"And Then He Saw Her Face, Now Shrek Is A Believer"

"Once Upon A Time…"

These words are so familiar to us whenever we think of fairy tales, and the formula seems to be a winner:

"a beautiful princess is envied by her wicked step-mother, princess is put to sleep through enchantment, dragon guards sleeping princess, dragon wards off all who try to save her, a dashing young knight rushes off the save princess, knight defeats dragon, knight kisses princess and awakens her from her eternal slumber, knight and princess live happily ever after."

The key part in this whole scenario… the dragon. You must have a dragon. Oh, and a princess and a knight. Yes, that would help as well. Perhaps living happily ever after is a goal that should be achieved as well. Then there is the clear message of good versus evil. Evil will never win because good will always triumph.

But what if you throw in some belching and farting along the way, perhaps even substituting a knight for a big, green ogre who doesn’t believe in living happily ever after? Or a fierce, fiery-breathing dragon who falls for a jackass… literally?

Yeah, definitely not your parents or grandparents or great-grandparents’ fairy tale by any stretch of the imagination, that’s for sure.


"Just Leave Me Alone"

So cries the title character, a cynical ogre named Shrek (voiced by Mike Meyers) who is very content with the piece of swampland he calls his home. He is big, green, has a sour disposition, is neither a charming prince nor a dashing knight, and is feared by all. I’ll choose Bachelor #1, please. Sounds like The Incredible Hulk to me. Unlike the Hulk, however, he is very articulate with a Scottish twang thrown in for good measure. But most importantly, Shrek just wants to be left alone peacefully in his swamp, not because he wants to, but because it’s easier this way. People always judge others by their appearance and Shrek isn’t immune to this prejudice. Let’s face the facts. What would YOU do if you encountered a big, green ogre? Exactly.

And he would have succeeded to live peacefully if it wasn’t for those blasted fairy tale creatures.


Do You Believe in Flying Donkeys?

It’s quite possible if you, too, had a Tinkerbell sprinkling her fairy dust all over you (why didn’t that sound right?). Unfortunately for Donkey (yes, his name is Donkey) his flying days last only about a minute. Donkey (voiced by Eddie Murphy) is one of those fairy tale characters trying to evade the eviction of Lord Farquaad’s decree concerning fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters from his pristine and clean kingdom. Farquaad (voiced by John Lithgow) has decided that his "perfect" kingdom is better off without these undesirables and puts them in a "designated resettlement facility". Bad news for Shrek since his swamp has become a refugee camp for these outcasts.

So Shrek sets out to do what is right. No, wait wrong story. Shrek is furious that these uninvited guests have landed on his swamp and sets off to get rid of them by talking to Farquaad. To reclaim his swampland, Shrek agrees to the ruler’s demand to rescue the fair Princess Fiona (voiced by Cameron Diaz) who is prisoner of a fearsome dragon. There is no nobility or honour behind Shrek’s motive. He just wants his peace and quiet back.

So Shrek sets off on his mission accompanied by that friendly yet sometimes annoying Donkey. What he finds along the way surprises even him.


The Happiest Place on Duloc… unless you’re The Gingerbread Man

DreamWorks have taken the liberty of poking fun at the conventions of fairy tales. It’s not surprising that Disney, Disneyland and everything associated with classic Disney animation takes some pretty good but tasteful ribbing. Farquaad’s kingdom is undeniably huge, something Shrek notices and wonders exactly just what the ruler is trying to compensate for… until he sees him — short in stature with a head too big for its body.

Poking fun at the fairy tale characters is something that is noticed from the very beginning of the movie. There’s a scene early in the movie where shillings are rewarded to anyone who steps forth and hands over any fairy tale characters. Can you imagine a scene where Geppetto gleefully expresses his thanks as he pockets the money after turning over Pinocchio? Oh, you better believe it.

In a total spoof and one hilarious scene, Princess Fiona wakes up to sing to a bluebird. What we don’t expect is the songbird to eventually explode after listening to her high pitches. Ouch!

And, of course, there’s The Gingerbread Man mercilessly tortured by Farquaad as his legs are broken. Furious, the Gingerbread Man spits in Farquaad’s face and shouts, "Eat me!" I don’t know why but I had flashes of Jack Jones singing "It feels like it’s made out of gingerbread… uh huh, uh huh…. All tasty and tan, sweet Gingerbread Man. Fresh out of the pan, sweet Gingerbread Man."


"Somewhere Over the Rainbow…"

… someone discovered more colours than the conventional red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet (sorry, no more indigo meaning no more ROY G BIV). Shrek is vibrant and rich with a palette that would make Van Gogh salivate. It was bright and cheerful when it was called for; dark and murky when it needed to be, and, yet, at the same time when combined, lent itself to some of the most stunning visuals.

As a student of computer animation, I know how the intricacies of the medium works, sometimes being far more of a curse than a blessing because I would never truly enjoy the animation for what it is and how it is presented. This wasn’t the case with Shrek. DreamWorks has really made strides since its last animated feature Antz. At one point, regardless of well the animation looked visually, the character movements always seem to be stiff in nature, but Shrek has somehow managed to fix this problem. If anything at all, the fluidity and gracefulness each characters brings to the screen is a testament on how far computer animation has come in the past few years, and I do appreciate the hard work that the animators go through to presenting such a daunting, yet sometimes unappreciated, Herculean task. Did you know that one minute of screen time can take up to three months to render? Now imagine what 85 minutes worth would be like it. Thankfully, it’s not only one person doing the job.

Animation aside, Shrek is colourful in other ways. The language and likeability of the characters grow on the average movie watcher. And the jokes… unbelievable. There is something for everyone… kids who will enjoy the fact that a donkey talks to more subtle jokes that adults will appreciate. "Snow White lives with seven other men, but that doesn’t mean she’s easy." What a way to explain a classic fairy tale character.

Personally, and it shows what I was doing when I was growing up, I absolutely loved the wrestling scene between Shrek and the guards. Kids of today will understand the genre quite well but old timers like me busted a gut seeing all of these wrestling moves… dropkicks, head-scissors takedowns, bodyslams, tilt-a-world backbreakers, piledrivers, clotheslines and the like. To top it off, we are treated with a posedown after the match, ala Hulk Hogan encouraging the crowd to cheer and make more noise. Too funny.


And The Moral of the Story…

Believe it or not, there is a moral to this movie. It’s a tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme… Beauty and the Bea… oops, wait, wrong movie, but the message is still the same — never judge others by outward appearances; there is something more magnificent and beautiful inside if you manage to look for it. Shrek feels this way since he is a big, creepy ogre. Everyone assumes he is a monster regardless of what he tries to do, so he resigns to the fact that no one will give him the benefit of the doubt. That is why he prefers his isolation because, as he states it, "it’s easier this way".

But Donkey never judged at all. In fact, when he first meets Shrek, he is absolutely impressed. Shrek can’t understand why and is absolutely perplexed as to why this mule continues to hang around him.

Fiona, on the other hand, was expecting a handsome knight to save her so she can fall in love with her true love. Instead she got an ogre which just confused her. This isn’t how it’s supposed to be, she muses. But despite his outward appearance, Fiona learns to really like Shrek, perhaps even falling in love with him. And even though she is beautiful, she has a dark secret, one she fears that will change Shrek’s perception of her. Even the most beautiful woman still has insecurities about how she looks. Poor deluded girl.

In one of the most poignant moments, Shrek tells her how he feels.

Shrek: "You’re beautiful."
Fiona: "Really?"

And, it’s because of this, she trusts him enough to reveal her dark secret… and he still isn’t repulsed. Why? Because he knows Fiona… the Fiona inside that has touched his heart. Regardless of what she looks like, he knows this person because her true beauty captivated him.

Ironically, though, Farquaad is the butt of jokes because of his short stature. What was that moral lesson again? I guess that would apply if he wasn’t an evil, little bastard (but you need one in every movie).


Living Happily Ever After

Even though this is an animated feature, this shouldn’t be classified as a "kiddie film" at all. There is something for everyone to appreciate and that itself is a rare oddity. Kids will enjoy the simple fairy tales while the adults will appreciate the jokes and allusions that will go over the heads of most kids. It is indeed priceless. This is fairy tale deconstruction at its best.


The End
(at least that's how the formula works)