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Shrek’s back in a Christmas special that’s sure to have you laughing while you get ready for the holidays.

Shrek has come a long way since we first met him in 2001 – the once friendless recluse now has a wife, three kids and a whole host of friends. He may still be gruff and grumpy, but this Christmas, Shrek is determined to provide a holly jolly time for his family. There’s just one little problem – Shrek’s never had Christmas before and isn’t quite sure what all the fuss is about.

But our favorite big green guy is determined. Armed with the village idiot’s guide to Christmas, Shrek goes about making Christmas in a way that only an ogre could.

But as with everything Shrek does, Donkey interferes. When Fiona tells Donkey that Shrek wants a “Family Christmas”, Donkey assumes that means him, too – and Puss, the Gingerbread Man., the three pigs and three blind mice. . .  you get the picture. What starts out as a quiet Christmas Eve turns into a three-ring circus, complete with multiple versions of “The Night Before Christmas”. It’s only when Shrek learns about what Christmas means to those around him that a merry Christmas is able to be had by all.

The typical Shrek humor is rampant here, and perhaps the two best gags come from the trio of German straight men, the pigs. All of the voices that made the Shrek franchise famous are here, and it’s nice to see – since this is just a half hour Christmas special, I half expected one of the big names to drop out. Luckily, this was not the case. The music is also pretty fantastic – the Waitress’s “Christmas Wrapping” is all over this special, which is my personal favorite Christmas Song.

Want a little more of this DVD? How about sing along features? Shrek is well known for karaoke goodness, and this disc follows the trend. Gingy has a dunking game, and there’s a demo for the Shrek carnival game with cheat codes, as well as a Dreamworks Animation video jukebox.

This is a great show, well worth being one of those Christmas specials we watch every year.

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