For example, Puss 'n Boots doing Flashdance is hilarious.  Or the well-known Pinocchio nose.

For children who are not familiar with some of the movies that Shrek 2 refers to for humor's sake, such as the Rawhide song, there is enough in the movie that does not require the young ones to know everything from previous films.  Their "cultural psyche" is not quite as ingrained as the adults.

For example, when Puss 'n Boots gives his purposely, cute and innocent face to get away from getting injured, this face is very memorable to the children and find it funny.  The animators successfully made this face so good that it is one image the kids will always remember and add to their "Shrek cultural psyche."

For the younger kids, here is a family friendly movie idea/pitch:  A movie that uses shows like Barney, Dora The Explorer, Sesame Street, Blues Clues, Little Bill, Sagwa the Chinese Cat--and all the other familiar kids' shows and wrap it up into a movie called "Shrek 5."

Here's a possible scene:  Dora and Boots are in the forest exploring when they encounter a beanstalk which is about to crash down on them, but Tarzan swings by and swoops them into the safety of Barney's treehouse.