Shrek is a 2001 American animated comedy film loosely based on the 1990 book of the same name by William Steig. It is the first installment in the Shrek franchise. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson in their directorial debuts from a screenplay written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S. H. Schulman, the film stars Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow. In the film, the ogre Shrek (Myers) finds his swamp overrun by fairy tale creatures banished by Lord Farquaad (Lithgow). With the help of Donkey (Murphy), Shrek agrees to rescue Princess Fiona (Diaz) for Farquaad to regain his swamp.
After purchasing rights to Steig’s book in 1991, Steven Spielberg sought to produce a traditionally-animated film adaptation, but John H. Williams convinced him to bring the project to the newly founded DreamWorks in 1994. Jeffrey Katzenberg, along with Williams and Aron Warner, began development on Shrek in 1995, immediately following the studio’s purchase of the rights from Spielberg. Chris Farley was cast as the voice for the title character, recording most of the required dialogue, but died in 1997 before his work on the film was finished; Myers was hired to replace him, and gave Shrek his iconic Scottish accent. The film was initially intended to be created using motion capture, but after poor test results, the studio hired Pacific Data Images to complete the final computer animation. Shrek parodies other fairy tale adaptations, primarily animated Disney films.[6]
Shrek premiered at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d’Or,[7] making it the first animated film since Disney’s Peter Pan (1953) to be chosen to do so.[8] The film was theatrically released by DreamWorks Pictures in the United States on May 18, 2001, and grossed over $487 million worldwide, becoming the fourth highest-grossing film of 2001. It was widely praised by critics for its animation, voice performances, soundtrack, writing and humor, which they noted catered to both adults and children. Shrek was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and won for Best Animated Feature. It earned six nominations at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), winning for Best Adapted Screenplay.
The film’s success helped establish DreamWorks Animation as a competitor to Disney and Pixar in feature film computer animation. Three sequels have been released—Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek the Third (2007), and Shrek Forever After (2010)—along with a spin-off film and other productions in the Shrek franchise. It is also regarded as one of the most influential animated films of the 2000s. In 2020, Shrek was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the United States Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. Plans for a fifth film were cancelled and then revived in 2016, although it has since stalled and has yet to begin production.
