Shrek
Info and Spoiler
mainstream movie
Shrek is a animated feature based upon William Steig's 1990 fairy tale, picture book entitled Shrek!. It was directed by New Zealander Andrew Adamson and animated by DreamWorks Animation SKG in May 2001. It was the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, a category introduced in 2001 . It was released on DVD on November 2, 2001.
The name Shrek likely comes from the Yiddish word (pronounced Shreck) or the German word Schreck, in either case meaning fear or terror.
The film features the voices of Mike Myers as a large, strong, solitude loving yet grumpy green ogre named Shrek, Cameron Diaz as the beautiful but very down-to-earth and feisty Princess Fiona, Eddie Murphy as a talkative donkey named Donkey, and John Lithgow as the villainous Lord Farquaad. Chris Farley was originally going to do the voice for Shrek and did at least half of the audio for the voice, but died before the project was completed. Dreamworks then recast the voice to Mike Myers. After Myers had completed providing the voice for the character and the movie was to production, he asked to be allowed to rerecord all of his lines in a Scottish accent similar to the one his mother used when she told him bedtime stories. Myers had also employed this character voicing for a skit during his Saturday Night Live tenure, and also for the character Stuart MacKenzie in the motion picture So I Married an Axe Murderer.
It was critically 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. It made notable use of pop music, the soundtrack includes music by Smash Mouth, Joan Jett, The Proclaimers, Jason Wade, The Baha Men, and Rufus Wainwright.
The film was extremely successful on release in 2001 and it helped establish DreamWorks as a prime competitor to Walt Disney Pictures in the field of feature film animation, particularly in computer animation. Furthermore, Shrek was made the mascot for the company's animation productions.
This film is third on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies". Shrek was also ranked second in a Channel 4 poll of the 100 greatest family films, losing out on the top spot to E.T.
Plot SPOILER END OF TALE IS GIVEN
HERE
Shrek, a large, terrifying, peace and solitude loving ogre,
finds a surprise when fairy tale creatures are sent to live in his swamp by the
evil Lord Farquaad of Duloc. Shrek 'befriends' an extremely annoying talking Donkey,
and the two set off to Duloc to meet with Lord Farquaad. When Shrek and Donkey
visit him, he strikes a deal with them to rescue Princess Fiona from an amorous
fire breathing dragon so that he can marry her and they both will become king
and queen, with the promise that upon Fiona's delivery, Lord Farquaad will remove
the fairytale creatures from Shrek's swamp. The Dragon turns to be a female and
she falls in love with Donkey. However, Donkey escapes and Dragon chases them.
Once Shrek and Donkey rescue Fiona they take her back to Lord Farquaad. Along the way, Shrek falls in love with Fiona. Fiona reveals to Donkey that she is cursed to turn into an ogre every night. The only way the curse can be broken is by "true love's first kiss." Fiona and Farquaad's marriage ceremony is interrupted by Shrek, who tells Fiona he loves her. Fiona tells Shrek about her curse, and Farquaad is about to condemn Shrek to death and to imprison Fiona when Dragon breaks through a window and eats him. Shrek and Fiona kiss and Fiona turns into an Ogre permanently. Shrek gets his swamp back, and the two marry there. After a karaoke party the two set off on their honeymoon.
The film is set in a fairytale world, with funny appearances from commonly known fairytale characters.
Trivia
Shrek
and Monsters, Inc. are the first CG animated movies to win an Academy Award of
a different nomination in the same year (Shrek for Best Animated feature of 2001,
and Monsters, Inc. for Best Song of 2001).
Dreamworks co founder Steven Spielberg
wanted his good friends Bill Murray and Steve Martin to play Shrek and Donkey.
He was not happy when others were cast but he changed his mind when he saw the
finished project.
Shrek was originally setup to be animated as stop-motion.
The tests were too costly and the executives were not pleased with the overall
look and lack of facial expression in the main character. A test was then shot
on live action background plate miniature sets and the main characters were composited
into the scene as computer graphics. Again, the look of technique of the test
wasn't conducive to produce an entire feature length animated film so the entire
test was done as full computer graphics. Shrek was born and the project was green
lit.
Parodies and jokes
The castle in DuLoc is a parody of Disneyland,
complete with box office, turnstiles, an animatronic information booth resembling
It's a Small World, and ropes for queuing up patrons seeking admittance. It has
also been suggested that the castle resembles the Hesburgh Library at the University
of Notre Dame, which many of the film's animators attended. Similarly, DuLoc is
suggested a reference to the university's full name, Notre Dame du Lac.
Building
on this, du Lac is also the name of the rule book of sorts at the University of
Notre Dame, and is criticized by many students as being overly strict and perfectionist,
much like the Lord Farquaad's kingdom.
On their way back to Lord Farquaad's
castle, Shrek, Donkey, and the Princess are met by Robin Hood (who begins emulating
Michael Flatley). Friar Tuck plays the accordion. However, when Robin Hood attempts
to rescue Princess Fiona the background music changes to a fast jig. Although
Friar Tuck cannot be seen to be playing the accordion any more, the background
music stops immediately after he is knocked out.
The back of Shrek's vest
contains an outline of the Golden Dome of Notre Dame.
The character Lord Farquaad
was modeled after former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, who fired current DreamWorks
CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg from Disney in 1994 . That Farquaad is portrayed as being
extremely short, despite Eisner being fairly tall, is supposedly because Eisner
once made fun of Katzenberg being shorter than him.
In the parking lot of
DuLoc, there is a sign that says "You are parked in Lancelot".
Early
in the movie when viewers are first introduced to Donkey, the Three Bears can
be seen. A little later, when the fairy tale creatures invade Shrek's swamp, the
Papa Bear and the Baby Bear are there, but the Mama Bear is nowhere to be seen.
But after Shrek explained to Donkey why he is better alone, when cutting to Farquaad's
bedroom, we see what had happened to Mama Bear - she has been turned into a rug.
However, a bear with a different-colored bow shows up unharmed in the karaoke
music video.
During the rescuing of Princess Fiona from the dragon, when Shrek
says, "Well, I have to save my ass," (referring to Donkey), there is
a cookbook in the background about how to eat a knight, with one of the pages
bearing the phrase "Knightly Treats" and showing the choice cuts of
a knight.
In Farquaad's room, in the back of his bed, there are paintings
of himself. The middle painting shows Farquaad rising from the sea. This is a
parody of the Botticelli painting The Birth of Venus.
In one scene, Fiona
sings to the birds and kills one by singing in an extremely high pitched tone.
This is a parody of Disney princesses, in particular Princess Aurora in a scene
of Disney animation classic Sleeping Beauty, who are often shown singing with
woodland creatures such as birds.
The smoking remnants of the bird destroyed
by Fiona's singingIn the scene when Fiona is fighting off Robin Hood and his Merry
Men, Fiona jumps into the air and freezes in place; the camera pans around her,
giving her time to adjust her hair, before she finishes off two attackers in normal
time. This is a reference to the movie The Matrix and the "bullet time"
effect introduced in it. Fiona's fight with the Merry Men is also reminiscent
of Charlie's Angels, in which Cameron Diaz stars. The fight scene also contains
references to a famous fight in Ghost in the Shell when Major Kusanagi fights
off a crook, The Fifth Element when Leeloo (Milla Jovovich) fights the aliens
in the hotel room, and Street Fighter II with fighting moves from Ryu and Chun
Li.
Shrek's fight with the knights in Duloc is a parody of a typical fight
portrayed by World Wrestling Entertainment, in particular, the wrestling style
of Hulk Hogan, Kurt Angle, and The Undertaker even applying the Ankle Lock, Angle's
well known submission move, and The Undertaker's Tombstone Piledriver.
Fiona's
"transformation" after she kisses Shrek is practically identical to
the Beast's transformation in Beauty and the Beast.
In the background of the
karaoke party one of the princesses can be seen doing a dance very similar to
that of Elaine Benes from Seinfeld.
In the karaoke dance party, Fiona sings
Madonna's famous song "Like A Virgin".
Some of the fairy tale creatures
such as Snow White bear a striking resemblance to their Disney renditions, but
the best resemblance is seen in The Magic Mirror which is practically identical
to the Disney version.
During the scene where Shrek and Donkey ride Dragon
to Fiona's wedding, the dragon swoops and flies through the clouds in a manner
almost identical to Falcor the luckdragon from The NeverEnding Story.
In addition
to all those above the movie also had a number of fairytale characters making
cameos (Red Riding Hood, the Three Blind Mice, etc).
At one point Shrek says
to Donkey "That'll do, Donkey. That'll do." This is a reference to the
line "That'll do, pig. That'll do." from the film Babe.
The Magic
Mirror sequence is a spoof of the game show The Dating Game. The show's theme
even plays during the sequence.
When Lord Farquaad chooses Princess Fiona
as his bride out of his three choices Pina Colada begins playing, which Cameron
Diaz sang in the movie "The Sweetest Thing."
Donkey is apparently
color-blind, even admitting it himself when sent by Fiona to find a blue flower
with red thorns. He is surrounded by them but cannot see any.
Sequels
Shrek
2 - Was released on May 19, 2004 and quickly overtook Disney's Finding Nemo as
the highest grossing opening weekend for an animated feature. It is the third
most successful movie of all time in terms of domestic US gross, behind only Titanic
and the original Star Wars.
Shrek the Third - This sequel was announced on
June 2, 2004 and titled on March 21, 2006. It was released May 18, 2007, and members
of the crew included the writing team of Jeffrey Price, Peter S. Seaman and Jon
Zack, and the three lead voices from the previous movies: Mike Myers as Shrek,
Eddie Murphy as Donkey, Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona, while adding Justin Timberlake
as King Arthur.
Shrek 4 - The sequel to Shrek 3, to be released in 2010 .
The producers have referred to Shrek being in four parts, the fourth supposedly
focusing on how Shrek ended up in the swamp where we meet him in the first movie,
or how Shrek and Fiona are having trouble taking care of their babies.
Shrek
5 - The sequel to Shrek 4, to be released in 2013 . It was confirmed perhaps as
a joke by Antonio Banderas.
Shrek 4-D - A 3-D 15 minute feature about Shrek
and Fiona encountering Farquaad's ghost on their honeymoon, presented as an attraction
at Universal Studios theme parks. The show was later released on DVD as Shrek
3-D.
Shrek the Halls - A upcoming ABC special premiering in the holiday season
of 2007 . The thirty minute show will include Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron
Diaz, and Antonio Banderas reprising their roles from the feature films.
Puss
in Boots: The Story of an Ogre Killer - spin-off film about Puss in Boots.
Directed
by Andrew Adamson
Vicky Jenson
Produced by Jeffrey Katzenberg
Aron Warner
John
H. Williams
Written by William Steig (original book)
Ted Elliott
Terry
Rossio
Joe Stillman
Roger S.H. Schulman
Starring Voices:
Mike Myers
Eddie
Murphy
Cameron Diaz
John Lithgow
Music by Harry Gregson-Williams
John
Powell
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