Why does Robin Hood speak with a French accent in the original "Shrek" movie?

Answer 1

Gather around for a history lesson; England in the day of Richard I and Prince John was divided into the Saxons and the Normans. The Normans (French) conquered the Saxons(native English) in 1066 AD. Nearly everyone of importance was French speaking. Richard the Lion hearted didn't speak any English. We are talking about the first decade in the 1200s. Robin of Loxley was (according to some) the son of a nobleman and probably spoke French if he was not of Norman ancestry. Besides, it was a cartoon so why not?

Answer 2

Robin Hood Shrek

Answer 3

Shrek Robin Hood

Answer 4

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RE:
Why does Robin Hood speak with a French accent in the original "Shrek" movie?

Answer 5

1. Is it true? Yes - Richard spoke French as his first language and virtually no English. Richard was the son of Henry Duke of Anjou (also King Henry II of England) and Eleanor of Aquitaine - both French. Richard was born and raised in France and (as Das says, above), only spent a few months of his ten year reign in England. 2. Why did he not speak English if he was ruling the English people? Richard lived less that 150 years after the Norman invasion of England. There was a great and bitter divide between the invaders and the subjected people. The ruling class were virtually all Norman French (different from the rest of France being descended from 'Northmen' - Vikings) or local collaborators who had adopted Norman customs. Only peasants would have routinely spoken the local variation of Saxon - much like Russian before the revolution, when the Russian aristocracy spoke French, only speaking Russian to their servants. 3. Why is it thought that England has the oldest and grandest history in Europe? It isn't - not in Europe, anyway! I see this question was first posted on the US site which excuses this misunderstanding ;) In Europe, we tend to think of Italy and Greece as having the oldest, grandest history. The image of England having a grand history I would imagine is based on the full-scale adoption of Classical Roman virtues and standards as our own about the same time we started colonising the rest of the planet - giving the impression that we were the natural heirs to Augustus. England was usually considered by our neighbours to be a rough, hostile and barbarous country, right up until we got our navy together and started winning sea battles. England has a highly interesting and bloody violent history, especially in this period, but it was hardly grand. A lot of the modern image of the medieval world, full of chivalrous knights and courtly love etc is a much later invention, courtesy of Romantic poets, Pre-Raphaelite painters and other sentimentalists.

Answer 6

Because he's English, you twit

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actually, now that I think about it, disney tries to add a lot of subtle, intelligent, and even adult humor. Its no surprise that such an obvious and extreme inconsistency would show. Think about it... Robin Hood is an English hero of the day, a day in which England and France were often enemies. And yet a French Robin Hood is picked as an English hero. Kids might not even realize it.

Answer 7

There are a lot of "in" jokes in Hollywood movies. This was probably a reference to the Robin Hood movie made with Kevin Costner as Robin Hood where they didn't even bother to teach him an English accent. If you know how Hollywood films work, you will see a great deal of "in jokes" and references to other movies - its a common practice meant to pay homage, and to poke a little fun, depending on what is happening.

Answer 8

that's the french robin hood

Answer 9

DUDE! Its because Americans CANNOT unnerstand ENGLISH! my friends came over to USA for 3 weeks from UK, and I SWEAR to you I did not understand 9/10's of WOT DAY SAID! LOL, but me love em anyway.

Answer 10

Ask the producer