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 answer to the polished fairy-tale formula, pairing state-of-the-art computer animation with a script that mocked the very genre it inhabited. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, the film became a cultural touchstone, winning the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and launching a franchise that reshaped family entertainment for a generation raised on irony alongside heart.
This cell isolates a moment framed as Fiona Helping Shrek, placing the ogre and the princess together in an interaction defined by assistance rather than conflict. Fiona's arc across the story moves from fairy-tale captive to capable partner, and collectors prize footage that reflects that shift toward mutual reliance between the two leads. A moment built around help suggests cooperation and trust taking shape within their unlikely partnership, a beat central to the film's reworking of romantic convention. As a single 35mm frame, it preserves one instant of that developing bond straight from the theatrical print.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm 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 look clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, consistent with an analogue stereo print; a blue-tinted stripe is also visible along the opposite edge, consistent with a Dolby SR or similar magnetic-stripe-style coating, though fine detail of a digital data block pattern between perforations cannot be confirmed at this size.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture.
Base & colour
The base appears with a light blue-cyan tint along both edges; the dye image in the picture area reads as warm and saturated with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
Faint horizontal lines consistent with projection wear are visible across the picture area; no splices or cue marks are seen.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be from the same continuous shot and the animated characters visible are consistent with the film on record.
Era check
The 35mm format, variable-area optical soundtrack, blue-edge base tint, and saturated dye image are all consistent with a theatrical release print from the early 2000s, matching the 2001 release date 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 000063123
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
