I have a personal kink when it comes to a good old fashioned fairy tale subversion. I can't explain it, but there's just something about messing with those classic tales that never fails to amuse me -- so you can see why I have a soft spot for the Shrek franchise. News of a fourth film first hit back in 2007 and now USA Today gives us our first look at the fairy tale comedy, as well as (good?) news that the fourth installment of the franchise, Shrek Forever After, will be the last (and as much as I liked the first two films, I'll admit that by the time we had reached Shrek the Third, the charm was wearing a little thin).

Bill Damaschke, head of creative production at DreamWorks and Mike Mitchell (Sky High) gave some hints as to what we should expect from Shrek Forever After, and according to Mitchell, this time Shrek is feeling out of touch with his inner ogre, so he strikes up a deal with Rumplestiltskin (voiced by Walt Dohrn) to change his life. But things don't work out as planned and Shrek finds out that life in Far Far Away has changed for the worse in his absence. Franchise favorites Puss in Boots (voiced by Antonio Banderas) and Donkey (Eddie Murphy) will return and some of the new additions to the cast are Kathy Griffin and Kristin Schaal (Flight of the Conchords) as witches and part time Ogre hunters, and Mad Men's Jon Hamm as the leader of the ogre underground.
Though they claim this is the final Shrek movie, we're already aware of a Puss in Boots spin-off, and I could totally see a few holiday specials popping up around, well, the holidays. So you Shrek-heads shouldn't freak out just yet. We'll get our first look at the trailer on December 18th, when it will be shown with James Cameron's Avatar in all of its 3D glory.

Shrek Forever After will arrive in theaters May 21st, 2010.