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 (2001) arrived from DreamWorks Animation as a landmark in computer animated filmmaking, a fractured fairy tale that skewered Disney conventions while building genuine warmth around an unlikely ogre hero. Its box office success and Academy Award for Best Animated Feature (the category's inaugural year) cemented its cultural footprint, and its irreverent humor and needle drop soundtrack made it a defining piece of early 2000s family entertainment. The film's blend of slapstick and sincerity gave rise to a franchise and a permanent place in animation history.
This cell captures the interrogation scene between Lord Farquaad, the diminutive, power hungry ruler of Duloc, and the Gingerbread Man, one of the fairy tale creatures banished to Shrek's swamp. Farquaad remains a favorite among collectors for his comic villainy and rigid self importance, while the Gingerbread Man's endurance under questioning became one of the film's most quoted sequences. A 35mm cell from this scene preserves a moment prized for its dialogue and character dynamic, a physical artifact from a scene that helped define the film's comedic voice.
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 look clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible below the picture area, appearing as two bilateral variable-area tracks, with a blue DTS timecode stripe also visible along the lower edge beside the optical track.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer text or key numbers.
Base & colour
The base shows a light cyan-blue tint consistent with a dyed safety base stock; the dye image appears warm with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light horizontal abrasion lines are visible across the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be from the same continuous shot, and the animated character and prop visible are consistent with the DreamWorks animated feature Shrek (2001).
Era check
The combination of a bilateral variable-area optical track, a DTS timecode stripe, cyan-tinted safety base, and positive colour print is consistent with a theatrical release print from the early 2000s, matching the 2001 release of Shrek.
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 000063183
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
