The Ordinary World- (The hero’s normal world before the story begins. ) In the beginning of the movie you see shrek doing his daily behaviors, brushing his teeth with slug juice, eating eyeballs as food and setting a fire by burping on a matchstick. Shrek’s ordinary world would be his swamp, where he lives peacefully without any worries. Shrek has sign saying “stay out” which indicates he likes being alone.
The Call to Adventure- (The hero is presented with a challenge adventure or problem. In this case, when the fairytale characters are all appearing in Shrek’s home, we realize that he won’t be living a peaceful life in the swamp on his own anymore. Shrek goes to Lord Farquaad who says the only way the fairytale characters will come back to Duloc is if Shrek accepts a quest to rescue a princess out of a castle guarded by a fire breathing dragon. Refusal of the Call- (The hero refuses the challenge adventure or problem because he/she is scared or frightened. ) In the film, Shrek is not frightened by the quest.
I believe he is very brave Shrek is not afraid of them. In this case there is not really a refusal of call Donkey tries to persuade Shrek but Shrek seems to not care. Meeting the Mentor- (A guide or helper appears or becomes known. The hero gets advice or training for the adventure ahead. ) In the film Shrek is accompanied by the Donkey, the donkey tries to convince Shrek not to go on the quest because it’s dangerous but still assists him on the adventure.
Crossing the Threshold- (The hero leaves his known limits or his ordinary world and begins the adventure. This step is evident when Shrek climbs up the mountain and sees a Ricadey bridge across to the castle which is over a lake of lava, this is beyond the opposite to his ordinary quiet lonely swamp. But this doesn’t scare Shrek as he tries to comfort the donkey and give him “emotional support”. Tests, Allies and Enemies – (The hero confronts enemies, faces testes, meets allies and learns the rules of the Special World. ) In the film shrek is confronted by Lord Farquaad, and the dragon who I would describe as his enemies.
He also meets the donkey who I would describe as his Allies. Shrek faces tests such as getting over the bridge and fighting the dragon and saving Princess Fiona. Approach- (The hero has hit setbacks and needs to try a new ideal approach. ) Shrek and his friend, Donkey, embark on the quest that Lord Fraud had assigned them. Shrek is faced with many physical challenges such as rescuing Donkey from the lava lake that surrounds the castle, rescuing Donkey from the dragon by trapping a chandelier around the neck of the dragon and fighting the dragon.
The new approach I would say is, Donkey complementing the dragon which calms the dragon down, and makes her an ally because she falls in love with Donkey. The Ordeal- (The hero faces a life or death crisis. ) This is evident when Shrek and donkey are confronted by the dragon. They both are in a near death experience and Shrek lands in the princess’s room. The Reward-(The hero takes the property of the treasure won by facing death. ) Shrek survived death. He overcomes fear and is ow rewarded. I think this step is when Shrek is not killed by the dragon, and lands in the princesses’ room. This is a reward because he rescues his prize which is Princess Fiona. The Road Back- (The Hero returns to the ordinary world. ) In the film at the beginning you see Shrek in his ordinary world happy and after the quest when he returns to the swamp alone he doesn’t look happy anymore. This quest has changed him. He doesn’t want to be alone anymore, he wants to be with Princess Fiona.
Although during the quest he heard Princess Fiona and Donkey talking about her curse, and is heartbroken as he mistakes her disgust with her transformation to an “ugly beast” as disgust in him The Resurrection- (Hero faces death again. He has to use everything he has learnt. ) In the film when Shrek finds out that Princess Fiona was not talking about him he uses everything he has learnt and everyone he has met for example the dragon helps him get Princess Fiona back.
Shrek steps up and tries to fight Lord Farquaad, who then calls his guards on him then the dragon eats Lord Farquaad, and Shrek escapes death again. The Return with the Elixir- (He returns with “elixir” and he uses it to help everyone from the ordinary world. ) In the end of the film, Shrek and Fiona say they love each other, they kiss and her curse is broken. Princess Fiona turns into an ogre and they live happy ever after. Also, the fairytale characters are brought back to Duloc where they can live freely again.
