National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

DreamWorks Animation released Shrek in May 2001, marking a turning point in computer-animated filmmaking and signaling a genuine challenge to 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 artifact of the early 2000s, launching one of animation's most successful franchises.

This cell captures Lord Farquaad in his throne room, filmed from a deliberately low camera angle that plays directly into one of the film's central visual jokes — the vast, imposing architecture of his castle contrasted against his notably small frame. It is a quietly expressive piece of 35mm that distills the character's pomposity into a single, carefully composed image.