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 mid-budget swipe at fairy tale convention that became a cultural landmark. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, it paired a gruff ogre with a princess who defied every expectation of the genre, wrapped in pop music and irreverent humor aimed as much at parents as kids. It won the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and helped establish DreamWorks as a genuine rival to Pixar and Disney, proving that animation could be sardonic, adult-adjacent, and still enormously popular with families.
This cell pairs the two figures whose relationship anchors the entire story, an ogre carving out a solitary life and the princess whose fate becomes tied to his. Their shared presence in a single frame of 35mm film marks a pivotal connective thread in the narrative, the moment the fairy tale structure bends toward something more genuine. For collectors, a print isolating these two together holds particular value, representing the emotional core of the film rather than a single character study or isolated gag.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical colour release print of Shrek (2001).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced; punched edges appear clean with no visible tearing or distortion.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, consistent with a standard optical stereo release print.
Edge print
Edge print reads, corrected for mirror reversal: '238 3 504 3 569 1 37 KO D.4K 2 8 2001 0' — includes what appears to be a Kodak key number sequence and a year code.
Base & colour
Base carries a light cyan-blue tint typical of Kodak Vision colour print stock; dye image appears warm and saturated with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light horizontal scratching is visible across the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot and the animated characters visible are consistent with Shrek (2001).
Era check
The Kodak colour print stock with cyan base tint, variable-area optical track, and edge code referencing 2001 are all consistent with a theatrical release print from that year.
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 000063230
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
