Even tonally it was so unique and it really set a standard for what came next, to a point where I feel like there's such a challenge for animated movies that followed. It was such a departure from what studios like Disney and Pixar were doing at the time. I wonder how people are going to feel about it, but I think I like it." So we had no clue that the reaction was going to be what it was. Sequences would come up, we'd be working with them and you're in the details, and then you kind of sit back and watch it and go, "Wow, this is really weird. When we were working on it we were up in Palo Alto, it was kind of like a satellite studio, it was it's own studio at PDI and DreamWorks was working with them, and then eventually bought them while we were working on the movie, but we were removed from the main studio and so it just sort of felt even more like a small production where we were putting on a show for each other. Vicky Jenson: Yeah, we didn't even really know how it was going to be received just as a movie. For its 20th anniversary, we spoke with one of Shrek's directors, Vicky Jenson, about its journey to the big screen and the life it has taken on in the years since.Ĭharlie Ridgely (): Shrek has taken on such a huge life over the last 20 years, more so than I think anyone could've imagined, I'm sure more than even you all imagined.
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This movie was the little movie that could, and it turned into a long-beloved franchise-starter that took home the first ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Shrek upended the status quo, despite a long and arduous production process that had to deal with the loss of its star and debates with film legends over the potential use of an accent. But that legacy has nothing to do with the quality of the original Shrek, nor the cultural moment that it was.
The film's departure from Disney's standard was met with great success and acclaim, but so many studios took the wrong lessons from it and helped start a trend of abysmal animated projects. Shrek's legacy is far-reaching and complicated. Hell, there were even NASCAR partnerships that saw Shrek and Donkey on the hoods of racecars driven by Hall of Famers Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte. The ogre at the center of the film is one of the most central figures in all of meme culture. Shrek spawned three direct sequels (two of which aren't very good) and a spinoff movie (which is very good).