Did ‘Damsel’ Copy ‘Shrek’? Proof that these two movies are connected

“Damsel” premiered on March 8 and has already given social media a lot to talk about, with some comparing it to “Game of Thrones” and now netizens have found a connection with “Shrek” as well.

How are ‘Damsel’ and ‘Shrek’ alike?

1. They put a twist on Disney princess movies

Millie Bobby Brown’s new movie on Netflix, after “Stranger things” and “Enola Holmes”, is nothing more and nothing less than a princess movie that gives a complete twist to the fairy tales proposed by Disney. Like “Shrek” who starts reading a storybook that creates a lot of pranks and ends up changing Fiona’s happily ever after.

2. There are no “girls at risk” per se

Both Elodie and Fiona are fully capable of saving themselves: with habits unlike the others, intelligence and the ability to fight even dragons.

In the Netflix movie we see Elodie holding a sword and in Shrek the third Fiona becomes a resistance leader, wielding a club, although from the first installment of the saga of the most famous ogre in the world we know her martial arts skills.

3. Men are the ones putting them in danger

For both Elodie and Fiona, it is their parents who ‘put’ them in danger. They both love them, but Fiona’s father thinks he’s doing what’s best for his daughter, so he puts her in a tower guarded by a dragon. While Elodie’s father believes he is doing what is best for his people and lets her marry a prince who will sacrifice her by throwing her into a cave with a dragon.

In the end, they both die to protect their daughters (Fiona’s father in Shrek 2), but the damage is already done.

On the other hand, both Elodie and Fiona arrive at the altar with royal characters who at first seem charming but turn out to be evil: Prince Henry in Elodie’s case and Lord Farquaad and Prince Charming in Fiona’s case.

4. Elodie and Fiona are guarded by a dragon

In the original version of the fairy tales, we know that the princess is always guarded by a dragon, but viewers were surprised to see that in Shrek the gender of this character was changed (something that happened for the first time in this animated film) which, although he initially tries to keep Fiona locked up and roasts all the knights who try to save her (although there are other theories and versions of this), he ends up being her ally.

The same goes for Elodie and her later dragon companion, whom she ends up sympathizing with, understanding, and becoming her accomplice.

5. They break stereotypes

Shrek was the first film of its kind to break the stereotypes of what a children’s fairy tale should be and charmed audiences by showing a different Pinocchio, a dragon who could be a hero, a dragon, a capable princess. to save herself and lack manners, etc.

“Damsel”, on the other hand, shows a story in which all the main characters are women and where the villain is not the evil stepmother, since Elodie’s stepmother is kind, loving and generous.

6. They escape the fire and the medieval castle

One of the last and most powerful scenes in “Damsel” is when the dragon burns all the inhabitants of the kingdom of Áurea, including the queen and Prince Henry. That’s when Millie Bobby Brown is seen crossing a bridge, leaving behind her late husband’s castle, and walking while flames glow behind her.

A similar scene occurs in “Shrek” because after they “rescue” Fiona, she, Shrek and Donkey run across a suspension bridge to escape the dragon, which throws fire after them and in the end fails to reach them.

7. The evil mother-in-law

In both “Damsel” and “Shrek”, Elodie and Fiona have a mother-in-law and a “near-mother-in-law” (in Fiona’s case) who pretend to be kind and very loving towards their children, but who end up being the worst villains in history.

In Elodie’s case it is Queen Isabelle, who marries her to her son just so she can offer her as a sacrifice to the dragon. She rules the kingdom, she is powerful and responsible for maintaining this terrible tradition.

For her part, in ‘Shrek 2’, Fiona is confronted by the Fairy Godmother, mother of Prince Charming, who planned to marry her to him and when she failed, she plans many traps to achieve her goals. She also appears as a kind woman who helps others, but is actually a powerful enemy.

Did ‘Damsel’ Really Copy ‘Shrek’?

Taking Disney productions as a reference, tiktoker Emiliano Ochoa, on his official account @emilianooochoa07, discussed that the new live action like “Snow White” could be “feminist” or what he calls “progressive” (like “Damsel” ), because the main goal is always to make money, and the numbers prove that these kinds of stories that break stereotypes and empower women are what audiences want.

The influencer explains that in the most recent versions of “Snow White”: “Snow White and the Huntsman” and “Mirror, Mirror”, both from 2012, the first one made almost twice as much as the second one at the box office, being darker and in the one where the princess literally becomes a knight physically fighting the queen with a sword, plus she doesn’t end up falling in love with the prince. while “Espejito, espejito” is a more traditional, colorful version close to the fairy tale.

Continuing in the same line of thinking, the tiktoker assured that the most successful live-actions of recent times were “Maleficent”, “Alice in Wonderland” and “Beauty and the Beast”, which surpassed the target of one billion dollars at the box office, unlike “Cinderella” and “The Little Mermaid” where for their female “heroines” the most important thing is still love and there is not much female empowerment.

At the end, Emiliano asks the audience for their opinion on these films of which there are more and more.

So ‘Damsel’ may not have copied ‘Shrek’ as such, but was just looking for a movie of that type to empower Millie Bobby Brown.

What do you think;