MONGO!

MONGO! If you haven't seen Shrek 2 it's a must see. There are so many funny references to other movies and pure hilarity that even though you realize it's a movie for little kids, it's still funny. Now, to the topic of this blog entry: Mongo. Mongo is THE coolest character in either of the two Shrek movies. In case you couldn't tell by the picture, Mongo is a giant gingerbread man. Unfortunately, the only picture I could find of him was a screenshot from a video game when he was a boss, so he seems mean. In the movie he's very nice and tries to help Shrek into the castle, thereby preventing Fiona from marrying Prince Charming. Here is why Mongo is cool:

• He's always smiling and making curious grunting noises, like a big teddy bear.
• He's easily distracted and has funny reactions.
• He knows the words to "Livin' la Vida Loca".
• He can survive underwater.

Basically, the storyline with Mongo is that they go to Dreary Lane and create this giant gingerbread man to get them into the castle. The wander through downtown "Far Far Away" town towards the castle but Mongo gets distracted and sees a giant cup of Farbucks Coffee. Well, it's actually an advertisement and when Mongo realizes this he gets upset and almost starts crying. Donkey (currently a stallion) intervenes and says "Mongo! Mongo! Here Mongo, follow the horsey Mongo!" Mongo says: "OOooooh! Horsey!" Extends his arms like a little child and chases after the horsey. Sadly, when trying to enter the castle, Mongo gets drenched with hot foam and his arms rip off, causing him to fall backwards and scream "Noooooooo!" as he falls. He lands on his back in the moat. Well, the little gingerbread man can't handle this and almost goes insane, but that's a different story. Anyways, Mongo is gone, laying on his back in the moat, dead. . . or is he? The last sequence of the movie is a party sequence and the cast sings "Livin' la Vida Loca". During one of the chorus parts, all of a sudden the screen flashes to Mongo in the moat, laying on his back, and he sings "Livin' la Vida Loca" underwater and bubbles come to the top of the moat! It was HILARIOUS! Mongo is just a big ol' doof with a low voice and tries his hardest to help, but ends up just laying on his back in a moat with no arms. We love Mongo. And now, for some Mongo trivia:

• The gigantic Gingerbread Man that storms the castle of Far Far Away, is a reference to the "Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man" from Ghost Busters (1984).
• The Giant Gingerbread Man's last words "Be good" are a reference to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
• When Mongo throws the flaming gumdrop button at the catapaulters, they're heard to scream "Run away, run away" - a reference to Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), also starring John Cleese.