Yeah, I think the “adult media disguised as kids media” has been a thing for a long time.

But I also think that a lot of teen and preteen media has very little functional distinction from adult media.

A lot of non-parents don’t realize that the difference between G and PG can be huge. Shrek sounds like it should be something for a 3 year old but it really isn’t. Even without the torture scene it’s immediacy really scary. You have to go with something a lot more gentle than that for young kids.

I think the torture scene is funny to an adult as a mockery of the zeitgeist if you decide to interpret it that way. After all, Farquad is intended to be a villain.