Who would have thought that a short 40 page kids book would spawn a successful movie franchise that would go on to make millions. The Shrek franchise supposedly comes to an end with Shrek Forever After, though we all know that is mostly never the case, and fans can now find their favorite green ogre’s complete set of adventures in a complete boxset titled The Whole Story. In it you get all four of the Shrek films, bonus features, as in this case Blu-Ray exclusive bonus features, and a new short film titled Donkey’s Caroling Christmas-tacular. If you’re a fan of the franchise and your looking to upgrade to Blu-Ray this is a must have.

QUALITY:
If you’ve been following the Blu-Ray trend you’ve come to expect that the older a film is the worse off its going to look in Blu-Ray, unless of course the film is being treated specifically for Blu-Ray with all the bells and whistles. As you start watching the films the first Shrek film has a tint of yellow pigmentation and the terrible CGI quality of character design comes through like a flashlight in a pitch black tunnel. Dreamworks does what it can to improve the overall picture but the beginner CGI process for this installment of the series is obvious though it is an absolute improvement over the DVD quality. Audio is great as well.

Shrek 2 is more of the same as the process for creating these films hasn’t made any revolutionary leaps since the release of the first Shrek film. Compared to Pixar the characters here have a muddled tone about them and color tends to be off just a bit. Still, your getting a definite improvement over the DVD quality your used to and audio is great.

Shrek The Third is the redheaded stepchild of the series. I thought it was a vast improvement story-wise over the first two films but critics quickly dismissed this installment as being without purpose. Here animation gets a bit of an upgrade smoothing out the character features and expanding on their box like shapes. The transfer here proves to be a bit more colorful without that lingering drab off color issue that plagues the first two.

Finally Shrek Forever After is the pinnacle of the series. The franchise gets a complete overhaul in every department. The picture is insanely sharp, no grain trouble, color is true in every way, and the design of the characters proves that they can be fluid, even lifelike, while including every tiny little detail from pock marks to chest hair. Possibly because this is the last Shrek film to come out they decided to go out with a bang because it is perfect in everyway.

BONUS FEATURES:
~Character Spotlights
~Secrets of All 4 Shrek Movies
~10 Deleted Scenes
~Shrek, Rattle & Roll
~The Animators Corner: Shreks Interactive Journey which is a Blu-Ray exclusive that features on all four Shrek BD’s.
~Karaoke Dance Party
~Commentary Tracks
~Far Away Idol
~How To Be Green
~Worcestershire Academy Yearbook
~More Blu-Ray Exclusives: Conversations with the Cast and Tech of Shrek Forever After
~Shrek’s Yuletide Log
Plus lots more. The only thing I think is missing, for obvious reasons, is the voice over feature from the original two disc Shrek film where you can insert the disc into your computer and make your own voice over tracks for certain scenes in the film.

All in all though a fantastic set that’s sure to please the whole family and give collectors and completionists something to smile about. As always final judgment is yours. Enjoy.