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 swampy rebuke to fairy tale convention that became a box office phenomenon and cultural touchstone. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, it paired computer animation with a knowing script that skewered Disney tropes while still delivering genuine warmth. Mike Myers voiced the title ogre, and the film went on to win the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, cementing DreamWorks as a serious rival in the animation landscape and launching a franchise that reshaped family entertainment for the decade that followed.
This cell preserves the opening credit for Shrek himself, the ornery, onion-loving ogre whose name became inseparable from the studio that made him. A card bearing his name at the start of a film functions as introduction and promise, the moment before story begins where the audience is told whose swamp they are entering. For collectors, this piece marks the character's very first foothold in the picture, a clean entry point tied directly to the film's identity rather than to any single scene or gag, making it a foundational artifact for anyone assembling a Shrek collection.
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 appear clean with no visible tearing.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the bottom edge beside the perforations, appearing as a dual bilateral waveform; a separate dotted blue line consistent with a DTS timecode track is also visible alongside it.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight blue-cyan tint consistent with modern polyester stock; 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 content, consistent with a title sequence from the film on record.
Era check
The polyester base tint, dual bilateral optical track, and DTS timecode stripe together are 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 000063260
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
