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 and reshaped what an animated feature could be, pairing fairy tale pastiche with pop culture wit aimed as much at adults as children. It became a cultural landmark, winning the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and launching a franchise that still defines the studio's identity. Its success proved animation could subvert Disney-style storytelling while remaining commercially dominant, and its blend of irreverence and sincerity influenced a generation of family films that followed.
This cell preserves Lord Farquaad's Guards, the anonymous armored enforcers who carry out the diminutive ruler's decrees across Duloc. They are minor but memorable figures, instantly recognizable through their matching helmets and rigid uniformity, embodying the joke of Duloc's sterile, oppressive order. Collectors value guard cells for representing the film's world-building humor, the sense of a kingdom run like a theme park under a petty tyrant. As background players tied directly to Farquaad's authority, they anchor a piece of the film's satirical machinery, a small but telling fragment of Shrek's comic architecture on film.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital theatrical release print of Shrek (2001)
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames
Perforations
Four per frame on each edge, evenly spaced, cleanly punched with rounded corners, no torn or deformed holes visible
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along one edge, and a Dolby Digital data-block strip appears in the inter-perforation zone on the opposite edge; a DTS timecode line also appears to run alongside the optical track area
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer text or key numbers
Base & colour
Base shows a light cyan-blue tint consistent with modern safety stock; dye image appears neutral with no visible red shift or fading
Projection history
No splices, cue marks, or prominent scratches are visible in this capture
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be from the same continuous shot, consistent with a release print of an animated feature matching the film on record
Era check
The combination of cyan-tinted polyester safety base, Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks, and variable-area optical track is consistent with a theatrical release print from the early 2000s, matching the 2001 release date on record
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 000063200
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
