The donkey that inspired Shrek’s Donkey is dead

The miniature donkey Perry, who inspired the Shrek character dubbed by Eddie Murphy, Donkey, died at the age of 30. Afflicted with laminitis, a hoof disease that made him suffer for years, he was euthanized on January 2 in Palo Alto, California.

This short-legged donkey was selected by DreamWorks’ scriptwriters in 1999 as the inspiration for the morphology and personality of Donkey in Shrek. Although the studio financed the equivalent of a few months’ food for Perry, he was not credited in the film’s credits.

This omission sparked a debate on the recognition of animals involved in the film industry.

“Throughout his long life here, Perry has won the hearts of the Barron Park community and far beyond, with his beautiful expressive eyes, his gentle and kind character, his warm way of greeting visitors at the pasture gate, and of course his contribution to the movie Shrek as the movement model for the donkey character in the film,” reads an Instagram post by the Barron Park Donkeys.