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 swampy counter-fable that upended a decade of fairy-tale convention with irreverence, pop-culture wit, and a soundtrack built for mass appeal. It became a defining release for the studio, earning the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and proving that computer animation could carry adult humor alongside broad family entertainment. Its box-office success and cultural footprint reshaped how animated films were marketed and sequeled for the next two decades.
This cell isolates Donkey, the wisecracking companion whose motormouth energy and unlikely loyalty made him one of the film's most quoted characters. Collectors seek Donkey material for its comic centrality; he carries much of the film's verbal humor and its emotional counterweight to Shrek's gruffness. A single-character 35mm cell like this represents a physical fragment of the theatrical print itself, a tactile piece of the animation's original release rather than a later digital reissue, prized for its direct connection to the film's original theatrical run.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital theatrical release print of Shrek (2001).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched holes appear cleanly formed with no visible tearing.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible below the picture area, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area pattern; a blue Dolby Digital data-block strip is also visible running between the lower perforation row and the optical track, consistent with a Dolby Digital SR print.
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 typical of modern safety stock; the dye image reads as colour-positive with no visible red shift or fading.
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 and the animated character and environment are consistent with the CGI animated feature on record.
Era check
The combination of Dolby Digital data blocks alongside a dual bilateral variable-area optical track is consistent with a theatrical release print from 2001, when Dolby Digital SR was standard for wide-release prints.
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 000063194
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
