Shrek
Quick, say the first word that comes to mind when you hear the words, "animated family film"! If you said "boring," "stupid," or anything along those lines, you're not alone. In contrast with the popular, ultra-violent, profanity-laced moneymakers, so-called "family" movies generally lack anything offensive, and the only people who are being entertained have a single-digit age. Recent exceptions include Pixar's Toy Story 2 & Monsters, Inc. and DreamWorks' Shrek, which is the one of the finest animated films ever created.
Shrek (Mike Myers, a.k.a. Austin Powers) is an ogre who demands his privacy in his swamp home in the imaginary land of Duloc. The land's ruler, Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow), banished all of the fairy tale creatures to Shrek's swamp. With the help of a talking donkey (Eddie Murphy), Shrek treks to Lord Farquaad's castle to demand that he remove all of the creatures.
Lord Farquaad, meanwhile, has been looking for a wife to upgrade his status to king. The magic mirror from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs shows him Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz). She is a prisoner in a castle surrounded by boiling lava and inhabited by a fire-breathing dragon. Lord Farquaad holds a contest among his guards; the sole champion gets the honor of undertaking the quest of rescuing Princess Fiona for his lord. In the middle of the competition, Shrek and Donkey arrive, demanding the clearance of the swamp. Lord Farquaad orders the guards to attack Shrek, but he and Donkey beat them up. Lord Farquaad makes a deal with Shrek; if he rescues the Princess, he will get his swamp back.
There are two outstanding reasons why Shrek won the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
1) Shrek is the product of revolutionary computer animation. The effective use of shadow and color gives the scenery and characters more of a 3-D appearance than Disney's animated features.
2) The story is a clever twist on formulaic fairy-tale movies. Nearly (if not all) of the Grimm fairy tales are lampooned.
The soundtrack is another strong point in this movie. While most animated films have musical numbers performed by the characters, Shrek uses contemporary music to set the tone of the particular scene or the movie on the whole. Smash Mouth's hit song "All-Star" plays during the opening credits; you know that you're about to have some fun. In another scene, the music defines the appropriate mood. SPOILER ALERT: The scene in question occurs after Princess Fiona rides off with Lord Farquaad. The song, performed by John Cale, is titled "Hallelujah." We alternately see Shrek and Princess Fiona; the footage fades from one to the other, showing their parallel activities and emotions. This scene is my favorite in the film, and I'll pretend that you needed (or cared) to know that.
Shrek is a true family movie. Its story appeals to children of all ages, but its suggestive humor is lost on less-mature viewers. For example, when Shrek sees Lord Farquaad's titanic castle, he says, "Do you think he's maybe compensating for something?" It's not everyday that you see animated family movies that contain dick jokes, so grab the opportunity now.
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Watch for a great fighting scene where Shrek finds a novel use for beer.
The timeless theme of inner beauty gets a full facial in Shrek.
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