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 computer-animated feature that reshaped what audiences expected from the genre. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, it took the fairy tale formula and inverted it with irreverence and heart, pairing sharp comedy with genuine sentiment. The film became a critical and commercial triumph, winning the first-ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and establishing DreamWorks as a serious rival to Pixar and Disney. Its success proved that animation could speak to adults and children alike, blending pop culture references with timeless storytelling in a way that still resonates decades later.
This cell isolates Lord Farquaad, the diminutive, status-obsessed ruler of Duloc and the film's central antagonist. Farquaad remains one of the most quoted and collected figures from the movie, prized for his exaggerated self-importance and the comic tension he brings against Shrek's world. A single-character cell like this one captures him on his own terms, without the ogre or the donkey sharing the frame, making it a focused artifact for anyone building a collection around Shrek's most memorable personalities.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour 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, evenly spaced, cleanly punched with no torn or deformed holes visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible below the picture area on the lower edge strip, alongside what appears to be a Dolby Digital data block region between the perforations, and a blue DTS timecode stripe is visible at the outer lower edge.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer codes or key numbers.
Base & colour
Base shows a light cyan-blue tint consistent with a colour print stock; the dye image appears warm with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No visible splices, cue marks, or heavy scratching are apparent; the surface appears consistent with a projected release print.
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 Dolby Digital data blocks, DTS timecode stripe, variable-area optical track, and cyan-base colour print stock is consistent with a major studio release print from the early 2000s.
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 000063169
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
