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The Story
 PDI &
DreamWorks team together again to bring us this hip modern-day fairy tale,
told through the use of awesome computer animation. Shrek (voice
talent of Mike Myers) is a ogre (pronounced o'-ger), a large green
beast who lives peacefully by his lonesome self in the swamp. While he
describes himself as an onion, humans don't seem to understand him...
"For your information, there's a lot more to ogres
than people think...
Ogres are like onions... layers!
Onions have layers... Ogres have layers!
...We both have layers."
They're fearful of him and are always out to get rid of
him. Once you get past his superficial vulgarities and mannerism, you
may realize that there's much to like about our hero Shrek. He does
have some endearing qualities and his gentleness will grow on you.
Meanwhile Lord Farquaad (voice talent of John Lithgow) desires to become
king. To do this he needs to marry a princess. So he recruits
his knights and organizes a tournament to see who would set out to find
Princess Fiona for him.
"Some of you may die, but it's a sacrifice I am willing to make."
At that moment, Shrek enters the kingdom and wants to
reclaim the rights to his swamp home. Lord Farquaad makes him a
deal. Find Princess Fiona in exchange for the deed to his swamp.
So Shrek and his loudmouthed sidekick Donkey (voice talent of Eddie Murphy)
embark on a quest to find Princess Fiona.
 Princess
Fiona (voice talent of Cameron Diaz) is a dreamer and a feisty young woman
who often dreams about her shining knight and armor and true love who will
someday rescue her from the tallest tower of a castle guarded by a fire-breathing dragon. But as this fairy tale would have it, Shrek makes a
crashing entrance and literally yanks her to safety. Well sort of...
Princess Fiona: "You didn't slay the
dragon?"
Shrek: "It's on my to-do list."
As Shrek and Donkey eventually discover, there's more to
Princess Fiona than meets the eye. The adventure back to Lord
Farquaad's castle is really quite and adventure. And one that I'll let
you enjoy. In many ways, it's unlike the classic fairy tales, but like
many such fairy tales this story does have a happy ending. That much I'll tell
you. "Really, really."
The computer animation is stunning. Though not meant
to be photo-realistic, it does look real in the make-believe world of Shrek. Mike
Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow provide the awesome
voice talents that breathe life and personality into these computer
animated characters. Eddie Murphy is particularly good is his part as
the "Donkey".
For the most part, children may enjoy "Shrek", but
be warned. The "PG" MPAA rating is officially for "mild
language and some crude humor" and rightfully so. Additionally we thought that some violence may be a bit much
for some young children. Note the tournament scene in chapter 5 and the
forest scene in chapter 11. The language warning goes out for some of the bonus
materials as well (even though bonus materials are not officially rated by
the MPAA). For example, watch out for inappropriate language in the
"Fairy Tales Lanes" DVD-ROM game on the first disc.
I think I would have given Shrek an "A" had
DreamWorks toned down the vulgarities and violence to suit younger
audiences. But all in all, "Shrek" is a pretty cool modern-day
fairy tale. It's got something in it for most everyone.
The Extras
According to DreamWorks, the "Shrek" 2-disc
Special Edition DVD features some 11
hours(!) of bonus programming. I think the most notable bonus feature is
the ReVoice
DVD-ROM feature (which requires a PC with a DVD-ROM drive). The program enables viewers to select from 12
of the film's most popular scenes and record the lines of the
characters. It then syncs up their voice with the character's mouth.
The viewer can also view the scene and see how their performance as
the voice of Shrek, Donkey, Fiona or Farquaad plays!" Can
you say "Cooooool!"?
The following is a detailed list of bonus materials on the
"Shrek" 2-disc DVD:
Disc One: Full Frame version of Shrek with English Dolby
Digital 5.1, and Dolby Surround versions with English, Spanish, or
French
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"HBO First Look: The Making of Shrek":
An amazing behind-the-scenes featurette that shows
you how the characters and movie were brought to life -- from the
early stages of creating the skeletal system of the characters to
the complex layers of muscles, skin and hair to the development of
fluids and fire that makes this movie unprecedented in the world
of filmmaking.
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"Sneak Peek": a trailer of DreamWorks' upcoming
animated release "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron".
The hybrid hand-drawn and computer animation quality is
incredible! It's so three dimensional and features many
three-dimension camera pans.
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"Cast": interview and biography
information on the principal cast members (Mike Myers, Eddie
Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow). The interviews are
off-screen interviews of their characters as if they're real-world
personalities. It's pretty hilarious and definitely worth a
watch.
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"Filmmakers": crew bios for the
directors, producers, screenwriters, composer, editor, production
designer, visual effect supervisor, and supervising animator.
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"Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance
Party": a cool karaoke style sing-a-long to a medley of
favorite tunes like "Just the Way You Are", "Baby
Got Back", "YMCA", "Stayin' Alive",
"Dance to the Music", "Feelings", "Do You
Really Want to Hurt Me", and "Who Let the Dogs
Out".
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Games
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"Mirror, Mirror on the Wall": ask
the magic mirror a simple "yes" or "no"
question and hear its response. Kinda silly.
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"Shrektacular Trivia": a trivia
game that tests you knowledge of "Shrek".
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Production Notes
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DVD-ROM features (requires PC with
DVD-ROM drive; not compatible with Macintosh computers)
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Shrek's ReVoice Studio: Exclusive never-before-used technology that
enables viewers to voice their favorite character. This
feature is very cool. It even automatically performs lip
synchronization for you as well as perform some voice
inflection adjustments.
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DWK (DreamWorks Kids) - games and activities just for kids
including:
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Learn To Draw Shrek: print out and draw
Shrek
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Gingerbread Hangman
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Soup Slam: a simple video game where you
try to spoon up eyeballs and bugs.
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Fairy Tale Lanes: a video bowling
game. Parents, watch out for some
inappropriate language in this game!
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Bugs and Slugs: a tic-tac-toe game for
two players or single player against the computer.
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Charming Dragon: a simple video game
where you move the dragon to catch falling items
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Coloring Pages: print out a coloring
page and color your favorite characters.
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Color A Scene: print out some characters
and scenes and color them.
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Ogre Masks: another print and color
activity.
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Pin The Tail On Donkey: print out a
picture of the donkey and play "pin the tail on the
donkey".
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Fire Donkey: a simple video game where
you're Donkey and you have to cross the bridge to the
castle.
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Shrek Pinball: a simple video pinball game
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Shrek's Music Room including The Baha Men
music video; the making of The Baha Men music video; Smash
Mouth's "I'm A Believer" music video
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Character interviews with Shrek, Fiona, Lord
Farquaad and Donkey
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Favorite Scenes Selection (Go directly to
the funniest and coolest scenes)
Disc Two: Anamorphic
widescreen (1.85:1
aspect ratio) version of Shrek with English DTS 5.1; or
Dolby
Digital 5.1 soundtracks in English, Spanish, or French; or English
Dolby Surround
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Filmmaker's Commentary: provides insider
information on the making of this groundbreaking animation hit
(subtitles available in English, Spanish, and French - do each of
these subtitle options count 93 minutes towards the claimed 11
hours of bonus features? Hmmmm...)
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"Storyboard Pitch of
Deleted Scenes": Two storyboard pitches, selectable
on-the-fly by the DVD angle feature, of three deleted scenes, entitled
"Fiona's Prologue", "The Deal", and
"Fiona Gets Them Lost". They are engagingly
acted out in a real-life meeting by the animators and filmmakers.
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"The Tech of Shrek": A fascinating
look into the production of "Shrek"
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"X-Box Game Playing Hints": exclusive "Shrek" X-box game playing
hints using a question and answer format.
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Production notes
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"Technical Goofs": hilarious outtakes of animation
in progress. Check out the "Chia Pet" Donkey and other
computer animation goofs.
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Dubbing Featurette: Learn how
"Shrek" was dubbed into languages around the world.
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Cast: textual information on Mike Myers, Eddie
Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow
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Filmmakers: textual information on the
directors, producers, screenwriters, composers, editor, production
designer, visual effects supervisor, and supervising animator
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"Progression Reel": A selection of still shots showing viewers the
progression of several characters' looks throughout the design
process -- from original concepts to their final animation.
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Theatrical trailer
Regarding DreamWorks' claim that this 2-disc Special
Edition DVD contains some 11
hours of bonus materials, there's certainly a lot here, but I can't help
but wonder how they came up with the 11 hours total. I'm not sure how
they are counting DVD-ROM interactive and print-and-play activities. To get the most
of this disk, you'll need a PC with a DVD-ROM drive to access all of the DVD-ROM
features. (Macintosh computers are not supported.)
According to the original press release for "Shrek", there were plans for an exclusive never-before seen extended, but apparently that got
omitted or cancelled for some reason. (It just goes to show you that not all
preliminary plans for the DVD make the final cut.)
Video & Audio
The "Shrek" DVD is transferred directly
from the (computer generated) digital source to DVD for superior picture quality. The picture
is presented in
full frame (pan and scan) as well anamorphic
widescreen in 1.85:1 screen aspect ratio. The image quality of this anamorphic
widescreen DVD is pristine. The colors are accurate and
saturated. There is very good shadow detail. Picture noise is noticeably
absent.
The sound design is excellent. Whether you listen to
the Dolby
Digital 5.1 or the DTS 5.1
version (the latter available only on the second disc, with the the widescreen
version), the sonic presentation is excellent. Both 5.1-channel soundtracks are well balanced with effective
and aggressive use of the surround channels. The dialog remains
crystal clear throughout the movie. I prefer the DTS surround sound version, as it seems to add more resolution
and its sound is more filling and solid, especially at reference volume levels.
Conclusion
Well, if you've read this far, it should be obvious to you
that we think pretty highly of the "Shrek" DVD. Even if you
only collect a handful of DVDs this year, "Shrek" is worthy of
your hard-earned money, especially if you have children. Not only will
they enjoy the movie over and over again, there's plenty of DVD-ROM
activities to keep them busy. (Remember, the DVD-ROM requires a PC running one
of the Microsoft Windows operating system. It doesn't work on a
Macintosh.) This DVD will definitely make our editor's list of the
"Top 10 DVDs of 2001". I highly recommend it.
"Really, really."
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United We Stand
