Shrek

***Shrek*** is a computer-animated film adaptation of William Steig's 1990 fairy tale picture book of the same name. 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* is taken from the Yiddish word *שרעק* (pronounced Shreck) meaning 'fear', 'terror', or (in its closest sense) 'fright', and the German "Schreck" with the same meaning. The film features the voices of Mike Myers as a large, strong, peace-loving green ogre named **Shrek**, Cameron Diaz as the beautiful 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 re-cast the voice role to Mike Myers. After Myers had completed providing the voice for the character and the movie was well into production, he asked to be allowed to *re*-record 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.*.

## Profile

* Title: *Shrek*
* Genre: Family/Animation
* Directed by: Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson
* Produced by: Jeffrey Katzenberg, Aron Warner, John H. Williams
* Release date(s): May 18, 2001
* Running time: 90 minutes
* Language: English
* Budget: $60 million
* Following by: *Chicken Run* (2000)
* Followed by: *Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron* (2002)

## Cast

* Mike Myers as Shrek/Blind Mice 2
* Eddie Murphy as Donkey
* Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona
* John Lithgow as Lord Farquaad
* Vincent Cassel as Robin Hood
* Peter Dennis as Ogre Hunter 1
* Clive Pearse as Ogre Hunter 2
* Jim Cummings as Captain of the Guards
* Bobby Block as Baby Bear
* Chris Miller as Geppetto/Magic Mirror
* Cody Cameron as Pinocchio/Three Little Pigs
* Kathleen Freeman as Old woman
* Michael Galasso as Peter Pan
* Christopher Knights as Blind Mice 1
* Simon J. Smith as Blind Mice 3
* Conrad Vernon as Gingy
* Jacquie Barnbrook as Wrestling fan
* Guillaume Aretos as Merry Man 1
* John Bisom as Merry Man 2
* Matthew Gonder as Merry Man 3
* Calvin Remsberg as Merry Man 4
* Jean-Paul Vignon as Merry Man 5
* Val Bettin as Bishop

## Soundtrack

* All Star: Smash Mouth
* On the Road Again: Eddie Murphy
* Friends: Eddie Murphy
* Whipped Cream: Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
* Escape (The Piña Colada Song): Rupert Holmes
* My Beloved Monster: Eels
* You Belong to Me: Jason Wade
* Hallelujah: John Cale
* Try a Little Tenderness: Eddie Murphy
* I'm a Believer: Smash Mouth
* Meditation: Antonio Carlos Jobim
* Welcome to Duloc: Patty Cornell & Susan Fitzer
* Bad Reputation: Joan Jett
* I'm on My Way: The Proclaimers
* Merry Men: Vincent Cassel
* Stay Home: Self
* Best Years of Our Lives: Bala Men
* Like Wow!: Leslie Carter
* It Is You (I Have Loved): Dana Glover

## Trivia

* In Yiddish, Shrek means monster (from the German for terror or fright).

## External Links

* IMDb Profile
* Shrek: The Official Site