As the head of story, Walt Dohrn would perform all the voices during storyboard meetings. No other actors came close to matching the voice he had come up with for Rumpelstiltskin and so he was cast.
At the very beginning of the movie, the sign for the trailer park where Rumpelstiltskin lives has the inscription "Abandon all hope ye who enter here", which is what is said to be on the gates of Hell, according to the English translation of Dante Alighieri's 'The Divine Comedy'.
One of Rumpelstiltskin's witch cronies is named "Baba", after the witch from Slavic/Russian folklore Baba Yaga.
Rumpelstiltskin appears briefly in Shrek the Third, but looks very different there (wide-brimmed hat, trimmed beard, mustache and sideburns, different facial features) and is voiced by a different actor.
Rumpelstiltskin begins a line with the words "If music has charms to soothe the savage BEAST." Though this quote has been used many times, it is actually a misquote of the line "Music has charms to soothe a savage BREAST, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak," (from "The Mourning Bride" 1697 by William Congreve). However, in the case of this movie, as it pertains to Shrek (an ogre), the misquote ("beast" rather than "breast") is, in fact, appropriate.
The first Shrek movie in RealD-3D and IMAX 3D.
The first Shrek movie where the main villain is not killed. It is also the first Shrek film where Donkey and Puss in Boots do not perform a song at the end.
The flute solos played by the Pied Piper we're played by Jeremy Steig, a well-known jazz flutist. He is also the son of William Steig, the author of the original Shrek books.
The only Shrek film to be presented in the 2.35:1 ratio.
The only Shrek movie where Prince Charming is not seen or mentioned.
The song "Rumpel's Party Palace", played during the witch rave scene, is a dance remix of "Fugue in G Minor" by Johann Sebastian Bach. Appropriately for the film's subject, this song is known as the "Little Fugue".
This is not Pied Piper's first appearance. He also appears briefly in Shrek. He can be seen when Shrek first finds all the fairy tale creatures in his swamp, fluting dozens of rats. He looks very different and is wearing red clothing instead of black.