Shrek 4-D

Shrek 4-D (The Ghost Of Lord Farquaad)
General information
Title	Shrek 4-D (The Ghost Of Lord Farquaad)
Length	12 minutes
Release Date	May 23, 2003
Release on DVD	Shrek 3-D DreamWorks Spooky Stories Shrek's Thrilling Tales
Genre	Fantasy/adventure
Production information
Directed by	Simon J. Smith
Produced by	Jeffrey Katzenberg David Lipman
Starring	Mike Myers Eddie Murphy Cameron Diaz John Lithgow Conrad Vernon Cody Cameron Christopher Knights
Preceded by: Succeeded by: Shrek Shrek 4-D (The Ghost Of Lord Farquaad) Shrek 2
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Shrek 4-D (also titled The Ghost of Lord Farquaad) is an American computer-animated 4-D motion-simulator film and ride based on the first Shrek film. It was created for the Universal Studios theme parks, and was sometimes shown in other entertainment venues around the world.

Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow reprise their roles from the first film, and would be the last time all four would star in Shrek project together.

Ride History[]

The ride first opened in Universal Studios Hollywood on May 23, 2003, replacing the Rugrats Magic Adventure stage show. It was heavily advertised with a new technology called "OgreVision," which helped emphasize the combination of 3-D and motion-simulator effects. The ride would close on August 13, 2017, as part of a five-year plan to renovate the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park. In its place would be the Kung Fu Panda Adventure ride film inside the "DreamWorks Theater."

A version in Universal Studios Florida would open nearly a month after Hollywood's on June 12, 2003, replacing the opening day attraction, Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies. Due to the ride's low capacity and increasing popularity, a second theater and pre-show were constructed later that year. The ride and its gift shop closed on January 10, 2022 as part of the park's Minion Land expansion. Its replacement, Illumination's Villain-Con: Minion Blast, opened on August 11, 2023.

Another Shrek 4-D would open a week after Florida's in Universal Studios Japan on June 20, 2003. Unlike the previous two, the film shared a theater space with another show, Sesame Street 4-D: Movie Magic. Both would eventually be shown on a seasonal basis beginning in 2015 with the arrival of the annual summer event, "Cool Japan." In their place would be unique ride films based on Japanese pop culture icons.

Nearly seven years after the film's debut, Universal Studios Singapore would open a new Far Far Away-themed land with Shrek 4-D as its star attraction on March 18, 2010. Due to the different setting, the ride's queue was significantly tweaked to fit the surrounding land. As of 2024, it is the only Shrek 4-D attraction to remain in full operation.

Two short-lived installations appeared in Warner Bros. Movie World in Queensland, Australia, and Movie Park Germany- with a respective September 17, 2005-August 29, 2010 and May 27, 2008-July 4, 2011 run.

Ride Experience/Plot[]

Entrance[]

Upon entry, guests are greeted by a giant sign featuring the Shrek 4-D logo and a scroll reading "presented in OgreVision." Also on the outside is a recap of the first Shrek film presented with storybook illustrations. The last page however shows a graffitied message from the Ghost of Lord Farquaad, who vows to make Fiona his queen if it's the last thing he does. These features were only present in the Hollywood and Florida versions, as Japan features a traditional theater and Singapore had a statue of Shrek himself holding the 4-D logo.

Queue[]

Guests make their way into the actual queue, where monitors show clips from the Shrek movie, a montage of images from Shrek and Fiona's wedding, and the Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance Party in its entirety. Further along, guests are immersed into the kingdom of Duloc, where many advertisements and posters display many activities they could do and attractions they could visit during their stay. However, the atmosphere grows more sinister as wanted posters of the fairy tale creatures cover the stone walls- leading to the torture chambers where the characters are being held captive.

In the Universal Studios Singapore version, this is replaced by a grand entrance into the Far Far Away Palace. Tapestries and large art pieces depict King Harold and Queen Lillian, along with the official flags of the kingdom adorned throughout. As guests make their way through, they enter the Grand Hall, which has become off limits to "all nobility" due to an incident of unknown origin. It was also said that there was laughter similar to Lord Farquaad's from beyond the chamber, and by decree of King Harold, no one was allowed to proceed any further. Within the hall are the posters of the fairy tale creatures, with some having a giant "CAPTURED" stamp over them. Shrines dedicated to Lord Farquaad, including his signature flags, also litter the hall and proceeding chamber.

Pre-Show[]

Guests enter the pre-show, which is a recreation of the Duloc Dungeon (also known as the Duloc's Fairy Tale Creature Processing Centre), featuring giant torture devices and weapons. It is here that the guests realize that they are prisoners in Duloc, and not here for a welcoming stay. A huge screen displaying a "Dungeon Cam" sits at the center in between two giant mirrors (one in Florida), along with four cages containing the fairy tale creatures. As guests make their way into the dungeon, a "Duloc Cast Member" informs guests to grab a pair of the OgreVision glasses (which were supposedly designed by Lord Farquaad). They also tell the guests/prisoners that they will be overseeing the torturing of the guests, while also giving the usual ride safety spiel. Failure to abide by these rules will result in the guests getting a "flogging," five days in the iron maiden, a fortnight in the brink, three days on the raft, and nonstop reality TV.

Pinocchio (Cody Cameron), Gingy (Conrad Vernon), and the Three Little Pigs (Cody Cameron) wake up in the dungeon while trapped in cages. The puppet and pigs yell for help from the audience, only to get no response. Gingy tries to tell the onlookers to escape while exclaiming "HE'S BACK!!" After the cookie runs away, the pigs question if the people have "seen the movie," with Pinocchio proceeding to summon the Magic Mirror (Chris Miller). He asks the Magic Mirror to help the group of people understand was is going on. After a quick Star Wars gag, the Mirror then tells to the audience Shrek's (Mike Myers) story, filling in for audiences who missed out on the movie. When finished, he repeats the clip of Farquaad being eaten by Dragon, and is eventually interrupted by Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow) himself, who has returned as a ghost. The ghost is attempting to find Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz), who is on a honeymoon with Shrek. He tries to get answers from the Fairy Tale Creatures to no avail. With no other options, Farquaad sends the audience into a special "torture chamber" to hopefully get answers.

Ride Film[]

Note: Beyond this point, the audience is never acknowledged.

Meanwhile, the newlyweds, along with Donkey (Eddie Murphy), are trying to find their way to the Honeymoon Hotel so Shrek and Fiona can celebrate their honeymoon. Shrek discovers a shortcut through the Forbidden Forest, which is filled with scary trees and dangling spiders. The search is interrupted when Fiona is captured by Thelonious (Christopher Knights), who is still working for Lord Farquaad. Shrek and Donkey chase Thelonious through the forest in the Onion Carriage, riding past crow feathers and Gingy's gingerbread house while destroying it. Gingy himself (who somehow managed to escape the torture chamber) unexpectedly hitches a ride with Shrek and Donkey before him before he is sent flying into a tree. The two eventually catch up to Thelonious and Fiona while getting deeper into the forest.

However, the duo lose Thelonious and Fiona and wind up in the Dead End Graveyard. While Shrek is teasing Donkey by pretending to be a zombie and scaring him, they stumble upon Lord Farquaad's grave. Soon, Farquaad's ghost arrives and Donkey remarks that he saw him die in the first movie, breaking the fourth wall. Farquaad then brings the stone dragon on his grave to life and commands it to eat Shrek and Donkey in revenge for making Donkey's wife Dragon eat him. Donkey whistles for Dragon (Frank Welker {uncredited}) and she shows up sweeping Shrek and Donkey off the ground. The stone dragon chases them through the sky and blows fireballs made of magma at them. Shrek lands on the stone dragon's back and farts in its face, causing it to drop him onto Dragon's back. Dragon then flies into a canyon in a homage to Star Wars: A New Hope. She then creates a tunnel through a dead end in the canyon with her fire, and after going into the tunnel, the stone dragon follows and its wings break off in doing so. After exiting, the animated statue falls to it's watery grave, terminating the chase. Dragon, Shrek and Donkey then rush off to rescue Fiona.

Farquaad's true plans for Fiona is to kill her and make her his spirit queen so he can be the king of the underworld. Thelonious puts her on a raft going toward a waterfall known as Fairy Falls, but forgets to get off. Fiona gets free and knocks him out, giving her the chance to use his grappling hook to stop the raft from moving. Shrek and Donkey soon jump onto the raft to save Fiona. Due to the weight of all three, the grappling hook breaks, causing the raft to lunge forward. It goes over the falls and the trio is temporarily saved by Thelonious. However, they fall again due to the branch Thelonious was holding breaking. Luckily, Dragon saves them before they could land on the rocks and obliterates Farquaad by breathing a fireball at him. Dragon gives Shrek and Fiona a ride to the Honeymoon Hotel, and she and Donkey ride off to have a honeymoon of their own. But Shrek and Fiona's honeymoon is interrupted by the Fairy Tale creatures, but decide to go along with it. Everyone celebrates after Shrek says "Let the honeymoon begin!" then pops the cork out of the champagne, sending Tinker Bell flying with the cork and crash into the wall of the theater, ending the ride.

Gift Shop/Post Show[]

Once the show ends, a cover of "Sugar Sugar" performed by sElf (who sang "Stay Home" in Shrek) plays on the monitors. However, this would be replaced by Donkey's "I'm a Believer" cover in later years at Hollywood. Exclusive to Universal Studios Florida was a gift shop called "Shrek's Souvenir Shoppe." This was set within the Honeymoon Hotel at the end of the ride film, and featured the world map used by Shrek, as well as various scrolls displaying ads and warnings to hotel guests. Merchandise of Shrek was sold in this location, and would later sell products from How to Train Your Dragon and Trolls.

In Universal Studios Singapore, the ride exits into the neighboring Fairy Godmother's Potion Shop (themed after the Potion Factory from Shrek 2). This not only features merchandise of Shrek and How to Train Your Dragon, but a quick service juice bar that sells special themed juice drinks. Within the shop is another ride, which is a miniature children's Ferris wheel called the "Magic Potion Spin." This also includes statues of Shrek, Donkey, and Puss in Boots.

Other Releases[]

On May 11, 2004, a year after the ride opened in the Universal parks, a DVD titled Shrek 3-D was released. Both 3-D and 2-D versions were included, and the DVD came with four pairs of two color 3-D glasses. This release would notably leave out the pre-show videos, and include ending credits not seen in the attraction. Added as a bonus are a trailer for the then-newly theatrically released Shrek 2, and an ad for the ride at both Universal Hollywood and Florida parks. The only time the film would see a 3-D release outside of the theme parks was in front of UK cinemas showing 3-D family films from 2011-2012.

The first fully 2-D release of the film would air on Nickelodeon on May 13, 2007 to promote Shrek the Third. This would be called Shrek's Never Before Seen Adventure and remained virtually unchanged. Four years later, another 2-D version would release on Netflix as a part of the DreamWorks Spooky Stories video. This would see the first instance of the film's official alternate title, The Ghost of Lord Farquaad. Along with the new name, certain aspects were altered or removed. Donkey's line, "This 3-D looks really cool!" was cut due to the 2-D conversion, and his line "Mother Fletcher!" was changed to "Aah, Shrek!" This version would later appear on the DreamWorks Spooky Stories DVD and as a part of Shrek's Thrilling Tales (releasing on both Netflix and DVD) in fall of 2012. The short was also released on its own on iTunes, YouTube, and the short-lived Nintendo 3DS Video Service.

Adaptations[]

Shrek #1 (Dark Horse Comics)[]

A comic version created by Dark Horse Comics was made based on the attraction. There were some major differences in this version, as Farquaad did not torture Gingy to obtain Shrek and Fiona's whereabouts, and Dragon did not save Thelonious. Much of the dialogue was also changed to better fit the comic book medium in addition to reworked visual compositions. Aside from these alterations, the plotline remained the same as the ride film.

Shrek: Reekin' Havoc[]

A video game released on the GameBoy Advance was created to coincide with the opening of the ride. Despite using the concept of Lord Farquaad's ghost returning, the storyline is entirely original. Instead of trying to kill Fiona to be his spirit queen, he is getting revenge on all of the Fairy Tale Creatures by possessing them or creating destruction in all the land. Many visuals from the film would appear in the final level, Duloc, which features a graveyard containing references to the attraction.

Gallery[]

The pre-show area

The theater once seen in Universal Studios Hollywood

The entrance as seen at Universal Studios Orlando

The "Welcome to Duloc" sign at Universal Studios Hollywood

Trivia[]

• The plot of the attraction was originally reserved for Shrek 2, but after William Steig declined the idea, it was used for the 4-D film.
• The queue features several references to other movies, fairy tales, real life products, and Disney parks attractions:
  • Movie posters for shows playing at Ye Old Duloc Googolplex.
  • Posters for "attractions" located in Duloc.
  • Advertisements for fictional products, locations, and businesses from within Duloc.
  • Various personal ads from fairy tale creatures and princesses.
  • Shrek and Fiona's wedding scrapbook- featuring a guest list, the directions to the ceremony, and various pictures from both the ending of Shrek and the Karaoke Dance Party.
• Donkey breaks the fourth wall by telling Farquaad "I know I've seen you die in the first movie," upon seeing his ghost.
• This was the first Shrek film to be in widescreen, which was mostly done specifically for the ride's screen.
• This is the first time that Lord Farquaad mentions Shrek's name. During the pre-show, he asks the audience "Have any of you seen Shrek and Fiona?" In the original film, Farquaad refers to him as "The Ogre" instead of his name.
• Several species are referenced in the queue and post-show that haven't visually appeared in the franchise.
  • Wolverines
  • Hedgehogs
  • Newts
  • Manticores
  • Griffins
  • Dodos
  • Crocodiles

Video[]