National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

DreamWorks Animation released Shrek in May 2001, marking a turning point for computer-animated features and offering a knowing, irreverent counterpoint to the fairy-tale conventions that had defined the genre. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, the film became a cultural landmark, winning the inaugural Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and launching one of animation's most enduring franchises.

This cell captures Lord Farquaad bearing down on the Gingerbread Man during the dungeon interrogation sequence, one of the film's most memorable early scenes. The three frames hold the same tense composition — Farquaad imposing from above, the diminutive Gingerbread Man below him on the table — with a document bearing a gold emblem visible in the frame, grounding the moment in its darkly comic context.