# Why does Shrek resemble this illustration from "Max und Moritz" (1865)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [October 9, 2022, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-shrek-resemble-this-illustration-from-max-und-moritz-1865/972972 "2022-10-09T06:53:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hakushon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hakushon/32/5503_2.png) [@Hakushon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakushon)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-shrek-resemble-this-illustration-from-max-und-moritz-1865/972972/1 "2022-10-09T06:53:38Z")
This is an illustration from the 1865 children’s story _Max und Moritz_ of a grain mill with an output chute featuring a grotesque decoration–which looks a lot like the character Shrek: > **[File:Max und Moritz (Busch) 090.png](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Max_und_Moritz_(Busch)_090.png)** The same mill was depicted in a German film version of the story: [Mill scene from Max und Moritz (1956) - Imgur](https://imgur.com/IwB5cyC) Was the cartoonist William Steig (who created the book _Shrek!_ on which the first _Shrek_ movie was based) influenced by _Max und Moritz_? Or was this some traditional type of monster/ogre that has historically been shown as looking like this, with a bald head, large mouth, and horizontally elongated ears? ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-shrek-resemble-this-illustration-from-max-und-moritz-1865/972972/2 "2022-10-09T15:17:01Z")
The resemblance is extremely vague, without you saying anything I would not have guessed Shrek out of seeing that. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-shrek-resemble-this-illustration-from-max-und-moritz-1865/972972/3 "2022-10-09T15:28:34Z")
Aside from the ears (and being “a face”), it’s even less like the original Shrek from the books which has a much cruder face, a round bulbous nose, a pointy head and hair. That said, I guess it’s possible that Steig saw the comic/film and either consciously or subconscious included the ears as being pretty nifty. The book is from 1990 so plenty of time for the author/artist to have come across either. [![](https://mpd-biblio-covers.imgix.net/9780312384494.jpg?w=600) ](https://mpd-biblio-covers.imgix.net/9780312384494.jpg?w=600) ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-shrek-resemble-this-illustration-from-max-und-moritz-1865/972972/4 "2022-10-09T17:14:58Z")
It’s like grey aliens or fairies. There’s a conventional “ogre” description/classical look of which specific examples are derivative. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-shrek-resemble-this-illustration-from-max-und-moritz-1865/972972/5 "2022-10-09T18:21:09Z")
They don’t look the same to me. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-shrek-resemble-this-illustration-from-max-und-moritz-1865/972972/6 "2022-10-09T18:38:24Z")
I thought the animated Shrek was based on Maurice Tillet. [![](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2F2.bp.blogspot.com%2F-jmyURMARipY%2FU_ZqTmp8BpI%2FAAAAAAAABWM%2FppVaPIZg0AM%2Fs1600%2FMaurice%252Band%252BRose.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=7d8201bcc3001b9e30007ac072b98c90129cfc6a9b059d79fef632473b4b432e&ipo=images) ](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2F2.bp.blogspot.com%2F-jmyURMARipY%2FU_ZqTmp8BpI%2FAAAAAAAABWM%2FppVaPIZg0AM%2Fs1600%2FMaurice%252Band%252BRose.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=7d8201bcc3001b9e30007ac072b98c90129cfc6a9b059d79fef632473b4b432e&ipo=images) ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-shrek-resemble-this-illustration-from-max-und-moritz-1865/972972/7 "2022-10-09T18:43:01Z")
They may have both been inspired by people with microcephaly > **[Microcephaly](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcephaly)** > > Microcephaly (from New Latin microcephalia, from Ancient Greek μικρός mikrós "small" and κεφαλή kephalé "head") is a medical condition involving a smaller-than-normal head. Microcephaly may be present at birth or it may develop in the first few years of life. Since brain growth is correlated with head growth, people with this disorder often have an intellectual disability, poor motor function, poor speech, abnormal facial features, seizures and dwarfism. > The disorder is caused by a disruption to... > **[Schlitzie](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlitzie)** > > Schlitzie (alternatively spelled Schlitze or Shlitze; September 10, 1901 – September 24, 1971), possibly born Simon Metz and legally Schlitze Surtees, was an American sideshow performer. He also appeared in a few films, and is best known for his role in the 1932 movie Freaks. His lifelong career on the outdoor entertainment circuit as a major sideshow attraction with Barnum & Bailey, among others, made him a popular cultural icon. > Schlitzie's true birth date, name, location and parents are unkno... Given the number of potential causes, it probably used to be a common sight. Better medical knowledge will have reduced several causes ---
**Author:** ![Hakushon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hakushon/32/5503_2.png) [@Hakushon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakushon)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-shrek-resemble-this-illustration-from-max-und-moritz-1865/972972/8 "2022-10-09T20:57:43Z")
Wow, Tillet really did look like Shrek! ---
**Author:** ![Hakushon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hakushon/32/5503_2.png) [@Hakushon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakushon)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-shrek-resemble-this-illustration-from-max-und-moritz-1865/972972/9 "2022-10-09T20:59:01Z")
Tillet had a different disorder: acromegaly. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-shrek-resemble-this-illustration-from-max-und-moritz-1865/972972/10 "2022-10-09T21:11:07Z")
Looks like a Greek mask to me [![](https://www.ancientpages.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/ancientgreekmask5.jpg) ](https://www.ancientpages.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/ancientgreekmask5.jpg) except for the “ears” attaching it to the mill ---
**Author:** ![Hakushon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hakushon/32/5503_2.png) [@Hakushon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakushon)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-shrek-resemble-this-illustration-from-max-und-moritz-1865/972972/11 "2022-10-09T21:34:07Z")
You’re right, the book version of Shrek is very different. I guess, in my mind, I was inadvertently comparing it with the movie character: [Mill from Max und Moritz film (1956) and Shrek (2001) - Imgur](https://imgur.com/HyGbEJM) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-shrek-resemble-this-illustration-from-max-und-moritz-1865/972972/12 "2022-10-09T21:54:38Z")
To me, what’s definitive about Shrek’s appearance, as distinct from any other depiction of an ogre, is that his ears are conical. All of those other depictions, from both of the Max und Moritz sources and from the Shrek book, appear to have normal ears (or at least, as close to normal as the art style permits) on the ends of stalks (which is, admittedly, a deviation from the ogre norm, and potentially interesting). The other ears don’t look like the sort of thing one might extract a taper candle of earwax from.