10 Movie Franchises That Just Kept Getting Worse

At the height of its popularity, the Shrek franchise was everywhere. Four movies, seven short films, two television specials, a Broadway show, and a spin-off that also got its own animated series. For a few years at least, it seemed as though you couldn't go anywhere without seeing the big green ogre and his friends. Unfortunately, the market saturation ended up creating severe franchise fatigue.

The first Shrek and its sequel still remain massively enjoyable animated features, and set the standard Dreamworks animation template of casting A-list stars and filling the script with pop culture references. However, a stubborn refusal to evolve the formula even a little bit saw the final two instalments border on tedium, with the constant knowing asides and winking at the audience coming at the expense of the charm and genuine wit that made the franchise so popular in the first place.

Puss in Boots was a minor return to form, albeit because it had so little to do with the main series that was quickly losing steam with both critics and audiences. After NBC Universal bought Dreamworks in 2016 it was announced that a fifth movie was in the works, because money. Yet with Pixar, Disney Animation and Illumination now dominating the marketplace, it remains to be seen if the law of diminishing returns has lessened Shrek's position as an animated icon.