Never count your donkeys before they’ve had a chance to wisecrack.

Unless that donkey happens to have a giant green ogre as a best friend, another pal in the furry form of Puss In Boots, and the weight of a phenomenally successful film franchise behind him…

No, we’re not talking in fairytale riddles. But we are telling a story – that of Shrek Forever After.

See, Shrek’s always done things his own way – just look at all those debunked fairy stories – which explains why DreamWorks Animation green-lit the ogre’s fourth adventure even before the third had hit screens. (That’s what we mean by the donkey thing…)

“I think Shrek’s really funny and very well made,” says Donkey himself, Eddie Murphy. “I think it’s that simple. It’s really well made. It’s very funny. It’s smart and those things add up to a hit sometimes.”

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s start at the very beginning, in a land far, far away called, funnily enough, Far Far Away…

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