“I remember a screening where our scores were exceptionally high,” Adamson reminisced. “Jeffrey turned to me and said, ‘Prepare yourself. This might be a once-in-a-lifetime event.'”
That “once-in-a-lifetime event” blossomed into a $3.5 billion franchise, featuring a star-studded cast and 95 minutes of side-splitting humor, often at Disney’s expense. Upon its release on May 18, 2001, it raked in $484.4 million at the box office. To celebrate its milestone anniversary, Shrek is set to be re-released in theaters starting May 15.
The franchise’s storybook ending also includes an Oscar win, two holiday specials, a spin-off, a Broadway adaptation, and four sequels. Shrek 5, featuring the addition of Zendaya to the impressive cast, is slated for a June 2027 release. And let’s not forget the flood of merchandise that has swamped the market since the original film’s debut.
And who could overlook that catchy cover song by Smash Mouth?
However, Shrek‘s journey to success began in a less-than-fairytale fashion, when Steven Spielberg acquired the rights to the book in 1991.
To properly recognize a movie the Library of Congress deemed worthy of preservation in the National Film Registry, we must start at the beginning.Â
Once upon a time, there was a picture book, a legendary director, a former Disney CEO and their brand new animation studio…