Shrek is an American media franchise made by DreamWorks Animation, loosely based on William Steig's 1990 picture book Shrek!. The series primarily focuses on Shrek, a bad-tempered but good-hearted ogre, who begrudgingly accepts a quest to rescue a princess, resulting in him finding friends and going on many subsequent adventures in a fairy tale world. It includes four computer-animated films: Shrek , Shrek 2 , Shrek the Third , and Shrek Forever After . A short 4-D film, Shrek 4-D, which originally was a theme park ride, was released in 2003. Two television specials, the Christmas television special Shrek the Halls and the Halloween television special Scared Shrekless , have also been produced. Two spin-off films were made centered around the character Puss in Boots: 2011's Puss in Boots and its sequel, 2022's The Last Wish. Additionally, a stage musical adaptation was made and premiered at Broadway for more than a year .