10 Most Spiteful Movie Easter Eggs Ever

Shrek just recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, and while the film as a whole is primarily a parody of fairytales and Disney animation, there's a more pointed, prodding layer of satire tucked beneath the surface.

The film's antagonist, Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow), is widely believed to be inspired by then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner, who forced Shrek producer Jeffrey Katzenberg to resign as Disney's chairman in 1994.

Katzenberg responded by accepting a massive $250 million payoff and founding DreamWorks Pictures mere weeks later, after which he set his sights on finally bringing Shrek to the big screen.

Beyond the obvious satire of Disney tropes, the film's presentation of Farquaad is clearly intended to rankle Eisner.

For starters, both men preside over a magical kingdom of-sorts, Farquaad's (say it slowly, "Lord F**kwad") facial features aren't dissimilar to those of Eisner, and Farquaad's diminutive stature is likely a riff on Eisner's alleged reference to Katzenberg as a "little midget."

The game of tit-for-tat saw Disney refuse to air commercials for Shrek on Radio Disney, before DreamWorks released Shrek on home video the same day as Disney's Monsters, Inc., and Shrek then went on to beat it for the Best Animated Film Oscar.

At the end of the day it's a case of one obscenely rich person slinging mud at another obscenely rich person, but if you thought immense wealth might make a person a little less petty, clearly that's not the case at all.