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When Shrek first came out in 2001, it took the country by storm. The movie grossed $484.4 million worldwide in its run in theaters, and every quote-unquote “smart” person in Hollywood knows that a movie that hauls in that amount of cash definitely calls for a sequel. Enter 2004’s Shrek 2, one of my favorite sequels ever to a movie. And one that, in my opinion, was better than the first. Nearly a billion dollars later, another sequel was in the works. In 2007, Shrek the Third was released into theaters. Oh my God, what a terrible movie that was.

Shrek Forever After has been rumored for a while now. Although USA Today on Tuesday released some further detailed information about DreamWorks Animation’s film. First of all, this Shrek will be the first one in 3-D, a given for most animated movies nowadays. Second, the first official trailer for the comedy, which is being released May 21^st, will debut before the highly-awaited Avatar on December 18^th. Whoa! Those previews are only reserved for the biggest of movies! I’ll let you read the plot for yourself:

After rescuing a princess, getting hitched and fathering triplets, Shrek is feeling over-domesticated. “He has lost his roar,” says director Mike Mitchell. “It used to send villagers running away in terror. Now they run to him and ask him to sign their pitchforks and torches.”

Wait…Mike Mitchell is directing? If you remember Mitchell, he’s the creature who spawned Surviving Christmas, Sky High and Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo. However he was a creative consultant on Kung Fu Panda, an actor in Monsters vs. Aliens and a producer on 2011’s Tortoise and the Hare. I suppose he’s just one of those people who think that if he spends time on an animated movie, he’s good enough to be a director. So could Shrek 4 be a combination of the poop humor in Surviving Christmas and the crude un-funniness of Deuce Bigalow?

The usual cast of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas and Cameron Diaz return to voice, in addition to Kathy Griffin and Flight of the Conchords‘ Kristin Schaal as witches who hunt ogres; Walt Dohrn is the “vile schemer” (not Paul McCartney as previously rumored); and Mad Men’s Jon Hamm is the leader of an “underground resistance group.”

Hey, if it’s got someone from Mad Men in it, it’s worth checking out. Hopefully Shrek Forever After will have the quirky charm that the first two Shrek films did, and not the star-powered yet story-less mess that was Shrek the Third. These characters and this idea is so fun and refreshing, but could Shrek Forever After be just one Shrek too many?