Sales of the two performers' music soared after their deaths, and sales of Shrek books following the celebrity hermit sheep's death two months ago have also taken off.
"Literally from the moment he died, it's just been madness," Friends of Tarras School (Fots) chairwoman Tui Willson said.
The Fots group published two children's books about Shrek - the first in 2004 and the second in 2007 - written by Tarras School principal Noeline Pullar and pupils, as school fundraisers. The first one, Shrek the famous hermit sheep of Tarras, recently earned "platinum bestseller" status, having sold more than 40,000 copies in New Zealand and overseas.
The books are available in about 150 outlets throughout New Zealand and while the original has always maintained a steady sales record, orders from throughout the world skyrocketed immediately after Shrek died.
"We sold more in the first two weeks [after Shrek's death] than we usually would have during the whole winter," Mrs Willson said. "He hit the news and the phone didn't stop ringing."
The global interest in Shrek's legacy has also generated increased sales of the second book Further adventures of Shrek, NZ's celebrity sheep, which until now had not enjoyed the same success as the original.
"That's the only good thing to come out of him passing, really."
Mrs Willson said parents, staff and pupils from the school had all pitched in to fill the influx of orders, spending many hours packaging and posting the books.
"We had quite a wee chain gang happening that first six weeks after he died. It was just manic."
The children at the school had received dozens of condolence emails, cards and gifts from all over the world, Mrs Willson said.
Publishing company Random House also reported a spike in sales from its book, Shrek - The Story of a Kiwi Icon, written by Shrek's owner, John Perriam.
"Definitely ... there's been an immediate lift in sales [after Shrek's death] and that's nationally," Random House publicist Jennifer Balle said.
"The book has pretty much sold steadily since we first published it ... and because it's such a classic book it's always going to keep ticking along."
Wanaka Paper Plus manager Chris Lumsden said Shrek the famous hermit sheep of Tarras had been consistently on the store's own top 10 best-sellers list since it first hit the shelves, but he had noticed a definite increase in sales of all the Shrek titles in recent weeks, particularly the original.
"We've been sending them all round the world," he said.
• Te Papa communications manager Phil McGrath said no decision had been reached yet on whether Shrek's preserved remains would be displayed at the national museum.
