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 from DreamWorks Animation in 2001, a fairy tale told from the swamp outward rather than the castle in. It won the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and reset expectations for what a cartoon could poke fun at while still landing an earnest story underneath. Its pop soundtrack, adult wit, and willingness to mock the genre it belonged to made it a cultural marker for the decade, not just a children's release.
This cell pairs Shrek, the ogre whose gruff exterior and reluctant heroism carry the whole franchise, with the Big Bad Wolf, one of the fractured fairy tale characters populating his world. Their shared frame points to the film's running joke of storybook villains turned refugees, tenants, or houseguests in Shrek's swamp. Collectors prize this pairing for showing the ogre alongside a recognizable folklore figure repurposed for comedy, a snapshot of the film's core method: familiar characters, unfamiliar context.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Shrek (2001).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean with no visible tearing.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track (appearing as two bilateral tracks) is visible below the picture area, with a Dolby Digital data block strip running in the inter-perforation gap area on the lower edge, and a blue DTS timecode line is also visible adjacent to the optical tracks.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read any key numbers or manufacturer text.
Base & colour
The base carries a light cyan-blue tint consistent with a dyed safety base; the dye image reads warm amber-brown with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No splices, cue marks or prominent scratches are visible in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, consistent with a release print of Shrek (2001).
Era check
The combination of cyan-tinted safety base, bilateral variable-area optical track, Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks, and DTS timecode line is consistent with a theatrical release print from the early 2000s, matching the 2001 release window of the film 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 000063165
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
