View Date: May 26th, 2001

Cast :

Directed by: Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson 

Written by: Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman and Roger S.H. Schulman  (based on the book by William Steig)

This movie could easily be subtitled The Vengeance of Jeffrey Katzenburg.  He of the K (in DreamWorks SKG) was sacked by Disney over creative differences with one Michael Eisner, despite having played a large part in some of the studios greatest successes (Beauty and The Beast, Little Mermaid, Aladdin etc.) The studio has built their animation department slowly but surely, with advances like Anastasia and stumbles (Road to El Dorado), slowly but surely chipping away at the mountain of superiority that the mouse house has built.  With Shrek, the cutting edge, antithesis of a children’s movie, DreamWorks has taken there most blatant, and what will undoubtedly be their most successful, swipe, at knocking the king off of the hill.  The film is definitely not children’s faire, combining some humor which is occasionally excessive and crude, but often biting and satirical, and will offend some, while possibly infuriating others (who cannot laugh at themselves, and worship the Disney shrine), but one thing is for sure.  Katzenberg will not be invited to the premiere of the next Disney flick, if Eisner (re:Farquad) has anything to say about it.

The similarities and jibes begin with the opening sequence, showing the green (with envy maybe?) ogre mocking the typical fairy tale story while bathing in mud and brushing his teeth with slugs.  Shrek has created his own isolated life, consisting of reading, dining, and scaring the villagers who frequently hunt down the “nasty” ogre.  During one of his quests through the woods, he comes across a donkey (Murphy) who is being rounded up along with the other freaks of the village, the other fairy tale characters who are tainting the evil prince’s dream of a perfect life and society.  This is one of several scenes where its fun to see how many characters you can pick out. (Pinocchio, The Three Bears, the Seven Dwarfs just to name a few)  Once the other characters find out that Shrek has let the donkey stay with him, they assume that they can seek refuge at the ogre’s house, so they congregate, in another humorous sequence, in a carnival like atmosphere outside.  Frustrated, Shrek sets out to rid his land of his intruders, venturing to the castle (very intentionally similar to a certain theme park, complete with parking areas, roped lines and a musical greeting chorus) where he is sent on a quest to retrieve a princess who will make Farquad’s life complete, so he thinks.  The film is so simple in its story (even though it took me a bit to explain it) that it would be easy for a child to follow along, but the level and pacing may be a bit much.  Then again, although it was marketed as such, this is not a film that should be marketed towards kids.  There seems to be a new genre of animated movie, versus cartoon, that Disney seems to be the last to conform.  The claymation style of animation, similar to Toy Story, and the upcoming Final Fantasy, seems ready made for younger eyes, but the subject matter, and some of the humor levels are not.  There are inferences, cultural references and dialogue that children may not, or should not, have to understand, but this in no way takes away from the sheer enjoyment factor of those who really do get it.  The only minor flaws come when the movie falls into the typical fairy tale mode, which it seemed so enthusiastic about mocking.  The second half settles into the story, zinging occasional one-liners (usually from Murphy) while progressing through to an expected, but still joyous conclusion.  Murphy’s character, while a necessary plot point, seems too much like the Disney implanted sidekick that exists in every film (similarities to Mushu, from Mulan, may not be intended, but are hard to miss).  If DreamWorks truly wants to create the anti-Disney film, they have to commit themselves completely to flying in the face of conventional animation techniques.  For the most part, they do, with dialogue, the humor, the mockery (this may be the first animated spoof ala Zucker Abrams Zucker) but still stumble slightly when comes to execution of the story.  Overall, the lasting effect is an effective one, showing the potential of animation to break barriers, generate intelligent humor and satirically laugh at itself while having a whole lot of fun.

Ultimately, Shrek shows that while Disney may be the 400-lb gorilla, there’s a 200lb green ogre chipping away at its dynasty.  The entire fairy tale world takes it playfully on the chin, and if Disney can live with their tongue firmly planted in cheek, then maybe even they can get a chuckle from it.  So often, things get caught in such a routine, that the sheer joy of being able to find humor inside yourself and your actions gets lost.  Shrek finds that again by never taking itself too seriously, and never insulting the intelligence of its audience while poking fun at the very platform that allows its existence (Cinderella and Snow White in a Dating Game spoof and a gingerbread man who talks back are examples that this is a film that never takes itself too seriously, but always has a glint of intelligence behind the fun.  There is such a thing as biting the hand that feeds you, but in this case, Shrek playfully nibbles around the edges before standing back and smirking at its own cleverness.  The film never gets too caught up in being satirical, with doses of originality mixed into the spoof, while still entertaining and generating an atmosphere that is bound to lay the groundwork for copy cats to come, as Disney already has.  The kids may not get as much out of it now, but when they look back, when their kids are enjoying the after effects, they will remember the experience and maybe even think, Walt who? ($$$$ out of $$$$$)

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