All hail to Donkey

I just got home from seeing “Shrek Four”, or should I really say “Shrek too many”. DreamWorks should have stopped developing stories and concepts after the second spinoff, however, through the hokey take offs on “Beauty and the Beast”, “Zoolander” and the folk tale of “Rumplestilskin”, the character of Donkey seemed to shine through the rubbish storyline.

Back in 2001, when I was first transported from a movie theatre to “Never Never Land”, I was enthralled and captivated by the brilliancy of Donkey. Eddie Murphy could not be a more perfect cast, for his voice spoke through the character as Cinderella fit into her glass slipper (an antidote quite fitting for “Shrek). Donkey’s humor and petty stupidity made him the perfect sidekick; to the hard-edged ogre we have come to love. Perhaps there is some truth in the fact that audiences may not have admired Shrek the way they do today if Donkey were not present. Donkey, my friends, is the key ingredient to the Shrek formula.

The great thing about Donkey is that he incorporates his humor in three ways: First through his physical comedy (e.g. in the first film we see him being sprung from a sling shot), secondly, by his charm of song (e.g., he charms his Dragon wife by the tune of his voice) and thirdly Donkey makes us laugh by simply not using his brain all the time. In moments of desperation, danger and need, situations that always seem to find Shrek, Donkey lightens the load. He most certainty does not increase their chances of survival, but when he is on the screen audiences roar with laughter. Roger Ebert even said in his 2001 review, “Donkey provides some of the movies best laughs”.

In scenes where Donkey smiles and shows his big white buckteeth, he does it with such charm and silliness. He represents the common nickname associated with his species: the ass. Shrek constantly wants to shut him up, but right when he smiles, we want him to sing, dance and simply annoy us! Don’t we all have friends like that, where at times you want to just rip their heads off, but at the end of the day we love them for what they bring to the table? That is so Donkey!

Donkeys in general, as mentioned above, are referred to as assess. They are a descendent of the horse family and are known for their durability and energy. Perhaps that is why Shrek’s right hand man, was emitted as a donkey. Donkey is always durable amongst his physical wear downs and is energetic no matter what the condition. Donkeys have also descended throughout evolution for centuries. They served as aides throughout various wars by transporting supplies for the soldiers. They are fighters and never give up. The character of Donkey never quits on his spirit, nor relinquishes on Shrek’s. He may not be the smartest and strongest donkey, but his heritage is. It exists within him.