Shrek began as a picture book
SHREK started life in 1990 as a short picture book by the American cartoonist William Steig, about an ugly, smelly ogre who is thrilled by how revolting he is and sets off to find a bride just as ugly as himself. The name comes from the Yiddish and German word for fright or terror.
The film, released in 2001, kept the grumpy OGRE and the SWAMP but added a whole story mocking fairy tales. It won the very first Oscar ever given for Best Animated Feature, and became one of the most successful animated series ever made.
Shrek was nearly an American
The comedian Chris Farley was first cast as Shrek and recorded most of his lines before he died in 1997. Mike Myers took over. After recording the whole part in a Canadian voice, Myers asked to redo it with a Scottish accent. Many scenes had to be animated again to match, at great cost, and the accent became part of the character.
DONKEY, voiced by Eddie Murphy, was modelled on a real miniature donkey called Pericles that the animators filmed and studied. Murphy recorded his lines alone in a booth, and his improvisations were kept in.
A castle that looked familiar
Lord FARQUAAD's spotless kingdom of DULOC, with its queue barriers, cheerful singing puppets and strict rules, is widely read as a joke at the expense of Disney's theme parks. The film was made by DreamWorks, whose co-founder had left Disney after a bitter falling-out, and the teasing of Disney-style fairy tales runs right through it. Our fairy tales page covers the stories being mocked.
The fairy-tale characters are pulled straight from the old stories. PINOCCHIO's nose grows when he lies, GINGY is the Gingerbread Man, and the MUFFIN MAN comes from a nursery rhyme that asks whether you know him, who lives on Drury Lane.
Ogres are like onions
The most quoted line in the film comes when Shrek tries to explain that there is more to him than people think: ogres are like an ONION, because they have LAYERS. Donkey keeps suggesting cake instead, because everybody likes cake. Later Donkey offers to make WAFFLES, and the line became a favourite for fans to repeat.
PRINCESS FIONA, whom Shrek rescues from a DRAGON guarding a CASTLE, turns out to be an accomplished fighter with a secret of her own: at night she changes into an ogre too. Donkey, meanwhile, ends up married to the Dragon. PUSS in BOOTS, a swashbuckling cat from the second film, became popular enough to get his own spin-off films. Shrek 2, released in 2004, became the highest-earning animated film ever made up to that time.
The kingdom of FAR FAR AWAY in Shrek 2 mimics Hollywood, with its own giant sign on a hill and shops parodying real brands. The fairy-tale MIRROR that answers questions, the FAIRY godmother and the brave KNIGHT all get the same mocking treatment.
Shrek is proof that a story about an ogre who wants to be left alone in his swamp can travel all the way round the world.