Shrek 2 is DreamWorks at its finest, encapsulating heart, snark, and rousing musical numbers in a kid's film. However, as any true Shrek fan knows, the film and its sequels are jam-packed with jokes that go right over the kids' heads, not to mention dozens of references that even their parents might take a few minutes to catch onto. Not to mention the film's music, both diegetic and soundtrack, including a Captain Hook knock-off playing “Little Drop Of Poison” by Tom Waits and the Fairy Godmother singing "Holding Out for a Hero" by Bonnie Tyler.
In terms of double-take-worthy references, some highlights of Shrek 2 include all of the glorious fairytale crossovers and Disney movie callouts. But it is the less apparent pop culture references that mark this film an enduring classic, with subversive jokes within jokes that a full-grown adult may have struggled to unpack. Now with its recent introduction to Netflix, adults can relive their childhood and catch some of the jokes they missed the first (several) times around.
Lord of the Rings
The disappearing ink on Shrek and Fiona's rings in the sweet welding/wedding sequence by the fire is a direct allusion to the disappearing ink on the iconic Lord Of The Rings ring. The rings are both gold and have an identical font, plus the whole disappearing ink thing.
The only difference between the rings is what's written; Shrek and Fiona's say, "I Love You." Also, the binding aspects of marriage and a dark connection between 7 magical rings and their masters is a stretch. Still, the world of Shrek is so reference-filled and chaotic that viewers could be digging into the meaning behind this parallel for a while.
Upside-Down Spider-Man Kiss
This moment is pretty self-explanatory and is one of the film's visual allusions that isn't explained through dialogue. Shrek gets caught in a hunter's trap and swung upside-down by the ankle from a tree. His face got dipped in mud on the way up, giving him the perfect eye mask, a la a certain identity-concealing superhero. When Fiona comes up to smooch him, this cinematic parallel is complete, with the mask like Spiderman's and the young couple sharing an intimate moment on opposite gravitational axes.
And, if viewers consider Shrek a hero, the only thing missing from this comparison is that Fiona knows who Shrek is when they kiss, while Peter Parker (in the original film) is still keeping Mary Jane guessing.
Prince Charles
This is an insanely obvious pop-culture reference that gets lost in the sauce of one of the Fairy Godmother's best scenes, her debut musical number in Shrek 2. In her song about granting Fiona's every wish, Fairy Godmother sings about niche dog breeds, cellulite, and brings furniture to life, a la Beauty and The Beast. But the franchise takes yet another real-world liberty when she sings that she can make Fiona "the kind of gal the prince would date,” sitting her in front of a vanity with an image of Prince Charles (aka the Queen of England's eldest son).
The Fairy Godmother has an extremely posh British accent, so does it track that she is a subject of the British monarchy? How does the land of Far Far Away, aka Shrek 2's send-up of Hollywood, fit into the royal narrative, especially considering that the King and Queen of Far Far Away supposedly rule the land? Finally, why isn't Fiona British if her parents are? Did they colonize Far Far Away and gain the throne for the British Empire?
The Sir Justin Poster On Fiona’s Wall
If Far Far Away is a definitive mock-up of Hollywood—which is safe to assume since the city's sign is identical to the Hollywood sign in the hills—then, of course, teen pop royalty translates, too. For example, in Fiona's childhood bedroom, Shrek finds a drawn poster of the boy band legend Justin Timberlake as "Sir Justin" on her wall.
Since the movie came out in 2004, and Justin released his debut solo album "Justified" in 2002 after departing from the hit boy band NYSNC, Sir Justin seems like an apt title for his role in the Hollywood canon.
"Aint No Stoppin' Us Now"
This hit by McFadden & Whitehead, a disco song released in 1979, begs the question; just how old is Donkey supposed to be? Voiced by Eddie Murphy, whose standup career took off in the late '70s and landed him on Saturday Night Live in 1980, it would make sense that past decades' music highly influenced donkey's song choices. Besides his acting roles, the comic also had a music career in the '80s, which explains Donkey's proclivity toward expressing his state of being through musical expression.
Donkey's incredible song choices honestly deserve their own article—his repertoire ranges from a song released in 1968, Harry Nilsson's "One Is The Loneliest Number" while Shrek and Fiona are away on their honeymoon, to The Miracle's 1975 hit, "Love Machine" (which he dubs Shrek when they reunite).
“I’m Coming, Elizabeth!”
This reference could definitely confuse an audience full of kids since there's no character in the film named Elizabeth (unless you count Queen Elizabeth II via the Prince Charles reference). However, parents might recognize the iconic line from Sanford and Son, a TV show which ran from 1972 to 1977. Fred Sanford's catchphrase, “Elizabeth, I’m coming!” pops up when he thinks he’s dying or sees something surprising or overwhelming.
The character would feign a heart attack, then call out to his late wife that he would be joining her in Heaven. So, Donkey is again on point with the dramatics and the '70s callbacks.
Pretty Woman
This reference occurs when Fairy Godmother tells off Shrek for thinking he deserves a "happily ever after" when he breaks into her potions factory looking for a way to win back Fiona. After rifling through her bookcase and listing all the fairy tales with “no ogres”—"Hansel and Gretel, Thumbelina, The Golden Bird, The Little Mermaid"—she adds, "Pretty Woman!” with particular verve.
However, it's safe to say that aside from a chuckle from the parents in the audience who've seen the 1990 Julia Roberts film, there's not much to unpack here, other than Fairy Godmother being a fan of 90s rom-coms.
Joan Rivers
In true Hollywood fashion, Far Far Away stages a red carpet for the ages, broadcast by ME, Medieval Entertainment, a spoof on ET Network that hosts red carpets at exclusive premiere events. And announcing the red carpet arrivals is none other than beloved comedian and former Fashion Police host Joan Rivers.
The host declares, "everyone who's anyone has turned out to honor Princess Fiona and Prince Shrek, and oh my, the outfits look gorgeous!" She also announced special guests, including Sleeping Beauty, who collapsed out of her carriage KO'ed. In Rivers' classic snarky fashion, she responded, "Tired old thing!" Then Gingy, who is watching the event on TV, gets bored and suggests changing the channel to Wheel of Torture (an homage to the long-running game show, Wheel of Fortune).
Cops
When Shrek's ragtag group of friendly fairy tale side characters begins flipping the channels, they end up on Knights, which follows the F.F.A.P.D and is the Shrek universe's version of the TV show Cops. They see Donkey and Shrek getting arrested in their potion-transformed states (as a stallion and a human man, respectively), with Donkey crying out, "police brutality!” and demanding his Miranda Rights.
The knights, dressed in full suits of armor, then find catnip on Puss in Boots, and he says, "That's not mine," to avoid drug charges. The knights also use pepper grinders instead of pepper spray and travel in hot air balloons instead of helicopters.
Mission Impossible
Obviously, on an important heist, the theme music is everything—so when the Three Little Pigs lower Pinocchio via puppet strings to rescue Shrek, Donkey, and Puss from the knights' dungeon, the iconic Mission Impossible theme plays, ratcheting up the tension. The pigs also wield some dynamite and yell, "Fire in the hole!"
It was a fairly popular reference, especially in the 2000s, and one that is parodied on many shows and films. But the special twist of using Pinocchio's ever-growing nose to reach the locked-up Shrek adds an extra layer of hilarity.