TV Special Review: Shrek the Halls (2007)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Humor and heart warming Christmas story

Cons: A bit too much bathroom humor for me

The Bottom Line:

Ogre Christmas tale

Filled with laughs for all and heart

Sit back and enjoy

What Will Shrek Deck the Halls With?

I remember several years back when Shrek the Halls came on TV not being super impressed with it.  Even for this franchise, the bathroom humor was a little over the top for me.  However, I recently decided to give it a second chance, and I enjoyed it more.

Christmas is coming, and everyone but Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers) is excited.  Heck, Donkey (Eddie Murphy) has been counting down since July.  When Fiona (Cameron Diaz) mentions that it will be the first Christmas with the triplets, so their first Christmas as a family, Shrek suddenly feels the pressure to create the perfect Christmas.  But since this is also the first time he’s celebrated Christmas, can he do it?  And what will happen when their friends show up to crash the holiday?

Now I know that this franchise has always had its share of bathroom humor.  The main character is an ogre who lives in a swamp and loves all things gross and smelly after all.  Even so, this half hour special seems to focus on it a bit more than needed.  Usually in the movies those jokes get less as the movie advances.  Here, it’s just too short to focus on other things.

Still, you have to admire the creativity of the writers and animators who come up with some clever versions of classic Christmas staples for Shrek and Fiona to enjoy.  Even I had to smile as some of them, and kids will really laugh at the special.

Speaking of which, there are some great jokes that kids will get, but their parents will enjoy their own set of laughs.  The writers have done a good job of layering the humor so everyone will enjoy it.

Being a Christmas special, there has to be some heart warming moments, and this special has those as well.  The moral is rather obvious early on, but it is still nice to see Shrek be reminded of what is important, even if he claims to not like family or friends.

The voice cast from the movies is back for this special, and they do a great job as always.  Many of the secondary characters are here as well, so there isn’t room for any big names to show up who aren’t part of the normal cast, but you don’t really need them.  The regulars are all you need.

The animation is great as well.  This may be a TV special, but you’ll still enjoy animation in keeping with the franchise.

So if you enjoy the antics of Shrek and his friends, you’ll want to Shrek the Halls this Christmas season.  It may not be a classic Christmas special, but it is still fun.

NOTE: I gave this a second chance since I got it as part of the Dreamworks Holiday Collection DVD pack, which I received in exchange for my honest review.