69

In Shrek there is a character called Monsieur Hood, also referred to as Robin Hood later on. He is a clear parody of Robin Hood, a legendary figure from England.

What I don't understand though is why he is French in the film when he is an English figure. So, why did they decide to make him French?

TheLethalCarrot
  • 143,332
  • 64
  • 808
  • 878

3 Answers3

112

According to Shrek director Andrew Adamson, out-of-universe, the makers did it because they thought it would be funny. In-universe, Hood comes from the "French side" of Sherwood Forest, hence his strong accent.

But that doesn't explain why the Three Blind Mice have British accents (Mike Myers, also the voice of Shrek, makes one rodent sound like John Lennon), the Three Little Pigs speak with a German inflection, and Robin Hood apparently is from the French side of Sherwood Forest. "Our thinking was not so much why do something, but why not do that," Adamson says.

USA Today: Pigs, dwarfs and Pinocchio, but no Goldilocks

Community
  • 1
Valorum
  • 689,072
  • 162
  • 4,636
  • 4,873
76

The original Robin of Locksley (the Robin Hood of Pyle's stories) was a minor noble, and all nobles in England at the time (of the setting, not necessarily of the "historical Robin Hood" whose very existence is questionable but was seemingly centuries later) had at least some French Norman blood.

French was spoken at court. Much of what became "high etiquette" was based on French court customs, and the well-known English disdain for the French and anything pertaining to them stems from this period of what some see as "foreign rule".

In short, Robin Hood most likely was French in the stories, though Pyle never seems to have mentioned it (nobility being French was simply expected and needed no explanation).

Zeiss Ikon
  • 22,829
  • 3
  • 65
  • 123
  • 1
    "Lochslea" - do you mean Loxley or Locksley or is it actually Lochslea in this book? – TheLethalCarrot Oct 15 '19 at 11:12
  • 9
    @TheLethalCarrot Pick a spelling you like. In the days of the story setting, before the printing press had invaded England, spelling was highly variable; further, there has been at least one major pronunciation shift since Caxton set English spelling in movable type. – Zeiss Ikon Oct 15 '19 at 11:16
  • 1
    I've only ever seen the two I mention but never Lochslea before and a quick search doesn't turn up anything relevant for Lochslea. – TheLethalCarrot Oct 15 '19 at 11:17
  • 5
    This is a very interesting and detailed answer, but as it pertains to the question of the portrayal in Shrek, it seems to be missing a key link. Is there any indication that the above is why the makers of Shrek went with a French accent, despite a long history of Robin Hood being depicted in movie and television sans French accent? (After all, the other nobles depicted in the Shrek movies do not have French accents) – delinear Oct 15 '19 at 11:29
  • 24
    Plus, a franch accent is funny, no? La la la. – JavaMikeMoore Oct 15 '19 at 12:02
  • 1
    @delinear There's also a long history of other non-English characters being portrayed with English accents. French characters included (look at any old Three Musketeers movie, for instance). To an American audience, it makes the characters seem refined and "old-timey". – Zeiss Ikon Oct 15 '19 at 12:28
  • Add all of the together and what do we get? Shrek was a giant spoof of everything in cinema and frankly taking all the parts of the answers and the comments I think we found the answer. – J Crosby Oct 15 '19 at 14:26
  • 1
    @JavaMikeMoore - Oui oui! C'est is vraiment tres marrante! – Valorum Oct 15 '19 at 17:24
  • 1
    @TheLethalCarrot I thought the "Loxley" spelling was only used in "Men In Tights" so that Rabbi Tuckman could make a "bagels and lox" joke at the end since Maid Marion's last name in that movie was "Baguelle". – Darrel Hoffman Oct 15 '19 at 20:11
  • Of course the French and British accents didn't exist yet in Robin Hood's time period, they'd speak something closer to the old rural accents in Quebec and the USA. – IKM Oct 16 '19 at 04:18
  • 1
    Note that the Robin from the story is contemporary of Richard I of England, who was primarily French speaking. The Kings of England would still speak mostly French for most of the following two centuries. – clem steredenn Oct 16 '19 at 11:53
  • 2
    Robin Hood is often portrayed as a Saxon minor noble, standing for the common man against his Norman oppressors (apart from Richard I, who gets a pass). Apparently, that is a relatively recent invention though. – richardb Oct 16 '19 at 15:52
-2

There is historical significance to Robin hood speaking with a French accent.

As the folk tale is set 100 years after the invasion of England by Willian the conqueror English Lords and Ladies would have all spoken French. If Robin Hood did exist he was most likely Robin of Loxley who would probably have spoken French due to his connection to the King's family.

Andrew
  • 1
  • 1
    And while that's not untrue (maybe), it's not why he's French in Shrek – Valorum Mar 16 '24 at 15:27
  • 2
    Welcome to SciFi.SE! This is basically the same as Zeiss Ikon's answer from 2019; please try and ensure you're not duplicating answers that have already been given. – F1Krazy Mar 16 '24 at 18:52