Toon Talk
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(c) Dreamworks
So Shrek, with the donkey tagging along, sets out to accomplish his mission. After rescuing the fair (yet fiesty) maiden, who turns out to have a secret of her own, a variation of Beauty and the Beast plays out as they make their trek back to Lord Farquaad and his plans for marrying Fiona.
In the end, there is still the proverbial happy ending. It's this schizophrenic tone to the film, trying to simultaneously send up the fantasy genre while still embracing it's tenets, that ultimately undermines the film. What Shrek is is an attempt to bring an old fashioned fairy tale into the 21st Century. The question is, do we really need that, especially in this crude-minded form?
To add that 'hip' spin to this version, we are subjected to jarringly inappropriate rock songs on the soundtrack, modern slang like "24/7" sprinkled into the dialogue, and a hero who literally burps and farts his way through the story. (Bodily fluids are the subtext here ... earwax, spit, snot, even urine makes an appearance in one truly tasteless example. Welcome to the Tom Green era of movie comedy.)
The film is not totally devoid of it's own brief glimmers of wit and creativity. Funny bits such as Farquaad's interrogation of a hapless Gingerbread Man, the Magic Mirror's Dating Game-style prognostications and an expected but still humorous parody of the ubiquitous musical number (an oddly French Robin Hood introduces his Merry Men through song) do illicit laughs. And the photo-realistic computer animation, provided by DreamWorks' Pacific Data Images, creates a believable storybook landscape, although human characters still haven't been perfected enough to erase that stiff, creepy-fake look.
(c) Dreamworks
It's very in fashion lately to take pot-shots at Disney, and has been for some time. The difference here is that it is being done under the watch of a former Disney insider, the man who oversaw The Lion King and then watched it become the highest grossing animated film of all time, only to be unceremoniously shown the door soon after.
By turning the tried-and-true Disney fairy tale formula inside out, Katzenberg is thumbing his nose at the animation establishment for years dominated by Disney. Is it just sour grapes that Katzenberg would suffuse this rather rote storyline with such base humor in a vain attempt to produce his own blockbuster?
Toon Talk Rating: C-
MPAA Rating: PG
Running Time: 90 minutes
In theaters now nationwide. Click
for showtimes from IMDB.
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Toon Talk Trivia:
Eddie Murphy played another sassy sidekick, the incomparable Mushu, in Disney's Mulan.
Veteran Disney voice-man Jim Cummings, best known for his current roles as both Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, lends his vocal talents to the ensemble cast of this film.
John Lithgow was the original actor cast for the role of Hades in Disney's Hercules.
Discuss It
Related Links
- Official Shrek site
- Shrek
on IMDB
Includes full cast and other film details
-- Kirby C. Holt
Took Talk: Disney Film & Video Reviews by Kirby C. Holt is posted whenever there's something new to review.
The opinions expressed by our Kirby C. Holt, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future plans of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
-- Posted May 22, 2001