National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

DreamWorks Animation released Shrek in May 2001, marking a turning point in computer-animated filmmaking and a deliberate challenge to Disney's dominance of the genre. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, the film earned the first-ever 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 Shrek, captures three sequential 35mm frames from what appears to be a single continuous shot. Across all three frames, Shrek is seen on or near a wooden boat or dock structure set against an open blue sky, with subtle positional variation between frames suggesting motion or gesture, preserving a brief but complete moment from the film in its original photographic form.