National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

DreamWorks Animation released Shrek in May 2001, marking a turning point for computer-animated features and challenging Disney's long dominance of the genre. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, the film earned the inaugural Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and became a defining cultural touchstone of the early 2000s, launching one of animation's most successful franchises.

This cell, titled Shrek's Swamp, captures three consecutive 35mm frames from a single shot early in the film. The frames show the wooden "Beware Ogre" warning sign posted at the edge of Shrek's swamp, with a dark cave and rocky terrain visible behind it — a quiet establishing moment that introduces the ogre's solitary domain before Shrek himself appears.