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Donkey
Shrek character
Eddie Murphy as the voice of Donkey in the first film
Gender	Male
Type	Miniature Donkey
Spouse	Dragon
Other family	Donkey Jr. Coco Bananas Peanut Parfait Debbie/Eclair (All dronkeys)
Voiced by	Eddie Murphy (English, films,Shrek Smash and Crash Racing and Father of the Pride) Fred Newmam (in the Strawberry Shortcake episode "Chickens Hatches an Egg or Two! by Strawberry Shortcake") Mark Moseley (English, video games except Shrek Smash and Crash Racing) Med Hondo (French) Randolf Kronberg (German, first and second films) Dennis Schmidt-Foß (German, third film) José Mota (Spanish) Jerzy Stuhr (Polish) Thomas Giertsen (Norwegian films) Dicky Cheung (Cantonese) Eugenio Derbez (Mexican) Nanni Baldini (Italian) Kōichi Yamadera (Japanese) Gaminda Priyaviraj (Sinhaleese) Jan Gintberg (Danish)

Donkey is a fictional talking donkey from the Shrek series of films, voiced by Eddie Murphy. The character also appeared briefly in the original story Shrek!. He has 6 offspring, Dronkeys, with his wife, Dragon.

Personality

He also has a sweet tooth, and enjoys such foods as waffles, parfait and "upside-down coconut soufflé with mango chutney sauce."^[1] In a scene about Merlin's bonfire, Donkey's sweet tooth gets the best of him, for he sees only a fudge torte in the enchanted smoke.

In the "Meet the Cast of Shrek 2" segment that is featured in the Special Features part on the Shrek 2 DVD, Eddie Murphy says: "Donkey is a really positive character. He's always looking at the bright side of everything, trying to work it out. A happy-go-lucky donkey."

The first appearance of Donkey is when an old woman tries to sell him to Lord Farquaad's guards for money. Since Donkey refuses to talk, the captain doesn't believe that he can. By his own oral accounts, Donkey had suffered a life of abuse and ridicule before (literally) running into Shrek, a grouchy, reclusive ogre in the first film. When Shrek defends Donkey from a pursuing group of armed guardsmen, Donkey expresses profound gratitude and takes a liking to Shrek immediately, despite the reclusive ogre's best attempts to fend him off.

Donkey follows along enthusiastically when Shrek is forced to go on a quest to retrieve the Princess Fiona from a volcanic, dragon-guarded keep for a corrupt lord. It is at this keep that Donkey unwittingly meets his future mate, Dragon — a dragoness who is infatuated with him almost immediately upon meeting him (Donkey was the only one who ever said anything nice about/to her). At first, Donkey is afraid of Dragon and wants nothing to do with her but when he finds her depressed because she misses him, he begins to like her. Donkey is initially instrumental in aiding Shrek and Fiona's relationship with one another, helping them overcome any confusion and uncertainties they have so that they finally may be together by the end of the film. When Fiona and Shrek are married, she tosses her bouquet and Dragon catches it.

Shrek 2

Donkey was having troubles in his relationship with Dragon as she was acting strangely, but he could not determine the cause, and accompanied Shrek and Fiona to the Far Far Away kingdom but keeps on asking every second like what kids would say on long trips "Are we there yet?" Shrek and Fiona keep answering no.

He and Shrek ended up drinking the "Happy Ever After" potion from the Fairy Godmother's workshop and while Shrek transformed into a human, Donkey became a large white horse. But after the duo worked together with their friends to stop her plans to force Fiona to engage with her son, the Prince Charming, both return to their normal forms, though Donkey seemed to be quite disappointed at returning to his original form. After the credits, Donkey and the Dragon are reunited and he meets their newborn children.

Shrek the Third

Donkey is enjoying fatherhood in Shrek the Third, but he is still first and foremost Shrek's sidekick and closest friend. When Far Far Away is in need of a new king, Donkey ventures off with Shrek in search of Fiona's cousin Arthur Pendragon, known simply as Artie at the Worcestershire boarding school where he resides. In their magical transport back to Far Far Away (aided by a slightly off-kilter Merlin), Donkey and Puss accidentally switch bodies, (most likely from holding hands) and Puss finds Donkey's quadrupedal form hideous. Donkey, meanwhile, can't figure out how Puss can walk with such fancy accoutrements. They must put that aside and work together, however, if they are to save Far Far Away from a vindictive Prince Charming. After Charming is defeated, the same sorcerer comes to change them back, it works, but switches their tails.

Trivia

• Steven Spielberg (Dreamworks co-founder and executive producer of Shrek) wanted his good friend Steve Martin to voice Donkey.
• Donkey guest-starred on an episode of the DreamWorks Animation-produced television series Father of the Pride. Simply entitled “Donkey”, the episode portrays Donkey as a rather conceited Hollywood actor whom all the series' characters admire. In the show he appears to shoot a Japanese SUV commercial, but in real life Donkey was used in Chinese SUV commercials.
• The filmmakers had intended to change Dragon into a beautiful pink winged mare to coincide with Donkey's metamorphosis into a handsome white stallion in Shrek 2, as the Fairy Godmother's Happily Ever After potion affects both the drinker and their “true love”. Dragon's equine depiction never made it into the final film, however, Dragon was not left in her true form either at the time; she only appeared in a post-credits scene, when everyone is "back to normal".
• Donkey is an interactable character at Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood, offering personalized chatter to those that approach his cart.
• One thing known about Donkey is that he likes making waffles. This is noted in Shrek when he says to Shrek "And in the morning, I'm making waffles!" and in Shrek 4-D when he says to Dragon "Let's go home and make some waffles!". He also gets "carried away" with a story about a 50-foot waffle Santa Claus in Shrek the Halls.
• Donkey appeared in the original book as a regular sized donkey who Shrek rode on briefly during his journey.

References

1. ^ Official Shrek.com Website