Despite just celebrating its 20th anniversary, one of the most popular Internet memes and fanbases for many years has been Shrek. The original film was about a lovely green ogre who lived in a swamp, was tasked to rescue a princess in a tower, and ended up falling in love with her. There were three sequels with a few holiday specials and spinoffs, but the films themselves are just the tip of the iceberg.
Since the film series began, Shrek as a brand and a franchise has just been wildly popular. Outside of the movies and spinoffs there have also been Shrek games, and even a Shrek Broadway musical. He's a very popular character to be meme-ified, as are other characters in the series and events of the films as a whole. People online just seem to be so into it. This isn't hugely uncommon. Many films every year get the online meme and fandom treatment. But what makes Shrek special is just how long it's reigned supreme.
While most of these films that become memes or gain a ton of Internet attention also lose it very quickly, Shrek has not experienced this. The green ogre is still all over social media, 20 years after the first film and over 10 years since the final movie. Something about the series clearly stands out in a sea of meme-ified films with a cult following. Some of this is probably just due to the incredible amount of memes and commentary that came out about Shrek, as well as the vast amount of material to work with. It also might be because this franchise is just generally really good.
The film is mostly known for its memes and Internet presence now, but it's actually highly critically acclaimed and even won an Oscar. While Shrek is an animated film that certainly appeals to children, it's also full of adult-friendly jokes. It's a comedy, and a great one at that, that can be enjoyed by everyone. People who grew up watching it as children are now adults, and can enjoy it in a different way now. This certainly aids in its quality and longevity, even if some of the later sequels decrease a bit in quality.
While it would be nice to think that Shrek is simply popular because it's great, that's just not the case. It certainly helps, but there's also a whole world of Shrek that has basically nothing to do with the movies and only exists on social media. One of the first things that really blew up as a meme is "Shrek is Love, Shrek is Life." It was a sort of poem or a song that was extremely popular in the early 2010s despite also being very graphic and disturbing, and it's still talked about.
People also very often talk about all of the Shrek merchandise and food that has been released over the years, as well as the soundtrack. The soundtrack of Shrek in particular seems to be something people have really latched onto. This is true for both the soundtracks of the films, as well as the songs from the Shrek musical. The film soundtracks have a lot of popular songs, from quite a few genres. Most notably probably being "All Star" by Smash Mouth, which plays in the opening scene of the very first film, as well as Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out For A Hero." This song was of course extremely popular before Shrek ever existed, but it is sung by Shrek 2's villain Fairy Godmother in the climax of the film, which is an incredible scene, and that itself skyrocketed to meme-dom.
The character of Shrek and the messages within the films have really resonated with people, and that is something that also affects the continuous popularity. He is an outcast, a monster, and people judge him for it. He isolates himself from society in a way that really has an effect on his mental health, but throughout the series that all changes. Viewers see him find love, with a princess nonetheless, and start a family. He's thrust into royalty, but he never loses sight of himself and who he is. Shrek doesn't change himself so society will accept him, he instead gets society to change how prejudiced they are towards people like him. It's a great message, valuable to children and adults alike, and it's relevant as ever. There is still plenty of discourse online and among movie lovers, even 20 years later.
The legacy of Shrek seems to be everlasting. The ogre has so many fans, mostly adults who grew up with the film, and Shrek content is still posted online every day. There are even in-person Shrek-themed conventions for the most die hard fans of the franchise. Part of why it has the longevity it does could certainly just be luck and volume of content, but it seems unlikely that that would be the whole story. As a film series and as a franchise, Shrek is a special one and it deserves the long-lasting attention that it gets.