Shrek Home Video DVD Television Commercial (2001)
56Shrek is a 2001 American computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 1990 fairy tale picture book of the same name by William Steig. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson in their directorial debuts, it stars Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow as the voices of the lead characters. The film parodies other fairy tale adaptations, primarily aimed at animated Disney films. The story follows the titular Shrek (Myers), an ogre who finds his swamp overrun by fairy tale creatures who have been banished by the corrupt Lord Farquaad (Lithgow) aspiring to be king. Shrek deals with Farquaad to regain control of his swamp in return for rescuing Princess Fiona (Diaz), whom Farquaad intends to marry. With the help of Donkey (Murphy), Shrek embarks on his quest but soon falls in love with the princess, who is hiding a secret that will change his life forever.
After purchasing the rights to Steig's book in 1991, Steven Spielberg planned to produce a traditionally animated film based on the book, but John H. Williams convinced him to bring the project to the newly founded DreamWorks in 1994. Jeffrey Katzenberg began active development of the film in 1995, immediately following the studio's purchase of the rights from Spielberg. Chris Farley was originally cast as the voice for the title character, recording nearly all of the required dialogue. After Farley died in 1997, before his work on the film was finished, Mike Myers was hired to voice the character, eventually settling on giving Shrek a 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 premiered at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or, making it the first animated film since Disney's Peter Pan (1953) to be chosen to do so. The film was theatrically released by DreamWorks Pictures in the United States on May 18, 2001, and grossed $484 million worldwide against a production budget of $60 million, becoming the fourth highest-grossing film of 2001. It was widely praised by critics for its animation, voice performances, soundtrack, writing, and humor, which critics noted simultaneously catered to both adults and children. Shrek was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and won the first-ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. It earned six award nominations from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), winning BAFTA's Best Adapted Screenplay.
The film's success helped establish DreamWorks Animation as a prime competitor to Pixar in feature film computer animation. Three sequels were released—Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek the Third (2007), and Shrek Forever After (2010)—along with a spin-off film and other productions within the Shrek franchise. 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 originally canceled but were revived in 2016, although the project has since stalled and has yet to begin production.
Voice Cast
Mike Myers as Shrek, One of the Three Blind Mice
Eddie Murphy as Donkey
Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona
John Lithgow as Lord Farquaad
Vincent Cassel as "Monsieur" Robin Hood
Conrad Vernon as Gingerbread Man
Chris Miller as Magic Mirror, Geppetto
Cody Cameron as Pinocchio, The Three Little Pigs
Simon J. Smith as Blind Mouse
Christopher Knights as Thelonius, One of the Three Blind Mice
Aron Warner as Big Bad Wolf
Jim Cummings as Captain of the Guards
Kathleen Freeman as Old Woman (Donkey's ex-owner)
Andrew Adamson as Duloc Mascot (a man dressed in a suit that looks like Lord Farquaad)
Bobby Block as Baby Bear from the Three Bears
Michael Galasso as Peter Pan
© 2001 Dreamworks Animation LLC
(http://www.dreamworksanimation.com/)
Posted for entertainment and educational purposes only.
No copyrights were infringed. All works are the property of the company listed above. Please do not reproduce without their expressed written consent.
#shrek #PacificDataImages #Shrek20 #mikemyers #eddiemurphy #dreamworks #camerondiaz #johnlithgow #universalstudiosflorida #DreamWorksSKG #HarryGregsonWilliams #universalstudios #WilliamSteig #cowmissing