National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

DreamWorks Animation released Shrek in May 2001, positioning it as a direct challenge to Disney's dominance in feature animation. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, the film combined irreverent humor with groundbreaking computer-generated imagery and earned the inaugural Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Its cultural footprint proved enormous, launching one of animation's most successful franchises.

This cell, titled Shrek and Donkey, captures three frames from a continuous shot set against a stone-wall backdrop. Donkey looks upward toward Shrek, who stands above him in the characteristic dynamic that defines their unlikely partnership throughout the film. The near-identical framing across all three frames reflects the steady rhythm of a held conversational moment between the two characters.