Indeed, Perry was the miniature donkey whose physical appearance was the model for Eddie Murphy’s Donkey in the Shrek films – the first of which was released in 2001 to massiv

Donkey may not have made waffles in the morning — that last part in Eddie Murphy’s voice — without the help of Perry the Donkey. According to a report from the New York Times, Perry the Donkey, who served as the reference for the Eddie Murphy-voiced character in ‘Shrek,

"I can attest that many of Donkey’s classic head tilts, eye rolls and bouncy trots were straight from Perry," the animal's handler, Jenny Kiratli, tells PEOPLE