"Do you know... the muffin man?"

Rating: 8/10 (13 February 2005)

The Simpsons has been one of my favorite TV shows, and for the same reason that I like the Simpsons is what makes Shrek so good. The Simpsons takes the children-only medium of cartoons and makes an adult show out of it, with jokes in it that only adults will find amusing, some for adult eyes' only. Shrek is animation, a beautiful computer animation that looks realistic and bold, has enough kiddy humor in it to make the kids like it, but has even more jokes that adults will love. It's the cross between childhood innocence and adult knowledge that brings Shrek so many laughs. Mike Myers supplies the voice of Shrek, an ogre who enjoys living by himself in his swamp on the outskirt of Duloc, a near-perfect kingdom ran by the insecure Lord Farquaad, voice with wonderful swarmy-ness by John Lithgow. When Farquaad begins to deposit all of the mythical creatures that populate his kingdom into Shrek's swamp, Shrek demands to see the king, and only the smart-ass Donkey knows the way. Donkey is a sassy talking, well, donkey, voiced by Eddie Murphy and is the Lou Costello to Shrek's Bud Abbot--to say Shrek is the straight man in this odd couple is an understatement. After meeting the king, Shrek and Donkey then have a quest of finding Fraquaad Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz), an imprisoned lady guarded by a dragon. I personally would have gone with Snow White, but to each their own. What also sets Shrek apart from other animated movies is the music, mostly rock music, mostly from Smashmouth. I do not think a Disney picture would have made the same selections. It gives it a different feel from the usual animated fare, Shrek for sure has it's own identity. Getting back to the animation, the computer generated scenery and characters are great to look at, very lifelike, even the human beings. Pixar, who has made films such as Toy Story and Finding Nemo, has made it clear that human beings are the most difficult objects to animate on computers, but I think DreamWorks got it right in Shrek--there is nothing there that makes me say "that does not look right." There are great in-jokes about the world of childhood stories, while sprinkling in some very adult humor. The best sight gags for me revolve around Farquaad interrogating a gingerbread man and threatening a magic mirror. Shrek will entertain and amuse the young and old alike.