One Year Before ‘Shrek 5,’ Disney Makes Official Move Into DreamWorks Franchise
Far, far away just got a lot closer to the Mouse House. All four Shrek films are now available on Disney+ in the United States — a pairing that would have once seemed unthinkable given the history between the two studios.
A Rivalry Born in Hollywood
The DreamWorks Animation story starts with a grudge. Jeffrey Katzenberg departed Walt Disney Animation Studios in 1994 — where he had been a central architect of the Disney Renaissance — and co-founded DreamWorks Animation alongside Steven Spielberg and David Geffen. His ambition was to go toe-to-toe with his former employer in the family entertainment space, and he brought familiar collaborators along for the ride.
The studio’s debut film was originally meant to be The Prince of Egypt (1998), but another project crept in ahead of it. On October 2, 1998, DreamWorks released Antz — a full six weeks before Disney and Pixar’s A Bug’s Life (1998) arrived in theaters. The resemblance between the two films was, to put it diplomatically, hard to miss.
As the story goes, animators who underperformed on The Prince of Egypt were reassigned as a form of punishment to a peculiar project: a movie about an antisocial ogre who somehow ends up falling for a princess. That film, of course, became Shrek, one of the most successful animated franchises in history.
Now Streaming on Disney+
On April 2, Disney+ announced via social media that Shrek (2001), Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek the Third (2007), and Shrek Forever After (2010) are now available to stream in the United States, exclusively for subscribers on the Hulu bundle tier.
If you peel back our layers, you’ll find all the Shrek films with Hulu on Disney+ for bundle subscribers. 🧅
If you peel back our layers, you'll find all the Shrek films with Hulu on Disney+ for bundle subscribers. 🧅 pic.twitter.com/XY48VemoXw
— Disney+ (@DisneyPlus) April 2, 2026
While the films have been accessible through Disney+ in certain international markets for some time, this marks their U.S. debut on The Walt Disney Company’s streaming platform. Disney does not own the DreamWorks Animation titles; their presence on Disney+ is the result of a licensing arrangement. Universal Parks and Resorts continues to hold the theme park rights to the Shrek franchise and other DreamWorks properties.
Shrek 5 is set to arrive in theaters next year, making this a perfect opportunity for new and returning fans to revisit the swamp before the next chapter begins.
Which Shrek film are you going to stream on Disney+ first? Disney Dining would love to hear from you in the comments!
