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 touchstone of the early 2000s, launching one of animation's most successful franchises.

This cell, titled Dragon, Shrek and Donkey, captures a sequence from the film's climactic rescue, with Shrek and Donkey mounted on Dragon as she carries them through a misty, tree-lined sky. The three frames present nearly continuous moments from the same flight, offering a rare sustained look at this pivotal trio in motion.