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 in 2001 from DreamWorks Animation, a release that reshaped what audiences expected from computer animated features. It paired fairy tale conventions with irreverent humor, becoming the first film to win the newly created Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Its success established DreamWorks as a genuine rival to Pixar and launched a franchise that remains a touchstone of early 2000s pop culture, both for its box office performance and its influence on how animated films could speak to adult and child audiences simultaneously.
This cell captures Shrek and Princess Fiona in a moment defined by assistance, Fiona extending aid to the ogre who becomes her companion throughout the story. Their partnership sits at the emotional core of the film, subverting the rescuer and rescued dynamic long expected in fairy tales. Collectors seek frames like this for the character interplay they preserve, a physical fragment of animation history tied directly to the film's most quoted relationship and its reworking of genre expectations.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital SR·D theatrical release print of Shrek (2001).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as two thin white lines consistent with a stereo variable-area format; Dolby Digital pixel blocks are visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the same edge, indicating a Dolby Digital SR·D combined track.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to quote text reliably.
Base & colour
The base shows a light blue-cyan tint consistent with a dyed safety base stock; the dye image appears neutral with no visible red shift or fading.
Projection history
Light longitudinal lines are visible running the length of the strip, consistent with projection wear; no splices or cue marks are seen.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot and the animated characters visible are consistent with the film on record.
Era check
The combination of a blue-tinted safety base, Dolby Digital SR·D inter-perforation data blocks alongside a variable-area optical track, and colour positive image is consistent with a theatrical release print from the early 2000s, matching the 2001 release date 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 000063122
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
