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 computer-animated feature that reshaped what family films could be. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, it paired fairy tale conventions with modern comedy, earning the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and becoming a cultural touchstone that spawned a lasting franchise. Its willingness to subvert Disney-style storytelling, while still delivering warmth and romance, set a template that animation studios chased for years afterward.
This 35mm cell brings together Princess Fiona and Shrek, the film's central pairing and the emotional core of its story. Fiona subverts the damsel archetype, while Shrek redefines the reluctant hero, and their shared scenes are the ones collectors seek most, since they carry the narrative's romantic and thematic weight. A cell naming both characters together points to a moment of connection between them, the kind of frame that distills the film's central relationship into a single physical artifact from the original theatrical print.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Shrek (2001)
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames
Perforations
Four per frame on each edge, evenly spaced, cleanly punched with no torn or deformed holes visible
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual-stripe variable-area format; Dolby Digital pixel blocks are visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the same edge
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to quote characters reliably
Base & colour
Base shows a light cyan-blue tint consistent with a dyed safety base stock; dye image appears warm and well-saturated with no visible fading or colour shift
Projection history
Light longitudinal scratches are visible running the length of the strip, consistent with a projected print that has passed through a gate
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot and the animated characters visible are consistent with the DreamWorks animated feature Shrek (2001)
Era check
The combination of cyan-tinted safety base, dual 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 000063121
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
