Shrek

This article is about the first Shrek film. For other uses, see Shrek (disambiguation).

Shrek

Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Produced by
Screenplay by
Based on Shrek! 
by William Steig
Starring
Music by Harry Gregson-Williams
John Powell
Edited by Sim Evan-Jones
Production
company
Distributed by DreamWorks Pictures1
Release dates
Running time
 90 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $60 million
Box office $484.4 million[2]

Shrek is a 2001 American computer-animated fantasy-comedy film produced by PDI/DreamWorks, released by DreamWorks Pictures, directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, featuring the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow. It is loosely based on William Steig's 1990 fairy tale picture book Shrek!, and somewhat serves as a parody film, targeting other films adapted from numerous children's fantasies (mainly animated Disney films). The film's soundtrack includes music by Smash Mouth, Eels, Joan Jett, The Proclaimers, Jason Wade, Baha Men, and John Cale (covering Leonard Cohen).

The rights to the books were originally bought by Steven Spielberg in 1991, before the founding of DreamWorks, when he thought about making a traditionally animated film based on the book. However, John H. Williams convinced him to bring the film to DreamWorks in 1994, the time the studio was founded, and the film was put quickly into active development by Jeffrey Katzenberg after the rights were bought by the studio in 1995. Shrek originally cast Chris Farley to do the voice for the title character, recording about 80%–90% of his dialogue. After Farley died in 1997 before he could finish, Mike Myers was brought in to work for the character, who after his first recording decided to record his voice in a Scottish accent. The film was also originally planned to be motion-captured, but after poor results, the studio decided to get PDI to help Shrek get its final computer-animated look.

Earning $484.4 million at the worldwide box office, the film was a critical and commercial success. Shrek also received promotion from food chains such as Baskin-Robbins (promoting the film's DVD release) and Burger King. It was acclaimed as an animated film worthy of adult interest, with many adult-oriented jokes and themes but a simple enough plot and humour to appeal to children. Shrek won the first ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. The film was also nominated for six British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards, including the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Eddie Murphy for his voice-over performance as Donkey, and won the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. The film's main (and title) character was awarded his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in May 2010.[3]

Shrek established DreamWorks Animation as a prime competitor to Pixar in feature film animation, particularly in computer animation. The film's success prompted DreamWorks to create three sequels—Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek the Third (2007), and Shrek Forever After (2010), two holiday specials—Shrek the Halls (2007) and Scared Shrekless (2010), and a spin-off film—Puss in Boots (2011). A fifth film, planned as the last of the series, was cancelled in 2009 with the announcement that the fourth film would conclude the series. The film's success also inspired other merchandise, such as video games, a stage musical, and even a comic book by Dark Horse Comics.

Plot

Shrek, a green ogre who loves the solitude in his swamp, finds his life interrupted when many fairytale characters are exiled there by order of the fairytale-hating Lord Farquaad. Shrek tells them that he will go ask Farquaad to send them back. He brings along a talking Donkey who is the only fairytale creature who knows the way to Duloc.

Meanwhile, Farquaad tortures the Gingerbread Man into giving the location of the remaining fairytale creatures until his guards rush in with something he has been searching for: the Magic Mirror. He asks The Mirror if his kingdom is the fairest of them all but is told that he is not even a king. To be a king he must marry a princess and is given three options, from which he chooses Princess Fiona, who is locked in a castle tower guarded by lava and a dragon. The Mirror tries to mention "the little thing that happens at night" but is unsuccessful.

Shrek and Donkey arrive at Farquaad's palace in Duloc, where they end up in a tournament. The winner gets the "privilege" of rescuing Fiona so that Farquaad may marry her. Shrek and Donkey easily defeat the other knights in wrestling-match fashion, and Farquaad accepts his offer to move the fairytale creatures from his swamp if Shrek rescues Fiona.

Shrek and Donkey travel to the castle and split up to find Fiona. Donkey encounters the dragon and sweet-talks the beast before learning that it is female. Dragon takes a liking to him and carries him to her chambers. Shrek finds Fiona, who is appalled at his lack of romanticism. As they leave, Shrek saves Donkey, caught in Dragon's tender clutches, and forces her to chase them out of the castle. At first, Fiona is thrilled to be rescued but is quickly disappointed when Shrek reveals he is an ogre.

As the three journey to Duloc, Fiona urges the two to camp out for the night while she sleeps in a cave. Shrek and Donkey stargaze while Shrek tells stories about great ogres and says that he will build a wall around his swamp when he returns. When Donkey persistently asks why, he says that everyone judges him before knowing him; therefore, he feels he is better off alone, despite Donkey's admission that he did not immediately judge him when they met.

Along the way, Shrek and Fiona find they have more in common and fall in love. The trio is almost at Duloc, and that night Fiona shelters in a windmill. When Donkey hears strange noises coming from it, he finds Fiona turned into an ogre. She explains her childhood curse and transforms each night, which is why she was locked away, and that only her true love's kiss will return her to her "love's true form". Shrek, about to confess his feelings for Fiona with a sunflower, partly overhears them, and is heartbroken as he mistakes her disgust with her transformation to an "ugly beast" as disgust with him. Fiona makes Donkey promise not to tell Shrek, vowing to do it herself. The next morning, Shrek has brought Lord Farquaad to Fiona. The couple return to Duloc, while a hurt Shrek angrily leaves his friendship with Donkey and returns to his now-vacated swamp, remembering what Fiona "said" about him.

Despite his privacy, Shrek is devastated and misses Fiona. Furious at Shrek, Donkey comes to the swamp where Shrek says he overheard Donkey and Fiona's conversation. Donkey keeps his promise to Fiona and tells Shrek that she was talking about someone else. He accepts Shrek's apology and tells him that Fiona will be getting married soon, urging Shrek into action to gain Fiona's love. They travel to Duloc quickly, thanks to Dragon, who had escaped her confines and followed Donkey.

Shrek interrupts the wedding before Farquaad can kiss Fiona. He tells her that Farquaad is not her true love and only marrying her to become king. The sun sets, which turns Fiona into an ogre in front of everyone in the church, causing a surprised Shrek to fully understand what he overheard. Outraged by Fiona, Farquaad orders Shrek killed and Fiona detained. Shrek whistles for Dragon who bursts in along with Donkey and devours Farquaad. Shrek and Fiona profess their love and share a kiss; Fiona is bathed in light as her curse is broken but is surprised that she is still an ogre, as she thought she would become beautiful, to which Shrek replies that she is beautiful. They marry in the swamp and leave on their honeymoon while the rest celebrate by singing "I'm a Believer".

Cast

Production

Development

At the time DreamWorks was founded, producer John H. Williams got hold of the book from his children, and when he brought it to DreamWorks, it caught Jeffrey Katzenberg's attention and the studio decided to make it into a film.[11] Recounting the inspiration of making the film, Williams said:

"Every development deal starts with a pitch and my pitch came from my then kindergartner, in collaboration with his pre-school brother. Upon our second reading of Shrek, the kindergartner started quoting large segments of the book pretending he could read them. Even as an adult, I thought Shrek was outrageous, irreverent, iconoclastic, gross, and just a lot of fun. He was a great movie character in search of a movie."[12]

After buying the rights to the film, Katzenberg quickly put the film in active development in November 1995.[13][14] Steven Spielberg had thought about making a traditionally animated film of the book before, when he bought the rights to the book in 1991, before the founding of DreamWorks, where Bill Murray would play Shrek and Steve Martin would play Donkey.[15] In the beginning of production, co-director Andrew Adamson refused to be intimidated by Katzenberg, and had an argument with him how much should the film appeal to adults. Katzenberg wanted both audiences, but he found some of Adamson's ideas about adding sexual jokes and Guns N' Roses music to the soundtrack a bit too outrageous.[16][17] Andrew Adamson and Kelly Asbury joined in 1997 to co-direct the film. However, Asbury left a year later for work on the 2002 film Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, and was replaced with story artist Vicky Jenson. Both Adamson and Jenson decided to work on the film in half, so the crew could at least know who to go to with specific detail questions about the film's sequences; "We both ended up doing a lot of everything", Adamson said. "We're both kinda control freaks, and we both wanted to do everything."[18]

Some early sketches of Shrek's house were done in 1996 through 1997 using Photoshop, with the sketches showing Shrek first living in a garbage dump near a human village called Wart Creek. It was also thought one time that he lived with his parents and kept rotting fish in his bedroom.[19] Donkey was modeled after Pericles (born 1994; also known as Perry), a real miniature donkey from Barron Park, Palo Alto, California.[20] Raman Hui, supervising animator of Shrek, stated that Fiona "wasn't based on any real person." and he did many different sketches for Princess Fiona and had done over 100 sculptures of Fiona before the directors picked the final design.[21] In early development, the Art Directors visited Hearst Castle, Stratford upon Avon and Dordogne for inspiration. Art Director Douglas Rogers visited a magnolia plantation in Charleston, South Carolina for inspiration for Shrek's swamp.[22][23] Planned characters not used in the film include Goldilocks and Sleeping Beauty.[24]

Casting

Nicolas Cage was initially offered the role of Shrek but he turned it down because he did not want to look like an ugly ogre.[25] In 2013, Cage admitted that he regrets the decision, and explained: "When you're drawn, in a way it says more about how children are going to see you than anything else, and I so care about that."[26]

Mike Myers was re-cast as Shrek after Chris Farley's death.

Chris Farley was planned to do the voice for Shrek which he recorded 80 to 90% (or 95% according to Farley's brother Tom) of the dialogue for the character, but died before completing the project.[27] A story reel featuring a sample of Farley's recorded dialogue was leaked to the public in August 2015.[28] DreamWorks then re-cast the voice role to Mike Myers, who insisted on a complete script rewrite, to leave no traces of Farley's version of Shrek.[27] According to Myers, he wanted to voice the character "for two reasons: I wanted the opportunity to work with Jeffrey Katzenberg; and [the book is] a great story about accepting yourself for who you are."[12]

After Myers had completed providing the voice for the character, when the film was well into production, he asked to re-record all of his lines in a Scottish accent similar to the one his mother had used when she told him bedtime stories and also used for his roles in other films such as, So I Married an Axe Murderer and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.[27] According to the DVD commentary, he had also tried using country and Canadian accents.[29] After hearing the alternative, Katzenberg agreed to redo scenes in the film, saying, "It was so good we took $4m worth of animation out and did it again."[30] A point Myers disputes, saying "it didn’t cost the studio “millions of dollars,” as rumored. “What it meant is instead of me going in for ten sessions, I went in for twenty sessions. I got paid the same.".[31] Because of Myers voicing the character, more ideas began to come. There were clearer story points, fresher gags and comedy bits.[32] Myers said: "I got a letter from Spielberg thanking me so much for caring about the character ... And he said the Scottish accent had improved the movie."[33]

Another person planned to voice a character in the film was Janeane Garofalo, who was set to star alongside Farley as Princess Fiona. However, she was fired from the project with little explanation. Years later, Garofalo stated "I was never told why [I was fired]. I assume because I sound like a man sometimes? I don't know why. Nobody told me ... But, you know, the movie didn't do anything, so who cares?"[34]

Animation

Shrek was originally set up to be a live-action/CG animation hybrid with background plate miniature sets and the main characters composited into the scene as motion-captured computer graphics, using an ExpertVision Hires Falcon 10 camera system to capture and apply realistic human movement to the characters.[35] A sizable crew was hired to run a test, and after a year and a half of R & D, the test was finally screened in May 1997.[36] The results were not satisfactory, with Katzenberg stating, "It looked terrible, it didn't work, it wasn't funny, and we didn't like it."[27] The studio then turned to its production partners at PDI, who began production with the studio in 1998[37] and helped Shrek to get its final, computer-animated look.[27] At this time, Antz was still in production by the studio[27] and Effects Supervisor Ken Bielenberg was asked by Aron Warner "to start development for Shrek."[38] Similar to previous PDI films, PDI used its own proprietary software (like its own Fluid Animation System) for its animated movies. However, for some elements it also took advantage of some of the powerhouse animation software that was in the market. This is particularly true with Maya, which PDI used for most of its dynamic cloth animation and for the hair of Fiona and Farquaad.[39]

"We did a lot of work on character and set-up, and then kept changing the set up while we were doing the animation," Hui noted. "In Antz, we had a facial system that gave us all the facial muscles under the skin. In Shrek, we applied that to whole body. So if you pay attention to Shrek when he talks, you see that when he opens his jaw, he forms a double chin, because we have the fat and the muscles underneath. That kind of detail took us a long time to get right."[40] One of the most difficult parts of creating the film was making Donkey's fur flow smoothly so that it didn't look like a Chia Pet's fur. This fell into the hands of the surfacing animators who used flow controls within a complex shader to provide the fur with many attributes (ability to change directions, lie flat, swirl, etc.).[23] It was then the job of the visual effects group, led by Ken Bielenberg, to make the fur react to environment conditions. Once the technology was mastered, it was able to be applied to many aspects of the Shrek movie including grass, moss, beards, eyebrows, and even threads on Shrek's tunic. Making human hair realistic was different from Donkey's fur, requiring a separate rendering system and a lot of attention from the lighting and visual effects teams.[23]

Shrek has 31 sequences, with 1,288 shots in every sequence total.[22] Aron Warner said that the creators "envisioned a magical environment that you could immerse yourself into." Shrek includes 36 separate in-film locations to make the world of the film, which DreamWorks claimed was more than any previous computer animated feature before. In-film locations were finalized and as demonstrated by past DreamWorks animated movies, color and mood was of the utmost importance.[23]

Music

Shrek is the third DreamWorks animated film (and the only film in the Shrek series) to have Harry Gregson-Williams team up with John Powell to composes the score (after Antz (1998) and Chicken Run (2000)).[41] John Powell was left out to compose scores for later Shrek films with Williams due to a conflict.[42] The score was recorded at Abbey Road Studios by Nick Wollage and Slamm Andrews, with the latter mixing it at Media Ventures and Patricia Sullivan-Fourstar handling mastering.[43]

Shrek introduced a new element to give the film a unique feel. The film used pop music and other Oldies to make the story more forward. Covers of songs like "On the Road Again" and "Try a Little Tenderness" were integrated in the film's score.[44] As the film was about to be completed, Katzenberg suggested to the filmmakers to redo the film's ending to "go out with a big laugh"; Instead of ending film with just a storybook closing over Shrek and Fiona as they ride off into the sunset, they decided to add a song "I'm a Believer" covered by Smash Mouth and show all the fairytale creatures in the film.[45]

Although Rufus Wainwright's version of the song "Hallelujah" appeared in the soundtrack album, it was John Cale's version that appeared in the film; in a radio interview, Rufus Wainwright suggested that his version of "Hallelujah" did not appear in the film due to the "glass ceiling" he was hitting because of his sexuality. An alternate explanation posits that because Wainwright was an artist for DreamWorks and John Cale was not, thus licensing issues prohibited Cale's version from appearing in the soundtrack album, despite having the filmmakers wanting to have Cale's version appear in the film.[46]

Cultural references

In many places the film references classic movies, predominantly those by Disney. When Tinker Bell falls on Donkey and he says "I can fly" and people around including the Three Little Pigs say "He can fly, he can fly"; this is a reference to Disney's Peter Pan. This scene is also a reference to the Disney film Dumbo, where Donkey says, while flying, "You might have seen a house fly, maybe even a super fly, but I bet you ain't never seen a Donkey fly"[47] The scene where Fiona is singing to the blue bird is a reference to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.[47] The transformation scene at the end of the film strongly references to Disney's Beauty and the Beast.[47]

When Shrek crosses the bridge to the Castle and says, "That'll do, Donkey, that'll do," this is a reference to the movie Babe.[47] The scene where Princess Fiona is fighting the Merry Men is a lengthy reference to the film The Matrix.[47] At the end of the film, the Gingerbread Man at the end with a crutch (and one leg) says "God bless us, everyone" which is a reference to Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol.[47]

In the scene where the Magic Mirror gives Lord Farquaad the option to marry three princesses, it parodies popular American television show The Dating Game featuring: Cinderella and Snow White.[48] In addition, Lord Farquaad's theme park style kingdom Duloc heavily mimics Disneyland, even in so far as parodying the famous 'It's A Small World Afterall' musical ride in the scene with the singing puppets.[48]

Release

Marketing

In 2000, IMAX released CyberWorld onto its branded large-screen theaters. It was a compilation film that featured stereoscopic conversions of various animated shorts and sequences, including the bar sequence in Antz. DreamWorks was so impressed by the technology used for the sequence's "stereoscopic translation", that the studio and IMAX decided to plan a big-screen 3D version of Shrek. The film would have been re-released during the Christmas season of 2001, or the following summer, after its conventional 2D release. The re-release would have also included new sequences and an alternate ending. Plans for this was dropped due to "creative changes" instituted by DreamWorks and resulted in a loss of $1.18 million, down from IMAX's profit of $3.24 million.[49][50][51]

Radio Disney was told not to allow any ads for the film to air on the station, stating, "Due to recent initiatives with The Walt Disney Company, we are being asked not to align ourselves promotionally with this new release Shrek. Stations may accept spot dollars only in individual markets."[52] The restriction was later relaxed to allow ads for the film's soundtrack album onto the network.[53]

On May 7, 2001, Burger King began promotions for the film, giving out a selection of nine exclusive Candy Caddies based on the Shrek characters, in Big Kids Meal and Kids Meal orders.[54] Ice cream chain Baskin-Robbins also ran an 8-week promotion of the film, selling products such as Shrek's Hot Sludge Sundae, a combination of Oreo Cookies 'n Cream ice cream, hot fudge, crushed chocolate cookies, whipped cream and squiggly gummy worms, and Shrek Freeze Frame Cake, featuring an image of Shrek and Donkey framed by sunflowers. This was to support the film's DVD/VHS release.[55]

Home media

The film was released on VHS and DVD on November 2, 2001. Both releases included Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance Party!, a 3-minute musical short film, that takes up right after Shrek's ending, with film's characters performing a medley of modern pop songs.[56]

Shrek was released to video on Friday, the same day that Pixar's Monsters, Inc. hit theaters. Since videos were traditionally released on Tuesdays, Disney's executives didn't receive this well, saying "that the move seemed like an underhanded attempt to siphon off some of their film's steam". DreamWorks responded that "it simply shifted the release to a Friday to make it more of an event and predicted that it and other studios would do so more frequently with important films." Monsters, Inc. earned that weekend more than $62 million, breaking the record for an animated film, while the Shrek's video release made more than $100 million,[57] and eventually became the biggest selling DVD of all time with over 5.5 million sales.[58]

A 3D version of the film was released on Blu-ray 3D on December 1, 2010, along with its sequels. The films were sold separately in 2012.[59]

Reception

Critical response

Shrek was well-received, with critics praising Shrek as an animated film worthy of adult interest, with many adult-oriented jokes and themes but a simple enough plot and humor to appeal to children.[60] Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 87% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 190 reviews, with an average score of 7.7/10. The critical consensus is: "While simultaneously embracing and subverting fairy tales, the irreverent Shrek also manages to tweak Disney's nose, provide a moral message to children, and offer viewers a funny, fast-paced ride."[61]

Roger Ebert praised the film, giving it four stars out of a possible four and describing it as "jolly and wicked, filled with sly in-jokes and yet somehow possessing a heart."[62] USA Today's Susan Wloszczyna praised Eddie Murphy's performance, stating it "gives the comic performance of his career, aided by sensational digital artistry, as he brays for the slightly neurotic motormouth."[63] Richard Schickel of Time also enjoyed Murphy's role, stating, "No one has ever made a funnier jackass of himself than Murphy."[64] Peter Rainer of New York magazine liked the script, also stating that "The animation, directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, is often on the same wriggly, giggly level as the script, although the more "human" characters, such as Princess Fiona and Lord Farquaad, are less interesting than the animals and creatures -- a common pitfall in animated films of all types."[65] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film a positive review, saying "Shrek is a world-class charmer that could even seduce the Academy when it hands out the first official animation Oscar next year."[66] James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave the film three and a half stars out of four, saying "Shrek is not a guilty pleasure for sophisticated movie-goers; it is, purely and simply, a pleasure."[67] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times gave the film a positive review, saying "The witty, fractured fairy tale Shrek has a solid base of clever writing."[68] Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gave the film an A-, saying "A kind of palace coup, a shout of defiance, and a coming of age for DreamWorks."[69] Jay Boyar of the Orlando Sentinel gave the film a positive review, saying "It's a pleasure to be able to report that the movie both captures and expands upon the book's playful spirit of deconstruction."[70]

Steven Rosen of The Denver Post gave the film a positive review, saying "DreamWorks Pictures again proves a name to trust for imaginative, funny animated movies that delight kids and adults equally."[71] Susan Stark of The Detroit News gave the film four out of four stars, saying "Swift, sweet, irreverent, rangy and as spirited in the writing and voice work as it is splendid in design."[72] Lou Lumenick of the New York Post gave the film four out of four stars, saying "A fat green ogre with a grouchy disposition and worse manners, Shrek is the sort of unlikely hero that nobody could love -- except just about everyone who sees this hip and hilarious animated delight."[73] Jami Bernard of the New York Daily News gave the film four out of four stars, saying "The brilliance of the voice work, script, direction and animation all serve to make Shrek an adorable, infectious work of true sophistication."[74] Rene Rodriguez gave the film three out of four stars, calling it "A gleefully fractured fairy tale that never becomes cynical or crass."[75] Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times gave the film four out of five stars, saying "Beating up on the irritatingly dainty Disney trademarks is nothing new; it's just that it has rarely been done with the demolition-derby zest of Shrek."[76] William Steig, the author of the original book, and his wife Jeanne Steig also enjoyed the film, stating "We all went sort of expecting to hate it, thinking, 'What has Hollywood done to it?' But we loved it. We were afraid it would be too sickeningly cute and, instead, Bill just thought they did a wonderful, witty job of it."[77]

John Anderson of Newsday gave the film a positive review, saying "The kind of movie that will entertain everyone of every age and probably for ages to come."[78] John Zebrowski of The Seattle Times gave the film three out of four stars, saying "The movie is helped immensely by its cast, who carry it through some of the early, sluggish scenes. But this is Murphy's movie. Donkey gets most of the good lines, and Murphy hits every one."[79] Jay Carr of The Boston Globe gave the film a positive review, saying "In an era when much on film seems old, Shrek seems new and fresh and clever."[80] Stephen Hunter of The Washington Post gave the film five out of five stars, saying "Despite all its high-tech weirdness, is really that most perdurable of human constructions, a tale told well and true."[81] Joe Baltake of The Sacramento Bee gave the film a positive review, saying it "Isn't so much a fractured spoof of everything Disney, but actually a Monty Python flick for kids -- kids of all ages."[80] Andrew Sarris of The New York Observer gave the film a positive review, saying "What gives Shrek its special artistic distinction is its witty and knowingly sassy dialogue, delivered by vocally charismatic performers whose voices remind us of their stellar screen personae in live-action movies."[82] Lisa Alspector of the Chicago Reader gave the film a positive review, saying "This romantic fantasy complicates the roles of beauty and beast, making it hard to guess what form a sensitive resolution will take."[83] Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal gave the film a positive review, saying "The charms of Shrek, which is based on the children's book by William Steig, go far beyond in-jokes for adults."[84]

A mixed review came from Mark Caro of the Chicago Tribune, who gave the film two and a half stars out of four and compared the film to Toy Story 2, claiming it "had a higher in-jokes/laughs ratio without straining to demonstrate its hipness or to evoke heartfelt emotions."[85] On the more negative side, Michael Atkinson of The Village Voice said he was "desperately avoiding the risk of even a half-second of boredom," and said "the movie is wall-to-window-to-door noise, babbling, and jokes (the first minute sees the first fart gag), and demographically it's a hard-sell shotgun spray."[86] Christy Lemire of the Associated Press described Shrek as a "90-minute onslaught of in-jokes," and said, while it "strives to have a heart" with "a message about beauty coming from within," "somehow [the message] rings hollow."[80] Anthony Lane of The New Yorker said, despite the film "cunning the rendering of surfaces, there's still something flat and charmless in the digital look, and most of the pleasure rises not from the main romance but from the quick, incidental gags."[87]

Box office

Shrek opened in more than 3,587 movie theaters on its 2001 release,[88] with eleven of them showing the film digitally, made possible by the THX Division of Lucasfilm.[89] This was the first time that DreamWorks had shown one of its films digitally.[90] The film earned $11,573,015 on its first day and $42,347,760 on its opening weekend, topping the box office for the weekend and averaging $11,805 from 3,587 theaters.[91] In its second weekend, due to the Memorial Day Weekend holiday, the film gained 0.3 percent to $42,481,425 and $55,215,620 over the four-day weekend, resulting in an overall 30 percent gain.[92] Despite this, the film finished in second place behind Pearl Harbor and had an average of $15,240 from expanding to 3,623 sites.[92] In its third weekend, the film retreated 34 percent to $28,172,869 for a $7,695 average from expanding to 3,661 theaters.[93] The film closed on December 6, 2001, after grossing $267,665,011 domestically, along with $216,744,207 overseas, for a worldwide total of $484,409,218.[2] Produced on a $60 million budget, the film was a huge box office smash and is the fourth highest-grossing film of 2001 behind Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and Monsters, Inc..[2]

Shrek became the highest-grossing animated film ever to be released in Australia, passing the mark set by The Lion King in 1994.[94] In the United Kingdom, Shrek regained the top spot at the British box office after being beaten out the previous week by Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, earning a $20.3 million since its opening in the UK.[95]

Accolades

At the 74th Academy Awards, Shrek won the first ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, beating Monsters, Inc. and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.[96] Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Prince Charming? So last millennium. This decade, fairy-tale fans — and Princess Fiona — fell for a fat and flatulent Ogre. Now, that's progress."[97] It was nominated for The Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.[98]

Shrek was also nominated for 6 BAFTA Awards, including the BAFTA Award for Best Film. Eddie Murphy became the first actor to ever receive a BAFTA nomination for a voice-over performance. The film was also nominated for Best Visual Effects, Best Sound, Best Film Music, and won the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.[99] Shrek was nominated for a dozen Annie Awards from ASIFA-Hollywood, and won eight Annies including Best Animated Feature and Outstanding Individual Achievement for Directing in an Animated Feature Production.[100]

In June 2008, the American Film Institute revealed its "Ten top Ten"; the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community Shrek was acknowledged as the eighth best film in the animated genre, and the only non-Disney·Pixar film in the Top 10.[101][102] Shrek was also ranked second in a Channel 4 poll of the "100 Greatest Family Films", losing out on the top spot to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.[103] In 2005, Shrek came sixth in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Cartoons poll behind The Simpsons, Tom and Jerry, South Park, Toy Story and Family Guy.[104] In November 2009, the character, Lord Farquaad, was listed #14 in IGN UK's "Top 15 Fantasy Villains".[105] In 2006, it was ranked third on Bravo's 100 funniest films list.[106]

American Film Institute recognition:

Festivals

The film was entered into the 2001 Cannes Film Festival,[107] and was the first animated film since Disney's Peter Pan (1953) to receive that honour.[108]

Influence

Previous films and TV shows, such as Fractured Fairy Tales and The Princess Bride, have parodied the traditional fairy tale.[109] However, Shrek itself has noticeably influenced the current generation of mainstream animated films.[109] Particularly after Shrek 2, animated films began to incorporate more pop culture references and end-film musical numbers.[109] Such elements can be seen in films like Robots, and Chicken Little.[109] It also inspired a number of computer animated films which also spoofed fairy tales, or other related story genres, often including adult-oriented humor, most of which were not nearly as successful as Shrek, such as Happily N'Ever After, Igor, and Hoodwinked!.[109]

Other media

Main article: Shrek the Musical

Several video game adaptations of the film have been published on various game console platforms, including Shrek (2001), Shrek: Hassle at the Castle (2002), Shrek: Extra Large (2002), Shrek: Super Party (2002) and Shrek SuperSlam (2005).[110] Shrek was also included as a bonus unlockable character in the video game Tony Hawk's Underground 2 (2004).[111]

In 2003, Dark Horse Comics released a Shrek three-issue mini-series comic book adaptation, written by Mark Evanier, which were collected into a trade paperback.[112]

A musical version, based on the film, with music by Jeanine Tesori and a book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire, opened on Broadway on December 14, 2008, and closed January 3, 2010, running for a total of 441 performances.[113] It starred Brian d'Arcy James in the title role, Sutton Foster as Princess Fiona, Christopher Sieber as Lord Farquaad, Daniel Breaker as Donkey, and John Tartaglia as Pinocchio.[113] The Broadway production was recorded and released on DVD, Blu-ray and digital media.[114][115][116] A North American Tour opened July 25, 2010, in Chicago.[113] A London production opened in the West End on June 7, 2011.[117] The musical received many Tony Award nominations and won the 2009 Tony Award for Best Costume Design. It received five Laurence Olivier Award nominations including Best New Musical.[118]

Sequels and spin-offs

Main article: Shrek (franchise)

Shrek had three sequels which included Shrek 2, Shrek the Third and Shrek Forever After. Although Shrek 2 received similar acclaim from critics,[119] the last two movies did not receive as much critical acclaim.[120][121] They were however still box office hits.[122][123] There were also two holiday specials called Shrek the Halls and Scared Shrekless, a spin-off called Puss in Boots (a prequel to the Shrek series, exploring Puss's origin story and his life before meeting Shrek and Donkey) and several shorts.[124] A fifth feature film was also planned for release, but was later cancelled in 2009, after it was decided that Shrek Forever After (originally titled Shrek Goes Fourth) was to be the last film in the series.[124]

References

Notes

  1. ^ In July 2014, the film's distribution rights were purchased by DreamWorks Animation and transferred to 20th Century Fox.[125]

Citations

  1. ↑ "‘Shrek’ shleps in". Variety. April 25, 2001. Retrieved July 27, 2015. She was speaking at DreamWorks’ special screening Sunday at Mann’s Village Theater in Westwood.
  2. 1 2 3 "Shrek". Box Office Mojo.
  3. ↑ "Shrek gets a star on Walk of Fame". CBBC. May 21, 2010. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
  4. ↑ Stars and Stories (June 15, 2007). "Mike Myers: how I nailed Shrek's accent". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Eddie Murphy: Hollywood's Million-Dollar Donkey : Tell Me More". NPR. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  6. ↑ Itzkoff, Dave (May 10, 2010). "Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz on 'Shrek'". The New York Times. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  7. ↑ Peter Bradshaw (June 29, 2001). "Shrek | Film". The Guardian. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  8. ↑ Paul Willis For CNN (August 24, 2009). "Vincent Cassel: Playing France's tough guys". CNN. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  9. ↑ Brian, Greg (June 5, 2012). "Conrad Vernon: Today's funniest unknown voice actor, from 'Shrek' to 'Madagascar 3' - Yahoo News". Yahoo! News. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "10 Top 10". AFI. May 18, 2001. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Shrek: Interview With Mike Myers". Culture.com. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  12. 1 2 "Shrek: Production Notes". cinema.com. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  13. ↑ Beck, Jerry (2010). The Animated Movie Guide. Chicago Review Press. p. 248. ISBN 1-55652-591-5.
  14. ↑ Hill, Jim (May 19, 2004). ""From the Swamp to the Screen" is a really entertaining look at the creation of the first two "Shrek" films". Jim Hill Media. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
  15. ↑ "The 50 Best Animated Movie Characters". Empire. p. 30. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
  16. ↑ Laporte, Nicole (2010). The Men Who Would Be King: An Almost Epic Tale of Moguls, Movies, and a Company Called DreamWorks. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 277. ISBN 978-0-547-48716-8.
  17. ↑ Thompson, Anne (April 30, 2010). "DreamWorks Tell-All Exposes Katzenberg Shrek Bail-Out". IndieWire. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
  18. ↑ Neuwirth 2003, p. 30.
  19. ↑ "Shrek's house, early concept". Paul Shardlow. Sketchbook. May 27, 2010.
  20. ↑ "Barron Park Donkeys". RosettaStoneInc.com.
  21. ↑ Tracy, Joe (2001). "dFX Interview: Raman Hui". digitalmediafx.com. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  22. 1 2 "Shrek : Production Information". Culture.com. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
  23. 1 2 3 4 Tracy, Joe (2001). "Animating Shrek - Behind the scenes". digitalmediafx.com. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
  24. ↑ Wloszczyna, Susan (May 18, 2001). "Pigs, dwarfs and Pinocchio, but no Goldilocks". USA Today. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
  25. ↑ Pearson, Jennifer (March 12, 2013). "'I didn't want to look like an ogre!' Nicolas Cage on his VERY costly decision to turn down Shrek". Daily Mail (London). Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  26. ↑ Dawn, Randee (March 18, 2013). "Nicolas Cage: No regrets on turning down 'Shrek'". Today. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  27. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hill, Jim (May 16, 2004). "How "Shrek" went from being a train wreck to one for the record books". JimHillMedia.com. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
  28. ↑ Griggs, Brandon. "Hear Chris Farley's Shrek in newly unearthed clip". CNN. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  29. ↑ Shrek. DVD Commentary, 2001.
  30. ↑ "Mike Myers forces £4m rejig of Shrek". The Guardian (London). May 2, 2001. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
  31. ↑ "The Best Revelations from Mike Myers' WTF Podcast: 'Wayne's World,' 'Shrek,' and More". Yahoo!. July 29, 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  32. ↑ Neuwirth 2003, p. 31.
  33. ↑ "Shrek's appeal; WHY MYERS' OGRE JUST HAD TO HAVE SCOTS ACCENT.". thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  34. ↑ Villalobos, Brian (June 29, 2007). "Janeane Garofalo Talks Ratatouille". Film.com. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
  35. ↑ "DreamWorks SKG chooses MotionAnalysis Corp. ExpertVision HiRES motion capture system for "Shrek".". thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  36. ↑ Neuwirth 2003, p. 28.
  37. ↑ Raman Hui (2007). The Tech of Shrek The Third. Event occurs at 0:41. In the first Shrek, we started the animation in 1998.
  38. ↑ Blair 2001, p. 1.
  39. ↑ "Shrek FAQ". Digital Media FX. 2001.
  40. ↑ Blair 2001, p. 2.
  41. ↑ Burlingame, Jon (April 22, 2009). "Gregson-Williams scores many toons". Variety. Retrieved March 8, 2015. The first three — “Antz,” “Chicken Run” and “Shrek” — were jointly done by Gregson-Williams and Powell,...
  42. ↑ Alex Ben Block, Lucy Autrey Wilson (2010). George Lucas's Blockbusting: A Decade-by-Decade Survey of Timeless Movies Including Untold Secrets of Their Financial and Cultural Success. HarperCollins. p. 885. ISBN 0061778893. line feed character in |title= at position 29 (help);
  43. ↑ Shrek (Original Motion Picture Score). 2001. 302 066 308 2.
  44. ↑ Neuwirth, Allan (2003). Makin' Toons: Inside the Most Popular Animated TV Shows and Movies. Skyhorse Publishing Inc. p. 32.
  45. ↑ Neuwirth. 2003. p.33
  46. ↑ Lake, Kirk (2010). There Will Be Rainbows: A Biography of Rufus Wainwright. Skyhorse Publishing Inc. pp. 141–142. ISBN 0-06-198846-4. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
  47. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "A List of Spoofs and References in PDI/DreamWorks Animated Shrek". digitalmediafx.com. 2001. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
  48. 1 2 Zipes, Jack (2011). The Enchanted Screen Unknown History of Fairy-Tale Films. UK: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-99061-5.
  49. ↑ "As Expected, Imax Reports A Loss". Studio Briefing (Culture.com). November 9, 2000.
  50. ↑ Carter, Meg (October 13, 2000). "Imax cinemas". The Guardian (London). Retrieved February 10, 2012.
  51. ↑ Linder, Brian (June 8, 2000). "Shrek Like Imax". IGN. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
  52. ↑ Tracy, Joe (May 1, 2001). "Radio Disney - "No Shrek Ads!"". digitalmediafx.com. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
  53. ↑ Tracy, Joe (June 11, 2001). "Radio Disney Allows Shrek Soundtrack Ads". digitalmediafx.com. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
  54. ↑ "Burger King Shrek Promotion Begins Today". digitalmediafx.com. May 7, 2001. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
  55. ↑ Baskin-Robbins in big Shrek's promotion at thefreelibrary.com.
  56. ↑ Jacobson, Colin. "Shrek: Special Edition (2001)". DVD Movie Guide. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
  57. ↑ Lyman, Rick (November 21, 2001). "Fuzzy Creatures vs. Green Ogre; 'Monsters, Inc.' and 'Shrek' Are Likely Foes for New Oscar". The New York Times. Retrieved March 13, 2012.
  58. ↑ "Pearl Harbor cleans up on DVD". The Guardian (London). December 13, 2001. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
  59. ↑ "Samsung brings "Shrek" to 3D Blu-ray". Hollywood in Hi Def. March 26, 2010.
  60. ↑ Vasquez Jr., Felix (April 29, 2009). "Shrek". Cinema Crazed. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  61. ↑ "Shrek (2001)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 13, 2009.
  62. ↑ Ebert, Roger (May 18, 2001). "Shrek". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on July 10, 2010. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
  63. ↑ Wloszczyna, Susan (May 18, 2001). "'Shrek' spins jokes from fairy tales". USA Today. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
  64. ↑ Schickel, Richard (May 21, 2001). "Cinema: Monstrously Good". Time. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
  65. ↑ Rainer, Peter (May 21, 2001). "Troll on a Roll". New York. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  66. ↑ Peter Travers (May 18, 2001). "Shrek | Movie Reviews". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  67. ↑ "Reelviews Movie Reviews". Reelviews.net. May 18, 2001. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  68. ↑ Kenneth Turan (June 27, 1987). "A Sophisticated ... Ogre?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  69. ↑ Lisa Schwarzbaum on (June 1, 2001). "Shrek Review | Movie Reviews and News". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  70. ↑ Jay Boyar (May 18, 2001). "Contrary Fairy Tale". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  71. ↑ Lawson, Terry (May 15, 2007). ""Shrek" sustains creative dynasty". The Denver Post. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  72. ↑ "Detroit News Movie Finder". Web.archive.org. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  73. ↑ Lumenick, Lou (May 16, 2001). "'Shrek' It Out: An Unlikely Lovable Ogre Cavorts In An Instant Fairy-Tale Classic". New York Post. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  74. ↑ "'Shrek' Gets Ugly, Hilariously". Daily News (New York). May 16, 2001. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  75. ↑ "Movie: Shrek". Web.archive.org. July 26, 2003. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  76. ↑ Mitchell, Elvis (May 16, 2001). "Shrek (2001)". The New York Times. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
  77. ↑ Puig, Claudia (May 31, 2001). "'Shrek!' author exclaims his approval of film". USA Today. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
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  79. ↑ Zebrowski, John (May 18, 2001). "Entertainment & the Arts | 'Shrek' should be monstrous fun for kids and adults | Seattle Times Newspaper". Community.seattletimes.nwsource.com. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
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  83. ↑ Alspector, Lisa. "Shrek". Chicago Reader. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  84. ↑ Morgenstern, Joe (May 18, 2001). "Ooh-La-Loud! Nicole Shines, but 'Moulin Rouge' Is Just Too Exhausting". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  85. ↑ Caro, Mark (May 18, 2001). "An ogre in love". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  86. ↑ Michael Atkinson (May 15, 2001). "Manic Regression - Page 1 - Movies - New York". The Village Voice. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  87. ↑ Lane, Anthony. "Shrek". The New Yorker. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  88. ↑ "Shrek Opens on 3,587 Screens!". digitalmediafx.com. May 18, 2001. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
  89. ↑ "Taking Shrek Digital". digitalmediafx.com. May 22, 2001. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
  90. ↑ "Shrek to Air Digitally on 11 Screens". digitalmediafx.com. May 17, 2001. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
  91. ↑ "Weekend Box Office Results for May 18-20, 2001". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  92. 1 2 "Weekend Box Office Results for May 25-27, 2001". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  93. ↑ "Weekend Box Office Results for May 25-28, 2001". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  94. ↑ "Shrek Sets All-Time Record In Australia". Studio Briefing. July 26, 2001.
  95. ↑ "Shrek Returns To Top Of U.K. Box Office". Studio Briefing. July 18, 2001.
  96. ↑ "'Shrek' wins for animated feature". USA Today. Associated Press. March 25, 2002. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
  97. ↑ "100 Greatest Movies, TV Shows, and More". Entertainment Weekly. December 4, 2009. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
  98. ↑ "Golden Globes: 2002 winners in full". BBC News. December 20, 2001. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
  99. ↑ "Shrek - Awards". The New York Times. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
  100. ↑ "Legacy: 29th Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners (2001)". The Annie Awards. Archived from the original on May 25, 2012. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
  101. 1 2 3 4 5 "AFI Crowns Top 10 Films in 10 Classic Genres". ComingSoon.net. June 17, 2008. Retrieved August 18, 2008.
  102. ↑ "Top Ten Animation". afi.com. Retrieved June 18, 2008.
  103. ↑ "100 Greatest Family Films". Archived from the original on March 4, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
  104. ↑ Beck, Jerry (November 3, 2004). "100 GREATEST CARTOONS". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  105. ↑ Parfitt, Orlando (November 12, 2009). "Top 15 Fantasy Villains". IGN UK. IGN. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
  106. ↑ "Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies of all time". Boston Globe. July 25, 2006. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  107. ↑ "Shrek". Festival de Cannes. Retrieved October 18, 2009.
  108. ↑ "Shrek scores at the US box office". The Guardian (London). May 21, 2011. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
  109. 1 2 3 4 5 Poniewozik, James (May 10, 2007). "Is Shrek Bad for Kids?". Time.
  110. ↑ "Shrek - Xbox". IGN. October 19, 2001. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  111. ↑ "Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Cheats, Codes, Unlockables - Xbox". IGN. October 4, 2004. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  112. ↑ "Shrek TPB". Dark Horse Comics.
  113. 1 2 3 "Breaker Replaces Gregory and Other Changes Announced for NY Bound SHREK". Broadwayworld.com. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  114. ↑ SHREK: THE MUSICAL Now Available For Pre-Order broadwayworld.com. Retrieved July 19, 2013
  115. ↑ Filmed Version of Broadway's Shrek Will Be Available in October Playbill,com. Retrieved July 20, 2013
  116. ↑ SHREK: THE MUSICAL DVD/Blu Now Available For Pre-Order Broadway World. Retrieved July 26, 2013
  117. ↑ Shenton, Mark (July 2, 2010). "Shrek the Musical to Open at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in May 2011". Playbill. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
  118. ↑ "London Theatre News, Reviews, Interviews and more". whatsonstage. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  119. ↑ "Shrek 2 (2004)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 14, 2009.
  120. ↑ "Shrek the Third - Movie Reviews, Trailers, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 18, 2010.
  121. ↑ "Shrek Forever After Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved June 12, 2010.
  122. ↑ "Shrek Forever After (2010)". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved August 22, 2010.
  123. ↑ "Shrek the Third (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 5, 2009.
  124. 1 2 Wloszczyna, Susan (November 26, 2009). "First look: 'Shrek Forever After': Fourth, final film is first in 3-D". USA Today. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  125. ↑ Chney, Alexandra (July 29, 2014). "DreamWorks Animation Q2 Earnings Fall Short of Estimates, SEC Investigation Revealed". Variety. Retrieved July 30, 2014.

Bibliography

  • Blair, Iain (May 5, 2001). "The Making of Shrek". digitalanimators.com. pp. 1 2. 
  • Neuwirth, Allan (2003). Makin' Toons: Inside the Most Popular Animated TV Shows and Movies. Skyhorse Publishing Inc. 

External links

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