Shrek is a 2001 American
computer-animated fantasy film loosely based on
William Steig's 1990 fairy tale picture book
of the same name and directed by
Andrew Adamson and
Vicky Jenson in their
directorial debut. It stars the voices of
Mike Myers,
Eddie Murphy,
Cameron Diaz, and
John Lithgow, and somewhat serves as a
parody of other films adapted from numerous children's fantasies, mainly
animated Disney films.
The film focuses on an ogre named
Shrek who finds his swamp overrun by fairy tale creatures who have been banished there by order of the evil
Lord Farquaad. In order to get his swamp back, Shrek makes a deal with Farquaad to bring him a queen in exchange for the deed for his swamp. Shrek sets out with a talking
Donkeyand they find
Princess Fiona. While they take Fiona to Farquaad so she can marry him, Shrek starts to fall in love with the princess and soon discovers a shocking secret about her.
The rights to Steig's book 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.
Chris Farley was originally cast as 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 recruit
Pacific Data Images to help
Shrek get its final computer-animated look.
Shrek established
DreamWorks Animation as a prime competitor to
Pixar in feature film computer animation, and grossed $484.4 million at the worldwide box office against its $60 million production budget. It was acclaimed 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.
Shrek won the first ever
Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and was also nominated for
Best Adapted Screenplay. It 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 performance as Donkey, and won the
BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. 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. However, the fifth film was revived in 2016, with a planned release for 2019/2020.
[4] The film's success also inspired other merchandise, such as
video games, a
stage musical, and a
comic book adaptation by
Dark Horse Comics. The film's main title character was awarded his own star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame in May 2010.
[5]
