A real-life donkey who served as the animation model for the character Donkey in the “Shrek” franchise died on Thursday at the age of 30 at his home in California.
Pericles, affectionately known as Perry, was a Jerusalem miniature donkey from New York City who achieved fame after helping animators perfect Shrek’s sidekick Donkey in the Oscar-winning 2001 comedy.
Donkey, voiced by Eddie Murphy, served as the chatty comic relief to Shrek’s blasé nature and appeared through all four main movies in the franchise.
Perry was just 5 years old when he first modeled for the animators and was reportedly paid a weekly wage of $75 for his services…