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 decisive break from fairy tale convention, a computer animated feature that mocked the very studio traditions it competed against. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, it paired William Steig's storybook ogre with pop culture irreverence, pointed jokes at Disney's princess formula, and a soundtrack built for radio as much as film. It won the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and reshaped what family animation could sound and look like, launching a franchise and cementing DreamWorks as a genuine rival in the medium.
This cell preserves the DreamWorks studio card, the brief identifying frame that opens the reel before any character or scene appears. It carries no ogre, no swamp, no companions, only the animation house's own signature moment, the boy on the moon logo that greeted audiences at the very start of Shrek's theatrical run. For collectors this is an origin point, the studio's own mark tied physically to the film that changed its fortunes, valued for its place at the threshold of a landmark release rather than for any story content within.
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 complete frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched holes appear cleanly cut with no visible tearing.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the lower edge beside the picture area, appearing as a two-track variable-area format; Dolby Digital data blocks are visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the lower edge, consistent with a dual-format optical release print.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to quote any key numbers or manufacturer text.
Base & colour
The base shows a blue-tinted safety stock tint; the dye image reads as a cool-to-neutral colour balance with no visible red shift or fading.
Projection history
Light horizontal scratching is visible across the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be from the same continuous shot showing the DreamWorks SKG logo title card, consistent with the opening title sequence of the film on record.
Era check
The combination of blue-base safety stock, variable-area optical track with Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks is consistent with a theatrical release print from the early 2000s, matching the 2001 release 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 000063261
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
