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The General story: In
the fairy-tale land of Far Far Away, all the local creatures and characters are
getting bumped out of their homes. Inevitably, they converge on the only spot
left that hasn’t been overtaken; a swamp. But this swamp is home to a nasty, green
Ogre, named Shrek. He just wants to be left alone, but the assortment of characters
aren’t budging, forcing Shrek to confront Lord Farquaad, get back the deed to
his swamp and live grumpily ever after. But, Shrek will first have to rescue a
princess from a tower, whom Farquaad wants to marry. And Shrek won’t have to
journey on this mission alone; joining him is the fast-talking, well-meaning
but very annoying Donkey. Talk about an original story idea, right?
What influenced the
movie? Shrek was obviously a product of the early days of CGI feature
films, kicked off in 1995 by Toy Story. Pixar had ruled the newest form of
animation for six years, so newly founded film company DreamWorks, decided it
would have a piece of the pie that was getting bigger and fuller. Taking all
the fairy-tale characters we knew and loved, chucking them in one movie with an
ogre that spoke with a Scottish accent in the middle of it all, and you had a
witty, creative and very funny film. Expertly balancing a combination of traditional
story themes and clichés, beautiful visuals and jokes for the adults that were
savvier and more satirical then Toy Story, and Shrek created its own brand of
movie. Kids loved it, adults loved it, hell… just about everyone loved it, and a
new legend in film animation was born.
How the movie
influenced the 00's: Toy Story started the CGI feature film revolution, and
Shrek took it to the next level, showing that computer animated movies were
serious players and now permanent fixtures in the entertainment world. It was
quickly becoming evident that audiences wanted to experience a movie on every
level, and CGI had no limits. Shrek was successful enough to spawn three sequels,
launch DreamWorks animation company and also be the first movie of its kind to
win the Oscar for Best Animated Film, which was introduced at the Academy
Awards in 2002. The casting of the voices was spot on, with Mike Myers and
Eddie Murphy taking their characterisations to soaring levels of comedic genius
and heartfelt emotion. The cultural references came flying thick and fast, and
a whole new world of imaginative story telling began.
What makes it stand
out as a film of the 00's? Firstly, Shrek broke new ground in terms of
animation quality in 2001. Where as Toy Story was ground-breaking for
1995, Shrek’s visuals were sharper, clearer
and crisper, showing characters, objects and landscapes on screen that were
more defined and very realistic. Shrek created an endless collection of catch
phrases and cultural references, similar to that of The Simpsons; whatever the
occasion was, there was a moment or quote from Shrek which could be referenced,
or at the least, the film itself was referencing other sayings from the common lexicon and unforgettable
imagery from pop culture, twisting and turning it to make us laugh at the
subtle cleverness of it all. “Shrek 2” was a solid follow up, but in my opinion,
they jammed too much into the first sequel, meaning “Shrek the 3rd”
and “Shrek Forever After” stalled, and
the series eventually ran out of steam.
Impact of the movie
still felt today: Forget about parts 3 and 4 and catch part 2 when it’s on
TV; the original Shrek is where it’s at and is still one of the most watched kid’s
movies in history. As it came out at the dawn of the DVD revolution, every
family in the world owned a copy of the film, which would be played excessively
on their living room TV’s, whether the parents wanted to watch for the 57th
time or not. The film moves at a brisk pace, is inventive at every turn, and is
a multilayered story; given it’s loaded with references, detailed animation and
lines of dialogue that warrant you to read between the lines, you can experience
something new and fresh from re-watching Shrek, even seventeen years later. It was
a classic upon its release and remains a classic to this day.
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