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 in 2001 from DreamWorks Animation, a subversive answer to the fairy tale conventions Disney had spent decades polishing. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, it paired computer animation with a script that mocked its own genre, casting an ogre as the hero and a donkey as his confidant. The film became a cultural landmark, winning the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and proving that animated films could carry adult wit alongside broad comedy. Its success reshaped the animation landscape, launching a franchise and establishing DreamWorks as a serious rival to Pixar and Disney in the years that followed.
This cell centers on Shrek himself, the ogre whose reluctant heroism and dry humor made him one of the defining animated protagonists of his generation. Collectors seek him out because he is the franchise's anchor, the character whose presence alone signals the film's tone and legacy. A single-character strip like this one, showing the ogre isolated from the rest of the cast, offers a clean, iconic touchstone for anyone building a collection around the character's introduction or his standing as the film's central figure.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital theatrical release print of Shrek (2001).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds two complete frames side by side in a flat-bed or scope arrangement, suggesting this is a scope (anamorphic) print with two frames visible across the strip width.
Perforations
Four per frame on both the top and bottom edges; spacing appears even and the punched holes appear cleanly cut with no visible tearing or distortion.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along the bottom edge, appearing as a dual bilateral or variable-area white waveform stripe; a row of blue Dolby Digital data blocks is also visible between the perforations on the bottom edge, indicating a Dolby Digital optical print.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer codes or key numbers.
Base & colour
The base shows a cyan-blue tint consistent with a dye-based colour print stock; the dye image appears saturated with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No visible splices, cue marks or heavy scratching are apparent; the image surface appears consistent with a projected release print.
Picture
Positive colour image; the two frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, and the animated character design is consistent with the CGI animated feature Shrek (2001).
Era check
The combination of Dolby Digital data blocks between perforations and a variable-area optical track alongside a cyan-base colour print stock is consistent with a theatrical release print from the early 2000s, matching the 2001 release window of the film 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 000063231
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
