"Shrek," the animated fantasy-comedy film released in 2001, is much more than just a delightful animated romp for children. It is a cinematic masterpiece that cleverly weaves together humor, fairy tale tropes, and pop culture references to create a timeless story with a modern twist. Beyond its surface-level entertainment, "Shrek" is a reflection of its cultural context, serving as a mirror to societal values, technological advancements, and the evolving nature of storytelling.Think about these questions while you watch the movie:
A Subversion of Fairy Tale Conventions: "Shrek" arrived at a time when traditional fairy tales were being challenged and re-imagined. Discuss how the film subverts classic fairy tale conventions, portraying ogres and other mythical creatures in a more sympathetic light. How does this reflect the cultural shift towards embracing diversity and challenging stereotypes?
Pop Culture Satire and References: The film is renowned for its witty and irreverent references to pop culture icons, movies, and music. Analyze how these references contribute to the film's appeal across different age groups. How do these references connect the movie to its cultural moment and maintain its relevance even years after its release?
Technology and Animation Advancements: "Shrek" marked a significant milestone in the animation industry, showcasing advanced CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery) techniques. Explore how the film's technical achievements impacted the entertainment landscape. How did the blend of cutting-edge animation with a humorous narrative contribute to its success, and what does it reveal about the cultural fascination with technological progress?
Discussion Questions:
- How does "Shrek" challenge the traditional notions of beauty and heroism often found in fairy tales? In what ways does the film celebrate individuality and diversity among its characters?
- Can you identify any contemporary films or media that have been influenced by "Shrek" in terms of pop culture references and irreverent humor? How do these references impact the way audiences engage with the content?
- In an era where technology continues to reshape the entertainment industry, do you think the technical achievements of "Shrek" still hold up by today's standards? How might the film's success have contributed to the push for further advancements in animation and CGI?
- Finally, Did you like the film? Why/Why Not?
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Optional Reading on secondary sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wiFU5gPbnw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNgsgRBLRGI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RobmhhAuOHM
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Trivia:
The song "All Star" by Smash Mouth, heard in the opening credits, was only a placeholder for test screenings until a new song could be found. But test audiences loved it, and the producers kept it in. When the producers decided to keep "All Star" they decided to let the band perform the last song in the movie, "I'm a Believer."
Shrek received his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
1.The film Shrek challenges the traditional notions of beauty and heroism found in fairy tales in many ways. In most fairy tales the good guys are attractive or the “prince charming” while the bad guys look like ugly like a monster. But in Shrek the love interest/prince charming and hero of the film is an ogre. The hero being an ogre challenges the idea that heroes must be attractive or noble. The film celebrates individuality and diversity by featuring characters like Donkey and Fiona who dont fit the typical standards of a fairytale. By doing this it tells the audience that no matter what a person might look like or how ones upbringing was we all deserve love and acceptance.
ReplyDelete2. There are many contemporary films and media that have been influenced by shrek in terms of pop culture references and irreverent humor such as “The LEGO Movie” and “Wreck-It Ralph”. In these films they incorporate many similar elements of self awareness, clever references, and humor that is used in shrek. These references could make the audience feel like they can relate more to the characters because the audience can see that characters on screen have seen or heard what they did. If the audience can relate more to the characters it makes the film that much enjoyable and funny.
3.The technical achievements of “Shrek” were very impressive for its time but in todays standard I think it still is good but with the new advancements in CGI I would say that it could most definitely be better. But because of how good this film did this could have made animators think that if they continued to make CGI even better more people will watch the films and be just as successful as Shrek had done.
4.I personally love this film. Shrek was one of movies I had grown up with and the humor is still enjoyable to watch even now that im older.
In October 1994, a terrible decision was made that would fuel a man's anger and hatred and make him craft one of the most influential characters in pop culture, a green monstrosity created to make fun of an entire way of making films and created just in spite of his enemy. What’s his name? Jeffrey katzenberg. He was fired from Disney, so he decided to create his own animation studio. Dreamworks Animation was created on October 12, 1994. One of their first films was Shrek. Shrek represents all the hate Katzenberg had for Disney and how they made their movies. It subverts the tropes of all the animated fairy tale movies that were being released at the time. From the beginning of the movie, Shrek shows you that this is not a typical fairy tale story by showing you how Shrek wipes his .......With the fairy tale shown at the beginning…..yep..…showing how this movie as a whole wipes his.... with conventional animated movies (I explained this way because I think that is what Dreamworks actually intended with that scene), it proceeds to have one of the most effective and memorable movie intros of all time. And this is not me saying it because of the meme. I genuinely think Shrek’s intro is amazing; it shows you everything you need to know about the main character and the tone of the movie in exactly 3 minutes and 5 seconds. By showing the audience exactly who Shrek is and how he’s like, accompanied by "All Star" by Smash Mouth, this intro shows how Shrek is not the usual protagonist of a fairy tale story; in fact, in most of them he would be the villain. He enjoys terrorizing a small village of farmers because it’s funny; he really doesn’t care about people or animals; he showers in mud and has the most cricket teeth i have ever seen; he tries to look and smell as bad as ogerly possible; let’s just say Shrek is not making it to the cover of a beauty magazine; he is the opposite of any main character of the old fairy tale Disney movies; yet I think that is why Shrek is so effective as a main character; by having a character that has many flaws, you can tell a more engaging and interesting story. The main character has to change through the story; he needs to grow, and a character with this many flaws can’t do anything but grow, which tells a way more interesting story. Shrek, against all odds. What a lot of people would consider The villain of the story goes from not caring about anything to becoming a hero. This is why Shrek works because of "change,” from how it subverts tropes to the main character himself changing and growing.
ReplyDeleteShrek is like the Beatles of animated movies. I would wager that after Shrek's release, Animation Studios thought about Shrek at least once while making their new movie. Sherk changed everything for animation; it shifted more into 3D animation, and it proved people that animated movies can be successful and make money. They created an Oscars category for animated movies because of Shrek; that alone shows how influential Shrek was. Shrek showed that you could put more adult humor in animated movies to widen your target audience, and it had a lot of pop culture references in the movie, but the biggest influence, in my opinion, is that it showed animation studios that you could take risks. You could tell stories that are outside the norm with animation; it showed studios that your only limit was your own imagination. Look no further than the movies that were released after Shrek: Monsters Inc., Kung Fu Panda, Coralline, Ratatouille, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Lillo and Stitch, Atlantis. All of these movies take risks: the main characters,the setting, the plot, the music, the animation style, the art direction—everything challenges the norm. I could name way more films; those movies were just from 2000. Shrek influenced animation, yes, but most importantly, it inspired and proved animation as a way of telling stories that take risks that challenge the norms and limitations of live action,to be creative, and to change the way people create stories.
this is me
Delete"Shrek is the Beatles of animated movies" is a wild statement
Delete1. “Shrek” challenges the traditional notions of beauty and heroism by presenting a non-stereotypical protagonist. The character of Shrek defies the “normal” looks of a protagonist, he isn't human or conventionally attractive. Shrek also does not normally look like a character that would be the protagonist, in many films or fairy tales creatures like an ogre would be portrayed as the antagonist. By using the unique characteristics of Shrek and other characters, the film celebrates individuality and diversity. To think that a green monster, who lives in the swamp, is intended to be the hero of a fairy tale challenges the main idea of what a fairy tale is. Other characters like Fiona, a princess who turns into an ogre at night, who also doesn’t fit the stereotypical character molds defy the ideas of how beauty and heroism are represented in stories and fairy tales. The idea is that only beautiful and human characters deserve to be protagonists, while the other characters are not given the spotlight.
ReplyDelete2. The Lego Batman Movie is similar to “Shrek” in the way that it references pop culture and uses irreverent humor. While referencing other Batman and superhero films, television shows, and movies like The Matrix and Harry Potter, The Lego Batman Movie attempts to connect to its varied audience. Using niche references to other films helps the audience understand and feel connected to the movie. When a pop culture phenomenon is referenced or made part of a joke, the audience is more attached due to the familiarity of said reference. Most adults and children can understand and recognize a reference to Voldemort, the antagonist of Harry Potter, creating a sense of familiarity in the film. Although The Lego Batman Movie was released in 2017, many of the pop culture references and jokes still remain recognizable, similar to “Shrek”.
3. Although I do not believe that the technical advancements of “Shrek” would live up to today’s standards, I do believe that “Shrek” helped influence the next generation of animated films. It is without a doubt that “Shrek” had a major influence on animation at the time. “Shrek” inspired many other companies to create movies using CGI or 3D animation, but I do not think the animation would hold up in today's society. Because “Shrek” did so well using a newer animation process, many companies worked to attempt the same style hoping that their movie would be just as successful. From the release of “Shrek” companies probably tried to find ways to expand CGI animation to create an animated film that would be more successful than “Shrek”. “Shrek” most likely encouraged filmmakers to find technology that could go above and beyond.
4. I did enjoy Shrek. It has been a really long time since I’ve seen Shrek so I’m glad I got to rewatch it. I think the movie does a great job of breaking down the stereotypical tropes of a protagonist. Even though I am a lot older since I last saw Shrek, it is still a fun movie for all ages.
1. By the way he looks and lives, he challenges the traditional notions of beauty and heroism found in fairy tales. Most fairytales talk about princes with good looks and money, but Shrek is the polar opposite; he is an ogre who lives alone in his swamp, not bothering the outside world. The film celebrates individuality and diversity by depicting the various lifestyles and characteristics of the characters, such as Fiona, who transforms into an ogre at night, but in other stories, the main female character is portrayed as a "beauty" but as someone who changes into a green monster, which highlights the film's individuality.
ReplyDelete2. I feel “Madagascar” was influenced by Shrek in terms of pop culture because of the music and slang and also the irreverent humor . These references impact the way audiences engage with the content because of the audience they are targeting .
3. I do not think Shrek still holds up to today’s standards because in the 22 years this movie has been out a lot more technology has changed drastically. The film might have contributed to the push for further advancements in animation and CGI because they wanted better for it as more Shrek movies came out they have gotten better.
4. Finally, Did you like the film? Why
I loved this film even growing up I did but rewatching this film made me feel nostalgic so it was really nice too see it again as I’m older now but the humor is still funny and the movie is still interesting to watch.
1. The film “Shrek” challenges traditional fairy tale notions of beauty and heroism in tons of different ways, in “Shrek”, Shrek an ogre isnt a handsome prince but a ogre, furthermore Shrek overall while being a meme counteracts many conventional fairy tales. Shrek while being the main character doesnt really have any unique features like most fairy tales, the story doesnt also follow the normal love/story. It's about an ogre that has many problems and is hated by many. Shrek also doesnt convey the attractive hero the story shows that a ugly or not as perferable character can be a hero also.
ReplyDelete2. “Shrek has had a very heavy influence on pop culture as it has influenced many movies now like “Kung Fu Panda” and “Madagascar” that use a lot of humor that before Shrek was used or as normal as it is now, this ties under irrelevant or self awareness humor and references to other fairy tales which shrek incorporates other movies that use this is “The LEGO Movie”. Overall Shrek is very influential and developed comedies and many animated humor now.
3. “Shrek” created a new appreciation for film using both cutting edge animation and a new type of humor that most havent seen before seeing it. This mix of both a technical innovation and comedic humor added a bar that new animators or studios would aim for to reach the quality of such a amazing film. Due to the CGI and higher standards from dreamworks it most likely contributed the success.
4. This to me is a great film, making a film that both connects with children and adults is an amazing feat and should be apreciated. Its pretty crazy to look at the animation and the year it was published and believe its real.
1. Shrek challenges traditional notions of heroism and beauty with the relationship between Shrek and Fiona. Shrek is the only man to rescue her from the tower because he doesn’t follow the order of events from the fairy tale, and Fiona’s character arc is finding someone who makes her understand beauty is in the eye of the beholder. (I personally think this is a flawed character arc because she does not intrinsically learn this lesson; Shrek has to come in and save her from her mindset, almost ruining the point of going against traditional fairy tale storytelling. The film always have the characters be impressed with what Fiona is capable of; Shrek never thinks she's weird for things like collecting the mosquitos with a spider web.
ReplyDelete2. Some of the most popular DreamWorks franchises that come after Shrek borrow from Shrek with the ideas of using irreverent humor in their films. A much more relevant connection between media and Shrek for our audience (as in our class here) is in internet culture. Everybody knows All Star (Falling in Reverse played it live as a joke in front of like 19k people as a personal example., And those “chronically online” individuals, as we’ll call them, will have all sorts of quotes from the movie in the back of their mind from various memes, videos, etc. As the Shrek movies continued on, public opinion started to wane on them, and the unserious way people began to perceive the franchise is reflected in how many would (depending on who you ask, still do) laugh at them rather than with. Many *unnamed* YouTube parodies of Shrek have been made, and the character of Shrek is up there with other fictional movie/video game characters that get clowned on. This impacts audience’s current day understanding of the movie because viewers who aren’t explicitly thinking about what is going on in the movie, cultural context, etc., will just see the dumb ogre from a couple random tiktoks, reels, whatever. Shrek has somehow came full circle, a story about not judging a book by its cover has had a new cover placed onto it by the sands of time that can cause some viewers to judge the book by its cover.
3. I don’t think Shrek’s visuals hold up to today’s standards. The character models for the humans feel very uncanny as well as facial animations, character movements can feel stiff at times, and certain effects are not realistic to the world. An example of this is in the montage towards the end, when Shrek’s fireplace transitions into one in the castle. The fire does not look realistic because its not fluidly (weird sentence out of context i know.) You can see the keyframes of the animation of the fire. The film’s success as a checkpoint for CGI technology would’ve and did motivate other studios to experiment with the technology so that filmmakers could have a different artstyle and form of business. CGI can look similar to real life and can not look similar depending on how characters are made, which leads to many avenues for creativity. CGI also allows filmmakers to only have to pay actor’s for their voice, as opposed to all the time it takes on set to get the perfect scene performance from an entire crew.
Delete4. I liked Shrek, its not my favorite or anything, but the first Shrek was a good movie in a vacuum. Internet culture/discourse has definitely changed my perspective on the franchise, so watching the movie from this more objective and analytical perspective was an interesting experience.
1. The most heroic are also the most attractive characters in a stereotypical fantasy movie. They’re dressed all nice and are referred to as a charming, handsome, popular prince. Then there is Shrek who is quite the opposite as he is an ogre who lives in a swamp by himself with bad hygiene. Although he only isolated himself because the general public was scared of him and thought “ahh big ugly ogre, let’s run away”. Individuality is celebrated because Donkey is a character that’s got a lot to say and is played as the supportive, comic relief character who is there to help guide Shrek in the right direction. There is also Fiona who had the spell casted on her when she was princess by day and ogre by night. She didn’t feel pretty as an ogre and would run away before anyone could change her. Overall I think just because someone doesn’t meet the beauty standards that the general public has set doesn’t mean that person is ugly or has unlikable qualities.
ReplyDelete2. Chicken Little was inspired by shrek as he was seen as an outcast to the public by believing the sky is falling. Hoodwinked is also like shrek as it is a parody based on the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale that conveys a similar message which is not to judge off of appearance but on character instead.
3. Shrek doesn’t hold up by today’s standards. This is simply because technology is always evolving and the things we have today will probably be different within the next 20 years. But with the success this movie had with its massive popularity, different storyline, and massive amount of memes it most definitely inspires other people to try new things and strive for the same comedy shrek contains.
4. Yes, this movie is great. It gets a 10/10 as I watched the movie when I was younger and didn’t remember much of anything. It was nice to watch again. Donkey’s character is too funny.
1. In Shrek, the main character himself is an ogre. Throughout the film his concept of living and relationships is absolutely demolished by the people he’s introduced to. He saves a princess to earn back his swamp, and they eventually become infatuated with one another over the course of their return to Duloc. Even though he’s strange by our standards - he eats onions and other strange foods, has poor manners, and is conventionally ugly and green - he ultimately has a heart of gold eventually revealed as he becomes more involved with people that appreciate him for who he is and not for how he was conceived into the world. Additionally, concepts of individuality and diversity are most DEFINITELY explored throughout the film, not even including Shrek himself though he is one of the greater examples. Donkey, Fiona, and just about any other character you could look at has their own unique quirk or quality that really makes them… them. Donkey is incredibly hilarious and oblivious and just a really good, trustworthy friend, Fiona is seemingly the picture of beauty until she reveals who true colors, and Shrek likewise. Just about everyone throughout the film shows the value of individuality and diversity as it shows that everyone doesn’t have to be the same or meet the same exact standards or expectations and that they can feel comfortable and should be loved for being who they are and different. (There was also deep symbolism that perfectly represents this message at the end of the movie when Shrek kisses Fiona and she becomes her true self - not the image she attempts to perpetuate, but her true self - the “ogre” within her. As she kisses Shrek, she accepts her true self and form, which may look foul on the outside, but only those that make a judgment based on that alone aren’t worth the attention.)
ReplyDelete2. Shrek sparked many memes and, contrary to the belief of the company that worked on it, was a humongous success. It got much more attention than they expected (which is shown by the fact that they sent their “worst” animation team to work on the project - it was literally a term known as “Getting Shreked”). Though I’m not sure off the top of my head any direct pieces of large media or projects, I know for sure the impact it had on pop culture worldwide. The humanity and overall good message and intention of the film, beyond its absolutely unbounding hilarity, also helped its success, I believe, because of its relatability and sense of humility. The movie never strove to be anything huge, it just wanted to be itself.
3. Though it definitely doesn’t hold up as well as many current films, it is still a fairly well animated piece of media. Honestly, I think it adds to the charm. I believe that the animation quality perpetuates the message even further of self-acceptance and seeing beyond the surface layer. Because of its huge success, I believe that people and companies alike felt very inspired to create their own animation intending to create that same spark again which hasn’t been seen in a while (other than maybe the Puss in Boots and recent Spider-Man movies - where some form of radical shift or underlying philosophy takes hold and shapes the film for the better, separating it from the rest). I believe that Shrek helped push for further expression and individuality, including the film industry.
I apologize; this was my post. Anyway, continuing:
Delete4. I absolutely loved the film. Not only is it hilarious, fun, and if you want it to be (without looking for any deeper meaning), it could easily just be a dumb film too. It is such a good film to just watch due to its equal balance of simplicity and intellect. I believe that the message was simple, but the execution of it was amazing and its so well represented by the characters and animation itself. It’s such a risky film just due to its humility and that’s what I believe most people heavily appreciated about it. Not only is it an amazing film, but it’s also very relatable and humble, which is why I believe that this movie owned (and still does to an extent) the world.