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 as a defiant response to the fairy-tale conventions Disney had spent decades polishing. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, it paired a swamp-dwelling ogre with a rescued princess and turned every expected beat of the genre inside out, mixing pop culture gags with genuine warmth. It won the first-ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and became a cultural touchstone, spawning sequels, spin-offs, and a permanent place in animation history. Its success proved that computer animation could carry irreverence and heart in equal measure.
This cell pairs the film's two central figures, Fiona and Shrek, together in a single frame of celluloid. Fiona is the princess who refuses to stay within the bounds of her own storybook role, while Shrek is the ogre whose reluctant heroism redefined what an animated leading man could be. Collectors seek reels that place these two together, since their shared scenes carry the emotional core of the picture, the slow turn from suspicion to partnership that gives the film its lasting appeal. A piece marked simply with both names points to that connection, preserved on film rather than digital reissue.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour 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; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean.
Soundtrack
Not visible in this capture; the area beside the picture frame is obscured by the decorative film-strip overlay.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base appears with a light cyan-blue tint consistent with a colour dye-coupler print; dye image appears saturated with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No scratches, splice marks or cue marks are discernible in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to show the same moment of the same shot, consistent with a release print from an animated feature matching the film on record.
Era check
A cyan-based colour positive on safety stock with this perforation layout is consistent with a theatrical release print of the period of Shrek (2001).
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 000063120
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
