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 as DreamWorks Animation's landmark release, a fractured fairy tale that upended Disney convention with irreverent humor and pop culture cheek. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, it became a critical and commercial triumph, winning the first-ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and launching a franchise that reshaped what animated comedy could be for adult and family audiences alike.
This cell brings together Donkey and Dragon, pairing the film's motormouthed comic relief with one of its more surprising supporting figures. Donkey remains among the most quoted and collected characters from the picture, his rapid-fire banter a defining texture of the film's humor. Dragon, guardian of the tower and central to Fiona's storyline, represents a pivotal turn in the plot's mythology. A cell capturing these two together speaks to the unlikely alliances and reversals of expectation that run through the whole story.
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 three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched holes appear cleanly formed with no visible tearing.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along the lower edge, with what appears to be a Dolby Digital data-block strip running in the inter-perforation zone beside it, consistent with a dual-format optical release print.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read any key numbers or manufacturer text.
Base & colour
The base appears with a slight blue-teal tint along the border strips; the dye image reads as warm-amber overall with no obvious red shift or fading.
Projection history
Light vertical lines are visible across the frame area, consistent with projection wear; no splices or cue marks are seen.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames appear to run consecutively as a single continuous shot, and the animated character rendering is consistent with the CGI feature on record.
Era check
The combination of a variable-area optical track with an adjacent Dolby Digital data block 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 000063240
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
