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 as DreamWorks Animation's breakthrough feature, a fractured fairy tale that upended Disney convention with irreverence, pop music, and a rasping ogre as its unlikely hero. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, it won the first-ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and reshaped family filmmaking for the decade that followed, proving audiences would embrace an antihero over a prince.
This cell centers on Shrek's Swamp, the ogre's home ground and the film's opening domain, where his solitary, grumpy way of life is established before the story pulls him into the wider world. Shrek himself remains one of animation's most collected characters, the gruff outsider who became a genuine icon. A cell tied to his swamp captures him in his own territory, the place that defines him before the fairy tale plot intrudes, making it a foundational piece for anyone tracing his arc from hermit to hero.
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, appearing cleanly punched with no torn or deformed holes visible
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along the lower edge, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area pattern, with what appears to be a Dolby Digital data block strip in the inter-perforation zone on the lower edge
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to quote text reliably
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight warm-neutral tint; dye image shows rich, saturated colour with no visible fading or red shift
Projection history
No splices, cue marks or significant scratches are visible in this capture
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be from the same continuous shot, and the subject matter is consistent with the animated feature Shrek (2001)
Era check
The dual bilateral variable-area optical track combined with apparent Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks is 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 000063159
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
