Every movie has its memorable moments. They could be happy, sad, or much more. The Shrek films are no different. 

One thing I noticed about the Shrek movies is that there are some coincidences. Those are common in other films, as well.

Below are the biggest and best coincidences I have seen in the Shrek film series.

1: The scene in Shrek 1 where Donkey meets Shrek being very similar to the scene in Ice Age, where Sid meets Manny

In Shrek, Donkey is being chased by a few men who are trying to seize him. In Ice Age, Sid the sloth is fleeing from two rhinos whom he angered.

Donkey bumps into Shrek, who is grouchy. Manny the mammoth is also grumpy when Sid runs into him.

Donkey wants to spend time with Shrek and goes with him as he walks toward his swamp. But Shrek demands that he leaves.

Sid does the same with Manny, who also commands that he leaves him alone.

This is more likely to be a coincidence than an inspiration. Shrek came out in 2001 and was distributed by DreamWorks. Ice Age was released in 2002 and owned by 20th Century Fox.

CG-animated movies often take years to produce. So, it’s possible that by the time Shrek got released into the theaters, The creators of Ice Age were almost done with production. And that likely means that all the animation had been completed.

2: The Shrek movies being released the same years as the odd-numbered Harry Potter movies

The 4 Shrek films came out every 3 years, starting from 2001. They coincided with the odd-numbered Harry Potter movies.

2001 – Shrek and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s (Philosopher’s) Stone

2004 – Shrek 2 and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

2007 – Shrek the Third and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

2010 – Shrek Forever After and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

There’s also going to be a 5th Shrek film in 2026. It will be the first one not to coincide with a Harry Potter movie. But the Harry Potter TV reboot series is set to come to Max that year. So, I guess it’s somewhat a coincidence, even if the latter is not going to be a movie.

3: How the crowd at the castle reacting to Shrek and Fiona being ogres in Shrek 2 being similar to the scene in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, after Harry’s name comes out of the goblet

In Shrek 2, Shrek and Fiona arrive at the castle where Fiona’s parents live. Because everyone was expecting Prince Charming to be Fiona’s husband, when she and Shrek stepped out of the carriage, everyone gasped. 

As Shrek and Fiona walked toward the castle’s entrance, the crowd gave them dirty looks, thus making them feel unease.

In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the 3 champions have been selected for the Triwizard Tournament. But right after that, Harry’s name comes out of the goblet. That shocks everyone. They also give him sharp, and glaring looks as he retrieves “his” parchment piece from a glowering Dumbledore and walks down the great hall. He is likely feeling unease–maybe more than Shrek and Fiona. At least they had each other and didn’t have to walk as much.

Another coincidence is that both had dark music playing in the background. Although it is not as similar to scenes listed at number 1, they still share enough similarities to be coincidences.

4: How the scene in Shrek 2, where Shrek and his pals ride Mongo is similar to the scene in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, when Harry, Ron, and Hermione, ride the dragon out of Gringotts

Shrek and co. ride Mongo the giant gingerbread cookie to get to the castle ball in time to stop Charming from kissing Fiona. Mongo scares everybody else.

In Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Harry, Ron, and Hermione ride the white dragon out of Gringotts to find the next Hallow. The dragon also scares the others.

Although Deathly Hallows: Part 2 came out 7 years after Shrek 2, I still consider this to be most likely a coincidence.

Conclusion

If you noticed a lot of comparisons to Harry Potter, I would assure you that that is also a coincidence. I am very good at both noticing and even producing them myself in my own creative works.

Did you ever notice any coincidences in the Shrek movies that are not listed? Let me know in the comments if you’d like.