Fairy Godmother (Shrek)

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Fairy Godmother
Prince Charming
(son)

The Fairy Godmother

Prince Charming, who Princess Fiona was originally intended to wed prior to meeting Shrek. She plots against newlyweds Shrek and Fiona's relationship, using her magic and potions in an attempt to trick Fiona into falling in love with her son. She believes that ogres do not live happily ever after. Fairy Godmother is loosely based on the stock fairy godmother character in fairy tales, specifically "Cinderella" and "Sleeping Beauty", serving as a parody of the common trope
.

The Shrek franchise is based on

bigoted
fairy godmother. Saunders recorded her role in four days and also provided her character's singing voice.

Fairy Godmother has received mostly positive reviews from film critics, who appreciated her humor and villainy, as well as Saunders' performance, which some critics compared to her Absolutely Fabulous character Edina Monsoon. Saunders' performance earned her a People's Choice Award for Favorite Movie Villain.

Development

Creation

Although loosely based on

fortune teller Dama Fortuna.[6] In addition to teaching the princess about her past,[7] the witch is responsible for giving Fiona a potion that alters her curse, initially offering her a choice between two potions, one of which promises to turn Fiona beautiful once consumed, while the other guarantees Fiona's happy ever after.[6] After Fiona drinks the "Beauty" to find that she is still an ogre, Dama Fortuna explains that the potion allows her to become human during the daytime, only to revert to her ogre form each sunset until the spell is broken by true love's kiss.[6]

The prologue was ultimately discarded because

bigoted version of the Dama Fortuna character would be written into the sequel.[8] Thus, the idea of Dama Fortuna was resurrected, and Fiona's fairy godmother was conceived as a magical entity whose use of magic and potions do not always benefit Shrek and Fiona.[6] Thus, the character is considered to be a parody of traditional fairy godmother characters.[9]

When developing Shrek Forever After (2010), the filmmakers wanted the film's villain, Rumpelstiltskin, to be as different as possible from previous Shrek villains.[10] Compared to Fairy Godmother, Rumpelstiltskin was envisioned as a "ratty, childish, scummy man" to contrast with Fairy Godmother's eloquence as a businesswoman.[11][12]

Voice and characterization

Fairy Godmother is voiced by English comedian and actress

Queen Lillian, respectively.[27] The Dallas Observer journalist Robert Wilonsky found it interesting that Saunders, as opposed to Andrews, received two songs in the film.[28] In terms of animation, Shrek 2 featured more human characters and complex costumes than its predecessor, among them the Fairy Godmother, who wears a floor-length one-piece gown.[29] The final design was assembled using a combination of "an upper portion deformed by the character technical drawing and a lower section simulated by the clothing department".[29]

Christopher Fiduccia of

benign, Disney-fied wand-waver as possible".[32] Comparing the character to Sleeping Beauty's Maleficent, Beliefnet described Fairy Godmother as villainous despite her "sweet and motherly" outward appearance.[33] Likening her to a stage mother by "looking to advance her own child’s status, and thereby her own, through cut-throat methods", the author observed that the character "fulfills wishes as a business, with little heed to consequences. She has her own ulterior motives and isn’t afraid to manipulate, threaten, or blackmail to reach her objectives".[33] The author concluded that the character can be used as "an example of the negative effects of forcing our own goals onto someone who trusts us. If we manipulate them for our own ends, we violate that sacred trust, and rob them of their ability to follow their own best path".[33]

Josh Larsen of the Chicago Suburbs News wrote that the character behaves "like a magically powered plastic surgeon".

The Wizard of Oz (1939).[25][35] James Kendrick of Qnetwork.com deemed the character "a perfectly distilled satirical jab at corporate ruthlessness".[36]

Appearances

Fairy Godmother first appears in Shrek 2 as the mother of Prince Charming, who had originally planned to rescue Fiona and become heir to the kingdom of Far, Far Away.

King Harold to uphold a deal they had once made and kill Shrek in the process.[40][41][42] Fairy Godmother also manages a potion factory,[36] from which Shrek steals a potion in hope of becoming handsome to win his father in-law's approval. Shrek, Puss, and Donkey stop by her office and Shrek tells Fairy Godmother that Fiona is not feeling happy. She went to her library of Fairy Tales and for every book she went through she said "no ogres". She said to Shrek that ogres don't live happily ever after. Shrek got angry and insulted Shrek for pointing his dirty green sausages at her. She asks them to leave.[43][44] After Shrek consumes the potion that turns both him and Fiona into attractive versions of themselves,[45] Fairy Godmother tries to trick Fiona into believing that Charming is Shrek but she resists his new personality.[31] Partnering with Charming and King Harold,[46] Fairy Godmother instructs Harold to give Fiona a potion that, once consumed, will force her to fall in love with the first person she kisses,[47] intending for it to be Charming.[48] At Shrek and Fiona's wedding ball, Harold reveals that he intentionally did not give Fiona the potion.[48] Angered, Fairy Godmother punishes Shrek and aims a blast from her wand at him, which is deflected by Harold who ultimately turns into a frog in the process and turns the Fairy Godmother into bubbles, killing her.[48] Fiona chooses not to kiss Shrek in favor of the pair returning to their ogre forms so that she can remain married to the ogre she fell in love with.[49]

In Shrek the Third (2007), the Fairy Godmother was seen in a picture on Prince Charming's vanity that said "mommy's little angel". In Shrek Forever After, the Fairy Godmother was not seen but she was mentioned in a flashback when King Harold told Queen Lillian that Fairy Godmother said that true love's kiss can break Fiona's curse. Lillian told him she does not trust Fairy Godmother and thought that Rumplestiltskin could end Fiona's curse. The character also appears in the video game adaptations Shrek 2 (2004) and Shrek Forever After: The Video Game (2010).[50]

Reception

Critical response

Sympatico's Angela Baldassarre cited Fairy Godmother as an appealing character who "provide[s] the fodder needed to make this the must-see comedy of the season."[56] Jon Niccum, writing for the Lawrence Journal-World, reviewed that Fairy Godmother especially "adds flavor" to the film.[57] Writing for Slate, film critic David Edelstein deemed Fairy Godmother a "remarkable creation, like the sugary/steely face of the modern Disney",[58] while the Deseret News' Jeff Vice observed that the character constantly steals the scene from Shrek and Fiona.[59] The Spinoff's Josie Adams considered Fairy Godmother "the only part of [the film] worth pissing yourself for."[60] Writing for Game Rant, Victoria Rose Caister called the character a smart, fun villain who is "evil but also entertaining to watch and kind of likable."[61]

ComingSoon.net wrote that the actress "delivers a fine performance", concluding, "If you liked her in Absolutely Fabulous, you’ll enjoy her in Shrek 2."[62] Pete Vonder Haar of Film Threat observed that Saunders "seems to enjoy giving voice to the Fairy Godmother", preferring her over Charming.[63] Kevin Lally of Film Journal International wrote that Saunders steals "the rest of the show ... bringing her Absolutely Fabulous haughtiness and wicked wit to the role",[64] while Rick Groen of The Globe and Mail reviewed Fairy Godmother as some of Saunders' best work, hailing her character's entrance as "a gorgeous piece of animation".[65] Also comparing Fairy Godmother to Saunders' Absolutely Fabulous character Edina Monsoon, The Guardian journalist Decca Aitkenhead described her as "an ambitious fag hag who bullies the royals as if they were her family in Ab Fab", believing that her performance, humor and delivery can only be rivaled by Eddie Murphy's Donkey.[16] Variety film critic Todd McCarthy wrote that Saunders did "her best to elevate" the film via a performance he described as "worthy of the most cunning storybook characters."[31] McCarthy also identified the addition of musical numbers to Saunders' performance as a bonus.[31] Logan Raschke of The Daily Eastern News concluded the character "wouldn't be who she is if it wasn't for Jennifer Saunders (and fantastic writing)", describing the actress's portrayal as "stern, controlled and yet gentle when need be."[66] The A.V. Club's Tom Breihan said Saunders "has audible fun" in the role.[67]

Rumpelstiltskin as the film's villain.[71]

Recognition

Screen Rant ranked Fairy Godmother the third best

The Daily Edge ranked Fairy Godmother the seventh reason "we need to appreciate Shrek more than we already do", with author Rachel O'Neill describing the character as "a STUNNING villain" who is "constantly fixing all the problems the men in her life cause her".[77] Bailey Rymes of Her Campus called Fairy Godmother the main reason she considers Shrek 2 the second best film in the series, describing her as an icon.[78]

Odyssey wrote "Fairy Godmother's outfit? She's slaying it. The song? A banger ... what more could you ask for in such a song?"[81] At the 90th Academy Awards in 2018, several fans compared actress Meryl Streep's red gown, up-do hairstyle and glasses to Fairy Godtmother's on social media.[82][83] Fans also suggested that the actress play the character in a live-action adaptation of the film.[84]

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