The real-life animal that inspired Eddie Murphy’s iconic Shrek character has said “that’ll do,” with news breaking that the miniature donkey has tragically ed away.
Seriously, we’re only a week into 2025 and my bingo card is already brimming with unexpected moments (Vin Diesel calling out Dwayne Johnson?), but the death of the animal who delivered one of animation’s most memorable characters is an entry I’d rather not fill-in. At this point, the only a** in this story is 2025, not Perry the donkey, who died at the age of 30 on Jan. 2. It marks the end of a storied career for the animal (no-doubt the envy of his barnyard companions), who was born in 1994 and shot to fame for his connection to DreamWorks’ Oscar-winning animation.
The story goes that animators working on Shrek modelled Donkey after Perry, who was five years old at the time and was paid an almost criminal $75 for his contribution (I’m guessing he spent it on hay). In 2021, Perry’s lead handler, Jenny Kiratli, told SFGate that it was “amazing how much of our donkey is in Donkey, [like] the way he flips his head when he’s mad at Shrek and the way he trots.” Kiratli added that it was “evident if you know Perry and watch the movie that it’s him.”
With Perry’s modelling, Donkey would go on to become appearing in its three subsequent sequels. News of Perry’s death was shared by the Barron Park Donkeys Instagram , where he arrived “as a young and feisty three-year-old” companion to another donkey, Miner 49er. The handlers said the donkey will be ed for his “beautiful soulful eyes, his sweet and gentle disposition [and] his amiable stroll,” as well as his “contributions to the movie Shrek.”
As far as donkey years go, Perry had a pretty good run, since equidae animals typically have a life expectancy of 25 to 40 years. It was later revealed that Perry had long suffered from an incurable condition called laminitis, which affects donkey hooves and which no amount of Shrek’s onions could remedy. At this rate, I half-expect to hear news that the blue tang fish that inspired Finding Nemo’s Dory has ed away, only to forget that she was even alive in the first place. In the wake of his death, Perry’s legacy will live on not just in the already released Shrek movies, but in the fifth installment currently in the works.
Last year, DreamWorks confirmed that release date for Shrek 5 has been set for July 1, 2026, with Trolls filmmaker Walt Dohrn on board to direct. The movie will arrive some 16 years after the most recent franchise entry Shrek Forever After, which premiered in 2010.
Sadly, Perry is not the only notable name we’ve already lost in 2025. In the past week alone, we’ve mourned the deaths of iconic Drag Race star, The Vivienne. Please, 2025, let this year’s bingo card be one of bizarre or wholesome moments, not one with an overstuffed In Memoriam.
Published: Jan 6, 2025 06:40 pm