Shrek

Shrek is a controversial fairytale set in the region of Duluc. To make this fairytale more accessible to a modern audience the creators have used modern music and produced the film in 3D. It therefore differs from the older film versions of Cinderella or Snow White.

Shrek has all the ideas of a traditional fairytale but the characters appear to be somewhat misplaced. For example, the hero is an ogre and the damsel in distress can do Kung Fu. In addition to this all the characters use and speak in a modern style of language rather than an archaic one.

The fairytale is set in Duluc. The evil Lord of Duluc sends all the fairytale creatures to the swamp where Shrek lives and Shrek is livid when this happens. In his anger he decides to go to the castle with his sidekick donkey which is played by Eddie Murphy. Shrek is aiming to get his swamp back for himself but ends up making a deal with Lord Farqaad. The deal is, if he rescues the beautiful Princess Fiona from the dragon guarded castle, he can have his swamp back. But unbeknown to Shrek there is another twist as Princess Fiona is not all she seems. However, as with all good fairytales it all comes together in the end because the hero marries the Princess and the evil Lord perishes.

A stereotypical hero is usually big, handsome, clever and friendly. Shrek is different! He may be big, but he is definitely not handsome or friendly. When he first appears we are given the impression that Shrek is going to be the bad guy, but as the story progresses he turns into an ogre with feelings and love for another person. The creators make our views of Shrek change by making him do romantic things. For example, Shrek finds a place for the Princess to stay and gives her presents. Another example of Shrek’s gentler side can be seen when donkey sleeps outside Shrek’s house. We can tell Shrek feels guilty by the music and expression that the creators use.

At first Princess Fiona appears to be the stereotypical princess we all expect in fairytales. The first example where we notice she is not all she seems to be is in the Robin Hood scene where she beats up five men in a “matrix-like” scene. Also, if we look closely, when Fiona peers out of the hole at night, we can tell she’s an ogre. Obviously this is not stereotypical as we would expect a normal princess to be well mannered, beautiful, gentle and charming, and to have an archaic voice rather than a modern, street wise one.

The animation of Shrek is in a world of its own compared to the original fairytales like Cinderella. For example, Shrek is in 3D and there are moving shots. One scene where this is used to great affect, is when Shrek and Lord Farqaad are reasoning. The low angle is on Lord Farqaad making him look big and powerful and the camera looks down on Shrek giving the impression he is weak and insignificant.

The lighting is used in a variety of ways to enhance the various scenarios. For example, when the villagers try to kill Shrek at the beginning, it shows silhouettes of people with torches and makes Shrek out to be an evil creature. Another is example is when Shrek and Donkey are sitting on the rock at the red point and the moonlight makes it look like it’s a romantic scene between two friends.

I think the creators were effective in making Shrek more accessible to a modern audience by producing the film in 3D version and by using the voices of modern actors and actresses. I think Shrek represents a turning point for portraying fairytales and many writers will adapt this new and more modern style when producing fairytale films.

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