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 36 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

Alan Rickman was the initial casting choice for the role of Lord Farquaad. However, Rickman opted to portray the role of Professor Severus Snape in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) instead. The role ultimately went to John Lithgow.

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Goofs

When donkey first meets Shrek, when Shrek confronts the knights, the shadows of the all people in the scene do not fall the same way, Shrek's shadow is casting more forward onto the leader knight, whereas the knight's shadows are off to their left.

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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 opening credits are seen around Shrek as he starts his day:

• the film's title and Mike Myers's name appear in the mud Shrek bathes with (appropriate considering Myers voices the title character)
• when Shrek breaks the mirror with his smile, Eddie Murphy's name is seen behind it
• Cameron Diaz's name forms out of pond-scum
• and when Shrek lifts up a snail, its larvae form John Lithgow's name before dissolving.

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Alternate Versions

The Blu-ray release adds some extra music cues to the score. For example, when Donkey sings "You Gotta Have Friends" to Shrek, an instrumental that wasn't there before is heard in the background.

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Connections

Featured in I Hate Everything: the Search for the Worst: The (NOT DREAMWORKS) Collection - 9 Movies! (2017)

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Soundtracks

Best Years Of Our Lives
Written by David Jaymes and Geoff Deane (as Geoffrey Deane)
Performed by Baha Men
Courtesy of S-Curve Records
Produced by Michael Mangini and Steven Greenberg (as Steve Greenberg)

User Reviews

Good quality entertainment.

I'm not one of those persons who praises "Shrek" all the time as one of the greatest movies ever made, like many other persons seem to do. Quite frankly I never really understood what the hype was all about. But still you have to give credit to this movie, it's very entertaining and fun to watch over and over again.

A good sidekick is always important, especially in an animated movie. A good sidekick can make the movie better but a bad sidekick can really ruin a movie. "Shrek" doesn't have a good sidekick...it has an excellent sidekick! Donkey is a wonderful and entertaining character thanks to Eddie Murphy who voiced him. The other main voices are provided by Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and John Lithgow.

Further more I would like to add that I absolutely love the character Pinocchio in this movie.

The story is told in a good way with a nice pace, I especially like how subtle some Disney movies and characters are spoofed. But for some reason I never really found the story in general that very appealing.

The movie is well animated and it shows that DreamWorks is a worthy competitor for Pixar.

The music is good and takes the movie to an higher level and I'm not just talking about the evergreen songs but also about the movie soundtrack by John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams who know how to compose a good and fun score for animated movies.

Although it's getting more credit than it really deserves, it's still a fun and entertaining animated movie.

8/10

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