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 studio still establishing itself as a rival to Disney's animation legacy. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, the film reimagined fairy tale conventions with irreverence and heart, pairing computer animation with a soundtrack and voice cast (Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz) that helped redefine family entertainment for a new generation. Its success proved animated films could appeal to adults and children alike, launching a franchise and cementing DreamWorks as a major studio player.
This cell preserves a frame featuring Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, figures borrowed from the Grimm tradition and Disney's own canon, repurposed here within Shrek's fairy tale universe. Their appearance situates them among the film's ensemble of classic characters reworked for comic and narrative effect. For collectors, this pairing holds appeal as a piece of the film's broader tapestry, a physical remnant of how Shrek folded familiar storybook figures into its own world, offering a tangible link to that inventive blending of old and new fairy tale mythology.
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; punched edges appear clean with no visible tearing or distortion.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible on one edge alongside what appears to be a Dolby Digital data-block strip between the perforations on the same edge; a blue-tinted DTS timecode line is also visible running along the lower edge area.
Edge print
Upper edge reads (mirrored): '2 238 3 504 1 9 1 37 KOD.4K 28 2001' — consistent with a Kodak key-number sequence and year code.
Base & colour
Base shows a light cyan-blue tint typical of Kodak Vision stock; the dye image appears warm-toned with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No visible scratches, splice marks, or cue marks are apparent in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot and the animated character style is consistent with the CGI feature Shrek (2001).
Era check
The combination of Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks, DTS timecode stripe, variable-area optical track, Kodak Vision base with cyan tint, and the 2001 edge-print year code is all consistent with a theatrical release print from 2001.
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 000063144
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
