Farquaad, on the other hand, was (spoiler alert) eaten at the end of the firstShrekmovie, merely managing a brief cameo inShrek the Thirdsince. It’s a shame, because Lord Farquaad is arguably responsible for the funniestscenes in the earlyShrekfilms. This point is valid and merited - lest we forgetShrek’s ‘Muffin Man’ scene, which stands above all (by way of a chain lift for Lord Farquaad, and some help from the gingerbread man.)
What makes Lord Farquaad a solid antagonist, and not simply a silly one, is his overcurrent of evil narcissism. He represents the cautionary corruption of absolute power and cares about no one but himself, under the guise of strength and virtue. In the torture dungeon ‘Muffin Man’ scene, where Lord Farquaad crushes Gingy’s legs, we believe he would have killed the cute-as-a-gumdrop-button gingerbread man had they not been interrupted. Because, as we know, some people may die, but that’s a sacrifice the genocidal Lord Farquaad is willing to make.
Shrek, Fiona, and Donkeyare all reportedly returning for Shrek 5, and if it’s true that Magic Mirror is also making an appearance, Lord Farquaad should be there to keep his smart device in line by punching hand mirrors as well. There’s growing suspicion thatPuss In Boots is not on track to appear inShrek 5, which at this point seems like a missed opportunity given the relative success of his standalone adventures. DreamWorks could have a fairy-taleAvengerson their hands if they offer Banderas a bounty big enough to get Puss in Boots back in business again.
There is one, admittedly major, hurdle preventing an easy reintroduction of Lord Farquaad back intoShrek 5-and that is his all but confirmed death at the end of the originalShrek,in which he was swallowed whole by Donkey’s dragon wife.
This may be a long shot, but Lord Farquaad is not 100% confirmed dead, technically, as he was shown in a specialShrekDVD feature at a karaoke dance party with the rest of the fairy-tale creatures singingStaying Alivefrom the belly of the dragon. While he likely got digested sometime soon after his musical hoorah, he did actually return aside from his flashback cameo inShrek the Third -this time as an entity more closely related to his Magic Mirror consort.
In DreamWorks' 2003 15-minute short,The Ghost of Lord Farquaad, Lithgow’s character returns as a spirit along with some otherShrekcharacters in Universal’sShrek 4-Dtheme park experience. This route may be an even longer shot than still-alive Farquaad, but let’s be honest, this is a fantasy fairy-tale realm in discussion here. Hey DreamWorks, just bring him back to life, okay? In a cartoon world of fairy godmothers and mythical creatures, re-animated characters can’t be outside any realm of possibility.
