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Shrek
(2001)
In the first winner of the Best Animated Feature Film
Oscar, a biting satire of classic Disney animated films by DreamWorks/PDI's
revisionist fairy tale:
- the opening Sleeping Beauty (1959) reference
(through the use of a stylized storybook), and many other fairy
tale references and one-liners
- the character of surly, sarcastic, wisecracking,
Scottish-accented green, smelly but affable ogre Shrek (voice of
Mike Myers) in his swamp home, bathing in mud, brushing his teeth
with caterpillar goo, and using the outhouse
- Shrek's love/hate relationship with the faithful,
talkative, wisecracking, annoying tag-a-long sidekick Donkey (voice
of Eddie Murphy)
- Shrek's rescue of the pouty, fiercely independent
Princess Fiona (voice of Cameron Diaz) on a mission to save her from
the Dragon for the nefarious, narcissistic midget Lord Farquaad (voice
of John Lithgow) - who had banished fairy tale characters into exile,
and tortured the Gingerbread Man on a cookie sheet
- Donkey's romance with the female fire-breathing
Dragon
- the scene of a mechanical Information Booth featuring
a spoof of Disney's sugary It's a Small World (It's
a Perfect Place) with vaguely sarcastic wooden puppets, tiny
welcome dolls
- the unlikely romance between Shrek and Fiona, who
initially rejected him for being an ogre
- the revelation of the plot twist: Fiona was a maiden
by day, and an ogre by night
- the climax in which the forced marriage between Fiona
and Farquaad was interrupted by the dragon, and Donkey's quip after
Lord Farquaad was eaten by the dragon: "Celebrity marriages!
They never last, do they?"
- the sharing of their true love's first kiss when
Shrek kissed Fiona to free her from her enchantment -- resulting
in a glorious explosion of light, shattering the church's stained
glass windows
- in another twist, Fiona remained an ogre permanently
-- love's true form
- also the celebratory party finale in which Donkey
and the other fairy tale characters sang The Monkees' "I'm a
Believer"
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