National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

DreamWorks Animation released Shrek in May 2001, marking a turning point for the studio and for computer-animated features broadly. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, the film challenged Disney's dominance in family animation and went on to win the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Its irreverent humor and technical ambition made it a defining work of early 2000s cinema.

This 35mm cell captures Shrek's Swamp, the rustic exterior setting that anchors the film's opening act. Across three consecutive frames, the wooden gate structure, mossy rocks, and dense yellow-green vegetation are visible in slightly varying exposures, preserving a quiet, character-free moment from one of the film's most recognizable locations.