Shrek Opens

Setting the scene

DreamWorks SKG, founded by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen, needed a hit to rival Disney-Pixar after Antz's rivalry. Katzenberg acquired William Steig's picture book about an ogre and layered pop-culture satire aimed at adults and kids. Early animation tests were so ugly they became an inside joke that the film embraced as anti-fairy-tale charm.

What happened

Shrek opened on May 18, 2001, with Mike Myers voicing the green ogre, Eddie Murphy as Donkey, and Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona. The story mocked fairy-tale tropes while Smash Mouth's All Star scored a swamp montage. Lord Farquaad's short-king vanity and fairy-tale cameos from Gingerbread Man to Dragon made it a postmodern fable.

Why it still matters

Shrek won the first Academy Award for Animated Feature and launched a franchise whose memes outlasted its sequels in internet culture. It proved DreamWorks could compete with Disney at the box office. Memorable detail: Mike Myers re-recorded all dialogue in a Canadian accent after early screenings fell flat, delaying the film and adding cost.

Background

DreamWorks memes and satire challenged Disney's animation crown.