10 Best Times The Lord Of The Rings Appeared In Other Movies
8. Shrek 2 (2004)
With all the Puss in Boots spin-offs and holiday specials, the Shrek franchise has become almost as expansive as the Marvel Universe. Just like a second Ant Man movie, though, we didn't really need the Shrek the Halls Christmas special. Shrek 2 still had some magic, however. It was sadly devoid of Lord Farquaad, but it did include Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots - a welcome addition to this upside-down world.
The whole premise of the franchise was built on subverting everything audiences think they knew about classic fairytales. After the success of the first movie, it was only a matter of time before they brought out a second. The writers had to scour the world of fantasy to find yet more tropes and conventions to play off.
By the time Shrek 2 got the green light, Lord of the Rings was firmly in the zeitgeist and a perfect source to pull from. During the Shrek/Fiona honeymoon sequence, a wedding band is created in a scene similar to Sauron's creation of the One Ring. Shrek then hurls it into the air before it lands on Fiona's finger, mirroring the scene when the Ring lands on Frodo's finger in the Prancing Pony.
It was an uncharacteristically subtle nod to Jackson's movie. You could almost expect the people behind Shrek parodying the entire Lord of the Rings story, with Donkey as Samwise and Puss as Aragorn.