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 as the studio's first true genre-bender, a fairy tale skewed sideways with pop culture wit and a swamp-dwelling antihero at its center. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, it became a cultural phenomenon, winning the inaugural Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and proving that animation could needle the very conventions it borrowed from. Its success reshaped how family films could sound and look, opening the door for a franchise, a rival to established animation houses, and a new comic voice in mainstream cinema.
This cell marks the picture's opening credits sequence, the moment audiences are formally introduced to the film before Shrek himself appears in motion. Title card cells hold particular value for collectors because they anchor a film's identity in a single, foundational frame, tying design and typography directly to the movie's launch. For a film that redefined its genre on arrival, owning this piece connects directly to that first, defining announcement of Shrek to the world.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Shrek (2001).
Gauge
35mm, 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.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, with what appears to be a Dolby Digital data-block strip in the inter-perforation zone on the same edge.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight blue-cyan tint consistent with a dyed safety base; the dye image reads as neutral with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No scratches, splice marks or cue marks are visible in this capture.
Picture
Positive image; all three frames show the same title-card composition, consistent with a title sequence from Shrek (2001).
Era check
The combination of a variable-area optical track with apparent Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks 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 000063258
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
