Donkey, Shrek, the Princess and Lord Farquaad get set to fracture some fairy tales.

Shrek
DreamWorks, 2001
Directed by Andrew Adamson & Vicky Jenson

$$$$

In the opening scene of Shrek, a character steps out of an outhouse. It's a funny sight, but the mere fact that a basic bodily function is acknowledged tells you right away that this is no ordinary animated kids' movie.

An irreverent parody of fairy tales, Shrek has more jokes for adults than it does for kids, though both crowds should be entertained.

The movie starts with a familiar scenario -- a beautiful princess, who's under a spell, needs rescuing. But instead of a valiant knight, her designated savior turns out to be an ugly, fat, foul-breathed ogre. It's just one of the ways this movie twists the cliches of the classic "once upon a time"-genre.

Virtually all our familiar fairy tale characters are here -- from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to Cinderella to the Three Little Pigs. As the movie opens, the characters are treated as social outcasts and the evil, diminutive Lord Farquaad has ordered them all rounded up and relocated to a swamp. But the swamp they're sent to turns out to be the home of the aforementioned ogre, Shrek, who's none too happy. He wants his land to himself, so he sets out on a quest to resolve the matter, and the plot is set in motion.

But movie doesn't just fracture fairy tales, it also roasts Disney's beloved adaptations of many of those tales. The film is being released by DreamWorks, and is co-produced by DreamWorks co-founder -- and former Disney Executive -- Jeffrey Katzenberg. Seeing the film, it's hard not to sense that Katzenberg enjoyed getting in some good digs at his old bosses. Take, for example, the scene in which the princess launches into a soaring duet with songbird. It's a moment that would be at home in any classic Disney film. But the scene quickly takes a darkly comedic twist as the bird, struggling to reach higher octaves, literally explodes. The Disney theme parks are not immune either -- Lord Farquaad's castle turns out to be a send-up of the Magic Kingdom. The movie also effectively uses current pop-culture references and anachronistic rock songs for laughs.

Four well-known talents provide main voices in the film, and the opening credits half-jokingly bill them as if we're actually going to see the actors on screen. Mike Myers is the big star -- he voices the ogre, Shrek, with the same Scottish accent he used as Fat Bastard in Austin Powers II. Eddie Murphy is at his funniest, voicing Shrek's talking-donkey sidekick. Cameron Diaz is the beautiful princess, and John Lithgow rounds out the cast as the midget-sized Farquaad.

The film's computer generated animation is very impressive -- the technology seems to improve from one film to the next. The human faces here are getting very life-like, even if the movements are still a little stiff. But there's no doubt about the faces of audiences that will see Shrek -- they'll all be smiling.
(c) Copyright 2001