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 first true blockbuster under its own banner, a computer-animated feature that took direct aim at fairy-tale convention and, by extension, the Disney model it grew up watching. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, it paired irreverent humor with genuine sentiment, won the inaugural Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and helped establish DreamWorks as a serious rival in the animation landscape. Its box office success and cultural saturation made it one of the defining family films of the early 2000s.
This piece comes from the promotional apparatus surrounding that release, specifically the closing marker of a theatrical trailer. End cards of this kind existed to plant the title and release information firmly in an audience's mind after the footage had done its work of selling tone and character. For a film that redefined what an animated marketing campaign could look like, this small piece of print advertising holds interest for collectors tracing how Shrek was introduced to the public before it became a cultural fixture.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release or trailer 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 holes appear cleanly cut with no visible tearing.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, consistent with an analog stereo print; a blue Dolby Digital data-block strip is also visible between the perforations on the opposite edge.
Edge print
Text reading 'DreamWorks' and additional small alphanumeric key-number codes are visible along the edge; 'SAFETY FILM' designation is not legible at this capture resolution.
Base & colour
The base appears with a slight blue-cyan tint typical of modern safety polyester stock; the dye image reads as neutral with no visible red shift or fading.
Projection history
No visible scratches, splice marks, or cue marks are observed in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be identical or near-identical frames from a single held shot, consistent with a trailer or title-card sequence; the poster art and release date text visible match the Shrek (2001) theatrical campaign.
Era check
The combination of analog variable-area optical track, Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks, polyester base with cyan tint, and DreamWorks edge coding is consistent with a 2001-era theatrical release or trailer print.
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 000063265
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
