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 and reshaped what an animated feature could be, trading fairy tale reverence for irreverence and winning the first Academy Award given for Best Animated Feature. Its success helped establish DreamWorks as a genuine rival to Disney and Pixar, built on pop culture humor and a willingness to subvert the genre's own conventions. The film's box office and critical reception proved audiences wanted animation that could be both heartfelt and self-aware.
This cell preserves a piece of 35mm film pairing Shrek, the ogre whose swamp-dwelling isolation gives way to reluctant companionship, with Donkey, the talkative sidekick whose presence defines much of the film's comic rhythm. Together they represent the central relationship of the story, the friction and eventual loyalty that anchors the narrative. Collectors seek this pairing because it captures the two characters most responsible for the film's tone, the duo whose dynamic became a defining image of early 2000s animated comedy and a touchstone for the franchise that followed.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical 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; spacing appears even and the punched edges look clean throughout the visible strip.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along one edge, with what appears to be a Dolby Digital data-block strip in the inter-perforation gaps on the same edge, and a blue DTS timecode line is also visible adjacent to the optical track area.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to quote any text or key numbers.
Base & colour
The base shows a light cyan-blue tint consistent with a colour print stock; the dye image appears neutral with no visible red shift or fading.
Projection history
No splices, cue marks or prominent scratches are visible in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot and the animated characters and setting are consistent with the film on record.
Era check
The combination of a variable-area optical track, Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks, and a DTS timecode line is consistent with a theatrical release print from the early 2000s, matching the 2001 release date 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 000063249
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
