Shrek (2001)

A mean lord exiles fairytale creatures to the swamp of a grumpy ogre, who must go on a quest and rescue a princess for the lord in order to get his land back.

Directors:

Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson

Writers:

William Steig (based upon the book by), Ted Elliott

Stars:

Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz

Won 1 Oscar. Another 38 wins & 60 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mike Myers	...	Shrek (voice)
Eddie Murphy	...	Donkey (voice)
Cameron Diaz	...	Princess Fiona (voice)
John Lithgow	...	Lord Farquaad (voice)
Vincent Cassel	...	Monsieur Hood (voice)
Peter Dennis	...	Ogre Hunter (voice)
Clive Pearse	...	Ogre Hunter (voice)
Jim Cummings	...	Captain of Guards (voice)
Bobby Block	...	Baby Bear (voice)
Chris Miller	...	Geppetto / Magic Mirror (voice)
Cody Cameron	...	Pinnochio / Three Pigs (voice)
Kathleen Freeman	...	Old Woman (voice)
Michael Galasso	...	Peter Pan (voice)
Christopher Knights	...	Blind Mouse (voice)
Simon J. Smith	...	Blind Mouse (voice)

Storyline

When a green ogre named Shrek discovers his swamp has been 'swamped' with all sorts of fairytale creatures by the scheming Lord Farquaad, Shrek sets out with a very loud donkey by his side to 'persuade' Farquaad to give Shrek his swamp back. Instead, a deal is made. Farquaad, who wants to become the King, sends Shrek to rescue Princess Fiona, who is awaiting her true love in a tower guarded by a fire-breathing dragon. But once they head back with Fiona, it starts to become apparent that not only does Shrek, an ugly ogre, begin to fall in love with the lovely princess, but Fiona is also hiding a huge secret.

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Plot Keywords:

ogre | fire breathing dragon | shrek | swamp | princess | 

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Taglines:

The Prince isn't charming. The Princess isn't sleeping. The sidekick isn't helping. The ogre is the hero. Fairy tales will never be the same again.

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild language and some crude humor

Details

Official Sites:

DreamWorks (Flash only) [United States] Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 May 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Shrek

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$42,347,760, 20 May 2001, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$267,665,011

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$484,409,218

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks Animation, DreamWorks, Pacific Data Images (PDI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

DTS (Digital DTS Sound) Dolby Digital SDDS Sonics-DDP (3D re-release)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to Andrew Adamson, Shrek's height varies between seven and eight feet depending on who you ask. He was seven feet and since then he's grown in people's minds, and now he's usually referred to as eight feet.

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Goofs

As far as we know, Fiona has spent her entire life alone in the tower, so she should have no knowledge of the outside world. Yet as her encounters with the songbird and Robin Hood demonstrate, she is more than capable of taking care of herself. However, it is revealed in Shrek 2 that she's spent at least a few years of her life outside the tower (from Fiona's diary), which might be the time when she learned her skills. Another theory is that she could have been practicing in her room in the tower.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[a fairytale book appears]
Shrek: [narrating] Once upon a time, there was a lovely princess. But she had an enchantment upon her of a fearful sort, which could only be broken by love's first kiss. She was locked away in a castle guarded by a terrible fire-breathing dragon. Many brave knights had attempted to free her from this dreadful prison, but none prevailed. She waited in the dragon's keep, in the highest room of the tallest tower, for her true love, and true love's first kiss.
[...]

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Crazy Credits

The film opens and closes using the famous "Disney Fairytale" storybook method; however the film makes fun of this approach by having Shrek tear a page out and use it as toilet paper.

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Alternate Versions

Mike Myers originally recorded Shrek's lines without a Scottish accent, and only later convinced the producers to let him go back and re-recorded the character with the accent. Examples of his original, unaccented dialogue can be heard during the technical goofs feature on the DVD.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Animated Movies You Should See at Least Once (2019)

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Soundtracks

You Belong to Me
Written by Pee Wee King, Redd Stewart and Chilton Price
Performed by Jason Wade
Courtesy of DreamWorks Records

User Reviews

Left-field fairy tale left us rolling in the aisles

9 OUT OF 10!!!! We went to catch the matinee preview of "Shrek". We were still giggling by the time we got home afterwards. Two hours later, we dragged a friend out and went back for the evening show. Some of the shock value was lost, but we caught a few of the background sight gags we missed the first time, and anticipation of some of the other scenes had us in tears before they even happened. Interesting to see the different audience reactions of different age groups, too. This is a *very* funny movie, but it should be noted that most of the kiddy humour is on the burp/fart and yucky dining habits level - Shrek is rather closely related to Raymond Briggs' Fungus the Bogeyman without the orange mohawk. The dialogue and main action quips are mainly aimed at adults and sophisticated kids. One little voice in the afternoon audience piping up "WHAT's he compensating for?" cracked me up...

Be warned that this movie is a non-stop send-up of all things Disney. If predictability and saccharine is your cup of tea, you may not like it. On the other hand, if you are cynical about theme parks and like the idea of fairytale classics getting the Monty Python treatment, you'll love it. Every time a scene looks familiar, it means it is about to go pear-shaped. And it's not just old classics that get the treatment. I spotted (mis)quotes from films that are just being released, both Disney and non-Disney. You name it, it gets an affectionate pie in the face at some point in "Shrek".

As a fairytale, however offbeat, "Shrek" is tighter plotted and better characterised than most Hollywood dross.The parodic twists, a love story subplot that owes more to Shakespeare's comedies than fairytale formula, and the "ugly is the new beautiful" Message more than make up for the derivativeness due to extensive quotation.

As for the acting, confinement to voice-overs keeps the egos of Myers and Murphy in check, and they do a fantastic job as the big fat green smelly recluse and the obnoxiously manic donkey respectively. Diaz is great as a feisty princess who reminds me of Lloyd Alexander's Eilonwy crossed with Lara Croft. Lithgow's Farquaad is a wonderful Bad Guy, modelled on Olivier's Richard III apart from his Little Problem being different. And the Fairytale Creatures...excellent, all of them. The graphics, of course, are state of the art for at least another 2 weeks. We're talking freckles, skin pores and stubble, pupil dilation, and amazing light-and-shade. They had to tone down the realism of the humanoids to stop them looking creepily android-like.

Highly recommended, except for overly precious schmalz addicts.