National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

Shrek was released by DreamWorks Animation in May 2001 and arrived as a genuine turning point for computer-animated feature filmmaking. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, the film challenged the conventions of fairy tale storytelling with irreverent humor and surprisingly layered characters. Its commercial and critical success helped establish DreamWorks Animation as a major force alongside Pixar, and it won the first Academy Award ever given for Best Animated Feature.

This cell, titled Donkey, presents three consecutive frames from the same overhead shot, capturing Eddie Murphy's Donkey from an elevated angle amid the stone structures and equipment of the film's medieval fantasy environment. The repeated composition across all three frames gives the strip a quiet, almost meditative quality that rewards close examination.