National Film RegistryLibrary of Congress · Inducted 2020
“Even by DreamWorks standards, the charm and magic of "Shrek" seemed extraordinary upon its initial release almost 20 years ago — and its power has yet to diminish in the intervening years.”
Selected for preservation as culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.
Directed by
Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson
Studio
DreamWorks · DreamWorks Animation · Pacific Data Images · 90 min
Box office
$488.4M worldwide on a $60M budget
Honors
Academy Awards — 1 win, 2 nominationsAnnie Awards — 1 winBritish Academy Film Awards — 1 winCritics' Choice Movie Award — 1 winAll 4 wins · 3 nominations on record
Academy Awards: Best Animated Feature
Annie Awards: Best Animated Feature
British Academy Film Awards: BAFTA's Children & Young People Award - Feature Film
Critics' Choice Movie Award: Best Animated Feature
Scholarship
Named in the title of 17 peer-reviewed works
Examples
Sources: Wikidata · Library of Congress · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Shrek arrived from DreamWorks Animation in 2001, a fairy tale turned inside out for a studio still finding its voice against Pixar and Disney. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, it paired computer animation with a script that mocked the genre it belonged to, giving audiences an ogre hero, a talking donkey, and a princess with secrets of her own. It won the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and reshaped how mainstream animation could sound, look, and joke. Its success proved that irreverence could carry a family film as far as sincerity once did.
This cell preserves the opening card, the frame where the film announces itself before a single joke lands. A title card is the handshake between studio and audience, the moment craft and branding meet on screen, often reused in promotional prints and early trailer reels. For Shrek this instant carries particular weight since the name itself became a cultural shorthand almost overnight. Collectors seek this piece not for a character pose but for the origin point of a franchise, the exact frame where DreamWorks staked its claim as animation's new disruptor.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Shrek (2001)
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds three frames
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced; punched edges appear clean with no torn or deformed holes visible
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along the bottom edge, with what appears to be a Dolby Digital data-block strip running in the inter-perforation gap beside it, consistent with a dual-format optical track layout
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight blue-teal tint along the edges; the picture area is dense black with yellow title graphics, dye image appears neutral with no visible fading or red shift
Projection history
No scratches, splice marks, or cue marks are visible in this capture
Picture
Positive image; all three frames appear to carry identical title-card content, consistent with a title sequence repeating across frames; the yellow stylised 'Shrek' logo matches the known title treatment of the film on record
Era check
The combination of variable-area optical track and Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks is consistent with a theatrical release print from the early 2000s, matching the 2001 release period of the film on record
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000063115
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
