ho says fairy tales have lost their magic? Shrek—the animated box-office smash and critical success from PDI/DreamWorks—proved that there's room in animation for a postmodern fairy tale. Though based on the children's book by William Steig, Shrek's smart, edgy script set a new standard for animated entertainment that can appeal to both children and adults.
Not coincidentally, Shrek is produced by Jeffrey Katzenberg—who was responsible for Disney's animation dynasty before he starting up DreamWorks with Steven Spielberg. Right from the outset, the story takes classic fairy-tale characters and weaves them into a story with its own two classic characters-in-the-making: Shrek (Mike Myers), a green ogre who's a loner with a bigger bark than he has bite, and Donkey (Eddie Murphy), Shrek's eager sidekick with the wise-cracking mouth. The journey of Shrek and Donkey is wrapped around some of the most classic fairy-tale elements of all: true love, romance, rescuing the beautiful princess (Cameron Diaz) from her tower and, of course, the beauty and the beast.
Although DreamWorks bills the disc as having 11 hours of bonus featured entertainment, keep in mind that most of that comes from the games and the two "making of" documentaries and the fact that each disc contains a full version of the movie (one in the pan-and-scan full screen format, the other in widescreen, letterbox format). Don't rush out to buy this set thinking there's nine hours of neat unused footage that's found its way to this two disc-set. That annoyingly misleading labeling is what compels us to give this disc only a B+, in spite of its copious DVD extras; however, when rated on their own accord, the variety of extras merit an A-, at least.
Disc One contains the full-screen movie, plus a HBO's First Look: The Making of Shrek, production notes, the trailer for the studio's next animated feature, Spirit: Stallion of Cimarron, and hilarious interviews with the characters. Shrek, Fiona and Donkey's interviews are voiced by their human alter egos (Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy, respectively).
A movie ... and so much more?
Also on this disc is the DreamWorksKids section, which is jam-packed with activities targeted at kids. For example, you can use the Favorite Scenes Selection for watching odd and funny sequences in five categories; unfortunately, these thumbnails essentially jump directly to that point in the movie, and while the beginning seems smooth enough, the end of each clip feels truncated, since the disc is merely tapping into the content that's part of the film. Shrek's Music Room features the soundtrack's music videos from Baha Men and Smash Mouth.
The Game Room has five interactive games you can play on your computer or through your TV straight from the DVD. The games give you options (i.e., yes-no options, go behind door number one or up stairway number two): in some cases, each selection rewards you with a snippet of footage from the movie, which is meant to convey success in your mission (for example, to rescue the princess), or failure. Though this is a novel way of approaching the games, adults will tire of these clips quickly; kids will enjoy them in the beginning, but their predictability will limit kids' long-term prospects for continuing fun.
Better are the 13 DVD-ROM-specific activities, which must be used with a PC running Microsoft Windows 98 or later (no games are installed, although if you don't have the latest version of Macromedia Shockwave, you'll be prompted to install it). Some of them are fun, simple little arcade games—like Fairy Tale Lanes (where you bowl using fairy tale characters as pins), and Soup Slam (you have to whack the eyeballs and other gourmet treats in your soup)—while others are a bit disturbing (Gingerbread Hangman, where each wrong answer sees another part of the Gingerbread Man go bye-bye).
Cutesy games aside, there are two activities that make this bonus feature worthwhile: a tutorial on how to draw Shrek, and the Shrek ReVoice Studio. The ReVoice Studio's coolness transcends age, and is something that kids of all ages (read: adults) will love, too. If you have a microphone, this karaoke-style setup lets you record your own voice to 12 scenes from the movie; automatic dialogue replacement technology, not unlike that used in the film and television industries, matches your words to the film flip. Also of note for small children: print-it-yourself Shrek coloring pages and masks.
Disc Two contains the goodies that true aficionados of animated film will want to see. This disc includes the film in anamorphic widescreen video, with Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 audio options, and filmmaker commentary. Plus, there are several featurettes on the making of the film, the international dubbing process, and the computer technology behind the animation. Of note are the multi-angle videos of the pitch sessions for scenes that didn't make the film; sketches outlining the progression of the characters' design; and the letterbox version of an extended ending for the film that was made for the DVD (Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance Party—a hysterical rendition and adaptation of modern songs by Shrek and the gang). Also neat are examples of technical goofs (for example, Fiona's dress flies up, Shrek is invisible, etc.). The standard trailer, as well as more detailed production notes, and cast and crew bios are on this disc, too (bios are also on Disc One); however, some of this content is difficult to read on a TV screen.
