Shrek
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Andrew Adamson
Mike Myers
Eddie Murphy
Cameron Diaz
John Lithgow
Vincent Cassel
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
One night, Shrek, a large ogre who lives in a cozy cottage in a swamp, has his solitude interrupted by torch-carrying villagers from a nearby town. After Shrek politely frightens the villagers away, he picks up a dropped piece of paper that reads: "Wanted Fairy Tale Creatures Reward." The next day, as dozens of terrified fairy tale creatures are being brought in for rewards, an Old Woman turns in a Donkey, saying that he talks. Donkey refuses to speak, but when a tiny fairy crashes into him, sprinkling him with magic dust, he starts to fly and gleefully boasts out loud. Crashing to earth, Donkey escapes and runs into Shrek. They are soon approached by guards, who order them to halt by order of Lord Farquaad, but Shrek scares them away. The jive-talking Donkey, who immediately warms to his new acquaintance, decides to tag along with Shrek, despite the ogre's gruff insistence that he likes to be alone. Back at the swamp, Shrek refuses to allow Donkey to stay inside his cottage, but soon finds his dinner interrupted by the appearance of three Blind Mice, a nightgown-clad wolf and a myriad of other fairy tale creatures. Shrek loudly orders them to leave his swamp and return home, but they reply that they cannot because Farquaad has evicted them. The disgusted Shrek determines to remedy the situation by finding Farquaad and demanding that the creatures be sent back. Amid the gleeful cheers of the creatures, Shrek, accompanied by the unshakable Donkey, sets off to find Farquaad. Meanwhile, in a castle in Duloc, the diminutive Farquaad tortures a Gingerbread Man, then asks a Magic Mirror how he can become king. Magic Mirror advises him to marry a princess and shows him three choices, Snow White, Cinderella and, finally, Princess Fiona, who is locked in a castle guarded by a Dragon. Farquaad does not listen to Magic Mirror's warning that something happens to the beautiful Fiona at night and chooses her, then determines to find a champion to free her. When Shrek and Donkey arrive at the immaculately maintained Duloc, the town is deserted, but they find everyone in the stadium listening to a speech by Farquaad, who is holding a tournament to determine a champion. Seeing Shrek, Farquaad announces that the person who kills the ogre will be the champion. Shrek easily bests his attackers and so impresses Farquaad that he names Shrek his champion and agrees to give him the deed to the swamp and send the fairy tale creatures back home in exchange for freeing Princess Fiona. As Shrek and Donkey journey toward the princess' castle, Shrek philosophizes that ogres are usually misunderstood but actually have many layers, like onions. Once at their destination, Shrek and the frightened Donkey successfully navigate a rope bridge suspended over a lava pit and enter the castle. Donkey comes face to face with the Dragon, who snaps to attention and goes after him, but Shrek dons armor and saves him. In the process, though, Shrek is flung into Fiona's tower room. She is impressed by Shrek's entrance and pretends to be asleep so that her "knight so bold as to rescue her" can kiss her awake. Instead, Shrek gives her a shake and is uninterested in her talk of romance. Dragging Fiona through the castle, Shrek finds Donkey, who has inadvertently awakened amorous feelings in the female Dragon. She tries to prevent them from leaving, but Shrek effects their escape and ensnares the Dragon in chains. Once safely on the road to Duloc, Fiona demands to see Shrek's face and is disappointed by his appearance until he assures her that Farquaad has sent him. When she stubbornly insists that only her true love can rescue her, Shrek hoists her over his shoulder and continues on. During the journey, Donkey seeks Fiona's advice on how to discourage the Dragon's romantic interest, and Shrek and Donkey joke about Farquaad's size. When Fiona realizes that it will soon be nightfall and Duloc is some distance away, she adamantly refuses to go farther and spends the night alone in a cave. Later, as Donkey sympathizes with Shrek's regret that the world "has a problem" with a big ugly ogre, Fiona eavesdrops. Next morning, a very cheerful Fiona emerges from the cave and makes breakfast for Shrek. When the three resume their journey, Fiona and Shrek playfully tease each other and start to realize that they have a lot in common. When they see Duloc in the distance, both Fiona and Shrek come up with excuses to delay reaching Duloc. During dinner, Shrek and Fiona look dreamy-eyed at each other, but at sunset Fiona retreats, alone, into a deserted windmill. Donkey comments that Shrek and Fiona are "digging on each other," but Shrek thinks that a princess would never be interested in an ogre. Donkey then sneaks into the windmill and is astonished to find that Fiona has turned into an ogre. She tells him that because of a curse she will spend her days beautiful, but at sunset turn into the ugly creature she is now, until the curse is removed by love's first kiss. She then starts to cry, saying that she must marry Farquaad before sunset. Just as Fiona expresses doubt that anyone could love someone so ugly, Shrek, who has gathered flowers and practiced loving endearments to tell Fiona, approaches the door of the windmill and thinks that she is speaking of him. The next morning, Shrek angrily tells Fiona he heard what she said the previous night, and she assumes that he knows about the curse but does not care for her because she is ugly. Just then, Farquaad and his entourage arrive, and he proposes to Fiona, who immediately accepts and suggests that they marry that day. After Fiona rides off with Farquaad, Shrek angrily rejects Donkey's advice and the two part. During the ensuing hours, Fiona pines for Shrek as she prepares for her wedding, while Shrek sadly returns to his lonely swamp and Donkey encounters the lovesick Dragon, who has followed him. Later, Shrek hears something outside and finds Donkey building a wall with some branches. Donkey chastises Shrek for building his own walls and for pushing away Fiona, who likes¿and may even love him. Shrek then apologizes to Donkey, who forgives him because "that is what friends are for," and the two determine to stop Fiona's marriage to Farquaad. With the aid of the happily smitten Dragon, Shrek and Donkey arrive at the Duloc cathedral just as Fiona and Farquaad are pronounced man and wife. Shrek rushes up the aisle and tells Fiona he wants to talk with her, incurring Farquaad's contempt for being an ogre in love with a princess. Just then the sun begins to set and Fiona turns into her ogre self. When Shrek tells her he loves her, she admits that she loves him, too, and they kiss, apparently breaking the curse. Fiona does not understand why she has not transformed into her beautiful self, but Shrek assures her she is beautiful. Some time later, in the swamp, Fiona and Shrek marry, with all of their fairy tale creatures in attendance, then ride off on their honeymoon in an onion magically transformed into a coach.
Cast
Mike Myers
Eddie Murphy
Cameron Diaz
John Lithgow
Vincent Cassel
Peter Dennia
Clive Pearse
Jim Cummings
Bobby Block
Chris Miller
Cody Cameron
Kathleen Freeman
Michael Galasso
Christopher Knights
Simon J. Smith
Conrad Vernon
Jacquie Barnbrook
Guillaume Aretos
John Bisom
Matthew Gonder
Calvin Remsberg
John-paul Vignon
Val Bettin
Crew
Ian Abercrombie
Jeffrey Abrams
Andrew Adamson
Edip Agi
Steven Albert
Newell Alexander
Rosemary Alexander
David Allen
Tom Allen
Victoria Alonso
Alice Alonzo
Susan Amar
Mitchell Amino
Tom Amundsen
Michael Andrews
Slamm Andrews
Guillaume Aretos
Kelly Asbury
Curtis Augspurger
Matt Authement
Francisco Avalos
Dale Baer
Matt Baer
Chris Bailey
Charles G. Baldwin
Ken Ball
Michele Barbera
Zsoka Barkacs
Dana Basinger
Robert Batha
Jeff Beall
Susan Beech
Anders Beer
Anna Behlmer
Michelle Belforte
John Bell
Steve R. J. Bell
Lon Bender
James Beshears
Ken Bielenberg
Andrew Birch
Alicia Bissinger
Toni Blake
Lisa Brenner Bloomquist
J. J. Blumenkranz
Patty Bonfilio
Liz Borges-herzog
Rejean Bourdages
Christian Bouyer
Terran Boylan
John Braunreuther
Graham Breeze
Karen Schneider Brodine
Kelly Brown
Ken Bruce
George Bruder
Andrew Bruss
James Buckhouse
Juan J. Buhler
Steve Bulen
Julie Butchko
Anthony Byrnes
Cody Cameron
Cody Cameron
Greg Camp
Jimmy Campbell
Claudia Candia
Shelly Carney
Mitch Carter
Randy Cartwright
Denise Nolan Cascino
Becky Cassady
Chung Chan
Sergio Chaves
Tim Cheung
Toby Chu
Richard Chuang
Kenny Chung
Paul Chung
Dale E. Cieslak
Terry Claborn
Chris Clancy
Chris Clark
Leonard Cohen
John Coleman
Michael Collery
Rhett Collier
John Colt
Corey Comstock
Reg Connelly
Dayla Corcoran
Ritchie Cordell
Anthony Correa
Denis Couchon
Bart Coughlin
Michelle Cowart
David Cowgill
Stéphane Cros
Chanda Cummings
Christian Cunningham
Kevin L. Cureton
Cassidy Curtis
Michael Cutler
Jennifer Dahlman
Donnachada Daly
Brian J. Danker
Ken Danziger
Eric Darnell
Eric Darnell
Sumit Das
Valerie Davidson
Ronald M. Davis
Michael Day
Alain De Hoe
Andre De Oliviera Araujo
Geoffrey Deane
Brian Deans-rowe
Irene Deery
Philippe Denis
Edward Deren
Luc Desmarchelier
Steve Deutsch
Gilles Dezeustre
Neil Diamond
Joe Dicesare
Gregory A. Dismond
David Doepp
Jonathan Dooley
Sylvain Doreau
Moosie Drier
Grzegorz Duda
Andy Dudman
E
Craig Edelblut
Mark Edwards
Iake Eissinmann
Ted Elliott
Ted Elliott
Michael J. Endlich
Thomas Esmeralda
Sim Evan-jones
Lynn Ezelle
Rachel Falk
Rick Farmiloe
Peter Farson
Dado Feigenblatt
Leslee Feldman
Bart Feliciano
David Fent
Kirstie Field
Raffaella Filipponi
Elizabeth Finch
Penney Finkelman Cox
Edmund Fong
Nickson Fong
Nick Foster
Crystal Foth
Barry Fowler
Bruce L. Fowler
Walter Fowler
Jennifer Freeman
Marilyn Friedman
James Fujii
Elisa Gabrielli
Curtis Galloway
John Garbett
Michael Garner
Bart Gawboy
Scott Gershin
Nik Gervae
Sara Getzkin
Nerses Gezalyan
Jonathan Gibbs
Hector Gika
Jean Gilpin
Norman Gimbel
Peter Gladysz
Sue Gleadhill
Dana Glover
Philippe Gluckman
Lioudmila Golynskaia
Dennis Gordon
Keith Gorham
Carlos Grangel
Ed Granlund
Peter Grassi
Alex Grau
Gavin Greenaway
Gavin Greenaway
Chad Greene
Harry Gregson-williams
Harry Gregson-williams
Harry Gregson-williams
Laura Grieve
Isobel Griffiths
Rex Grignon
Matthieu Grospiron
Nick Guest
Ben Gunsberger
Timothy Guyer
Film Details
Technical Specs
Award Wins
Best Animated Feature Film
Best Animated Feature Film
Award Nominations
Best Adapted Screenplay
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
When the film opens, an old book is shown. As the pages of the book are turned, Mike Myers, as his character, "Shrek, " narrates off-screen what is written, the story of a princess kept in a castle, guarded by a dragon. As a page turns to "For her true love and true love's first kiss," it is ripped from the book as Shrek scoffs "Like that's ever gonna happen." A moment later, Shrek emerges from an outhouse. The film's title then appears, followed only by the names Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and John Lithgow. Shrek marked the final feature film of long-time character actress Kathleen Freeman, who provided the voice for the "Old Woman" who sells "Donkey."
Early news items and production charts list Kelly Asbury as the film's director, and some news items in trade publications listed Asbury as co-director with Andrew Adamson, but Asbury is only credited onscreen as "Story artist." A January 24, 1996 Hollywood Reporter news item noted that DreamWorks paid $500,000 for the rights to William Steig's children's book and that Tommy Swerdlow and Michael Goldberg were to write the script. Neither Swerdlow nor Goldberg were credited onscreen and their contribution, if any, to the completed project has not been determined.
According to various feature articles, news items and Hollywood Reporter production charts, Chris Farley, Tom Bosley, Marion Ross, Janeane Garofalo and Linda Hunt, whose voices were not included in the completed film, were cast in the picture. Farley, who died on December 18, 1997, had recorded several sessions as Shrek, according to news items, and the filmmakers had hoped to salvage his work for the completed film. However, in August 1998, Myers was brought in as a replacement and Shrek's dialogue was completely redone. Garofalo's voice was not in the completed film, but she was listed on early Hollywood Reporter production charts, and was to have provided the voice of "Fiona." Bosley, Ross and Hunt's roles were cut from the completed film. Hunt was to have given voice to a character named "Dama Fortuna," a witch in a segment called "Fiona's Prologue," Bosley and Ross were cast as Shrek's parents.
In a May 25, 2001 feature article in Entertainment Weekly, Myers explained that the accent used for the film was inspired by his mother, who was born in Liverpool, England, but moved to Canada, where Myers was born. As Myers described it, he wanted the character to "have the Scottish accent of somebody who's lived in Canada 20 years." The article also noted that Myers was not happy after seeing how his dialogue meshed with the animation and talked producer Jeffrey Katzenberg into allowing him to re-record his entire role. The article estimated that the re-recording added $4,000,000 to the film's overall budget, which a May 22, 2001 Los Angeles Times article estimated at $48,000,000 to $60,000,000.
The computer-generated animation featured in Shrek was developed by DreamWorks and Pacific Data Images (PDI), the Palo Alto-based company at which the film was shot. PDI/DreamWorks had also produced Antz (2000), and many of the production and artistic team who worked on that film also worked on Shrek, including Adamson, who made his directing debut with Shrek. As noted in many reviews and feature articles, Shrek brought the level of computer-generated animation to a higher level, particularly in techniques developed for facial expressions and muscle and cloth movement.
According to the film's presskit, the depth of movement and viscosity in the film was made possible by PDI/DreamWorks' Fluid Animation System (FLU). High levels of realism in facial and muscle movement and shading were made possible by a newly developed software technique nicknamed the "Shaper." A Wall Street Journal article noted that PDI made use of the Linux operating system instead of software from Microsoft or Silicon Graphics, Inc., which had been the more dominant software systems used for computer-generated animation and special effects. When Shrek opened in May 2001, it was released in both traditional and digital formats, the first time for any DreamWorks film, according to a Hollywood Reporter news item. The digital version of the film was exhibited at eleven theaters throughout the U.S. and Canada and was handled by LucasFilm's THX division.
The presskit also notes that there were thirty-six separate scenic locations in the completed film. The swamp was inspired by a magnolia plantation outside Charleston, SC, and Duloc was inspired by San Simeon (Hearst Castle) in California, Stratford-on-Avon in England and Dordogne, France.
In June 2000, Hollywood trade papers reported that DreamWorks was planning a joint venture with IMAX to release a 3-D version of Shrek. The IMAX version was to coincide with the DVD release of the film. However, news items in November 2000 noted that the deal had fallen through. A Hollywood Reporter article on November 9, 2000 noted that the project had been abandoned by IMAX due to the escalation of the costs related to creative changes in the project.
According to various news items, the extensive marketing and promotional campaign for Shrek was one of the largest in film history, including promotional tie-ins with Burger King restaurants and Heinz ketchup, among others. Book tie-ins were also launched to coincide with the film's theatrical release, including a new edition of Steig's book and a novelization of the film. In late December 2000, a Daily Variety article noted that DreamWorks had just signed a five-year deal with TDK Mediactive to develop computer games based on Shrek.
Shrek was put into competition at the May 2001 Cannes Film Festival, the first animated film to be placed into official competition for the Palme d'Or since Walt Disney's Peter Pan in 1953. After its North American release in May 2001, Shrek had the largest non-holiday opening for an animated film and was the largest DreamWorks opening to date. It was the first release of the summer to take in more than $200,000,000 at the box office and went on to gross over $267,000,000 domestically, the second highest grossing film of 2001.
The DVD release of the film included videotaped storyboard conferences for three unused segments of the film, including "Fiona's Prologue," mentioned above, which was to have explained how Fiona became cursed. A second segment, called "The Deal," involved negotiations between "Lord Farquaad" and Shrek for the deed to the swamp. A third segment, titled "Fiona Gets Them Lost," was to take place after Shrek, Fiona and Donkey escape from the Dragon's castle and start on the road to Duloc. Storyboards indicate that some of the action was to involve a cave-enclosed roller-coaster-like sequence similar to one in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Within Shrek (which means "horror" in Yiddish) there are numerous parodies of well known fairy tales and popular animated films. The Wicked Witch from The Wizard of Oz, Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men and other well-known characters and films are also parodied. For example, the scene in which Fiona fights with Robin Hood emulated the kind of stop-action special effects photography popularized in The Matrix. Satirizations of Disney films, Disneyland and Disney-related items provide the film with many of its comic moments. When Shrek and Donkey first arrive at Duloc, they see a series of crowd-control ropes and a turnstile similar to those used in Disneyland and other amusement parks. Later, they open a cabinet and tiny animated figures sing a cheerful song similar to "It's a Small World," the tune that is heard throughout the epononymously named ride at Disneyland.
Many fairy tale figures included in Disney films appear briefly in Shrek, often against type. At Shrek and Fiona's wedding, for example, Cinderella slugs Snow White in order to catch Fiona's bridal bouquet. Many reviews and feature articles on Shrek suggested that Katzenberg, who had been head of animation production at Disney prior to becoming a partner in DreamWorks SKG, was taking satiric revenge against his former studio.
A number of critics pointed out a more serious side to the film in its Holocaust allusions, particularly evident in the sequence in which the fairy tale characters are turned in for rewards. Some feature articles speculated that the characterization of "Lord Farquaad" was a self-parody of Katzenberg, while others suggested that the demeanor, if not the physical stature, of the character was based on Disney CEO Michael Eisner. The physical appearance and clothing of the character closely resembles the appearance of actor-director Laurence Olivier in his production of William Shakespeare's Richard III.
A number of feature articles commented on a "rivalry" between Shrek and Disney/Pixar's Monster's, Inc., which opened on November 2, 2001. The DVD version of Shrek was released on the same date as Monster's, Inc.'s opening, prompting some news items to indicate a deliberate attempt to undermine the domestic box office of Monster's, Inc. The DVD was released in a two-disc set, with eleven hours of special features, including an additional three-minute segment of the film's "I'm a Believer" musical finale and the videotaped storyboard conferences noted above for the three unused segments of the film. The DVD release of Shrek set an all-time record, with 2.5 million units sold within three days.
In addition to being nominated by AFI as Movie of the Year, Shrek received twelve Annie nominations and one award from the International Animated Film Society and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture, Musical or Comedy. The film won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature of the year and was nominated in the category of Best Screenplay based on previously published or produced materials. A sequel to the film, Shrek 2, which began pre-production in mid-2001, was released in 2004. That film, which was directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon, also featured the voices of Myers, Diaz and Murphy, as well as Julie Andrews, John Cleese and Antonio Banderas.
Miscellaneous Notes
Nominated for the 2001 Eddie Award for Best Edited Feature - Comedy or Musical, from the American Cinema Editors (ACE).
Nominated for the 2001 Golden Laurel Award for Best Motion Picture from the Producers Guild of America (PGA).
Nominated for the award for Movie of the Year at the 2001 American Film Institute (AFI) Awards.
Voted one of the 10 best films of 2001 by the American Film Institute (AFI).
Winner of the 2001 award for Best Animated Feature from the Broadcast Film Critics Association.
Winner of the 2001 award for Best Animated Feature from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.
Winner of the 2001 award for Best Animated Feature from the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS).
Winner of the 2001 award for Best Animation from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.
Winner of the 2001 Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing for Music in an Animated Feature Film by the Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE).
Winner of the 2001 People's Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture.
Released in United States Spring May 16, 2001
Released in United States May 18, 2001
Released in United States on Video November 2, 2001
Released in United States 2001
Shown at Tokyo International Film Festival (Opening Night) October 27 - November 4, 2001.
William Steig's children's book "Shrek" was published in 1990.
Began shooting October 15, 1996.
Completed shooting December 2000.
Chris Farley was originally cast as the voice of Shrek and had already done some voice recording sessions before his death on December 18, 1997.
Released in United States Spring May 16, 2001
Released in United States May 18, 2001
Released in United States on Video November 2, 2001
Released in United States 2001 (Shown at Tokyo International Film Festival (Opening Night) October 27 - November 4, 2001.)
Nominated for the 2001 award for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing - Feature from the Cinema Audio Society (CAS).
