Shrek/Heartwarming

• Crowning Moment of Heartwarming: Shrek at the end telling his children he loves them, and Felicia replying, "I love you too, Daddy." It is especially moving considering the temper tantrum Shrek WOULD'VE made before he learned his lesson!
• Shrek. First it subverts True Love's Kiss: Shrek and Fiona finally confess they love each other and kiss. Instead of it freeing Fiona from being an ogre when the sun goes down, it makes her an ogre permanently. Fiona, while not exactly disappointed, is still puzzled because "I'm supposed to be beautiful." Shrek just smiles and says, with full and honest sincerity, "But you are beautiful." (Cue: I'm a believer!)
• Fridge Brilliance at work here. By human standards, Ogres might be ugly, but Ogres likewise wouldn't think of a human as all that fetching. Fiona as an Ogre? Smoking hot by Shrek's standards! Subsequent movies also play up the fact that she's also much more at home in her own skin as an Ogre Princess than she ever was as a Human Princess, and being true to one's self is definitely more attractive than pretence.
  • Realizing that a human woman wouldn't be all that attractive to an ogre makes the fact that Shrek fell in love with Fiona as a human an especially sweet bit of Heartwarming Fridge Brilliance. Yet another nice, more subtle twist to the Beast and Beauty tale.
  • A little something to drive this home; when my friends and I played a game in which we thought up better endings to fairy tales, no one could think up a more appropriate ending for Shrek. It's perfect.
• The first sequel has a nice little moment too: Shrek and Fiona are happy to skip out on the Happily Ever After potion and remain ogres, but Donkey doesn't have a choice and doesn't get to stay a stallion. Shrek turns to Donkey once he's changed back and says: "Hey, you still look like a noble steed to me."
• End of Forever After.

Shrek (to Fiona): For so long, I thought I was the one that rescued you. But you're the one that rescued me.

• As weak to the franchise as Shrek the 3rd was, I find it quite satisfying how it manages to continue to subvert typical fairy tale endings. The case being how, with the exception of Prince Charming, the villains he enlisted realize from Arthur's speech that they can get their own happy endings, from their rather odd jobs that made them happy in the first place. Before, Prince Charming played on their own universal sadness to get back at the happier folk (like Shrek stealing his arranged princess), but they all decided not to be so mean about their Freudian Excuses anymore and be who they really are inside. As a movie series, Shrek certainly knows how to bring it close to home.