Shrek 20th Anniversary Edition 4k (UltraHD+Blu-ray)

“You’ve never met a hero quite like Shrek, winner of the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. The endearing ogre sparked a motion picture phenomenon and captured the world’s imagination with…the Greatest Fairy Tale Never Told! Critics have called Shrek “not just a brilliant animated feature, but a superb film on any level” (Larry King, USA Today). Relive every moment of Shrek’s (Mike Myers) daring quest to rescue the feisty Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) with the help of his loveable loudmouthed Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and win back the deed to his beloved swamp from scheming Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow). Enchantingly irreverent and “monstrously clever” (Leah Razen, People Magazine), Shrek is an ogre-sized adventure you’ll want to see again and again!”

Animation has certainly come a long way in 20 years since the initial release of Shrek, with DreamWorks particularly going on to be a major competitor against Pixar and Disney releases, even surpassing them in many ways. 20 years ago, Shrek was a phenomenon. Although films such as Toy Story and Monsters, Inc. set the bar pretty high in terms of what animation would look like in the future, with superbly written stories and brilliant voice-acting, Shrek utilizes those as well, and crafts a story that turns the typical fairytale on its head. It’s a fitting introduction to this type of animation, as it establishes both that animated films will never look the same again, nor be told the same way, saying good-bye to the typical Disney-princess tale and updating the story for modern audiences that both children and adults can enjoy. It was clear that this was something audiences wanted due to its instant success and long line of subsequent films, and as such, many studios have followed suit in the modern stories they want to tell, suitable and inspiring to all ages.

While I personally don’t like the majority of the humor in Shrek, mainly due to the abundance of toilet-humor and the same-old-routine that is Mike Myers, there is still a lot to admire about the film: namely, the themes of inclusion and not judging people by their looks. While Princess Fiona is at first concerned with social norms, being rescued by a handsome knight who will become her true love and break her from her curse, she quickly realizes the mistake of that assumption, and learns to love Shrek for who he is, and in turn, love herself no matter what she looks like. These themes are a far cry from the typical fairytale, and instead of what you might think would happen, Fiona is forever changed from a beautiful human princess to a large green ogre, but that’s okay because happiness comes in all shapes and sizes.

The world that Shrek creates with all kinds of mythical fairytale creatures is still, for me, the funniest part of the film. Having that jab at Disney with characters like Pinocchio, Cinderella, Snow White, etc, gives the film its own tongue-in-cheek mentality, and they use it very well, especially in some of the subsequent films, basically everything with Gingerbread Man. Still, there’s a comradery between Shrek and Donkey that continues to get better as the film progresses, certainly as the series progresses.

While the film itself has aged relatively well over the past 20 years, with the themes and story still carrying a lot of weight for audiences, the thing that made it so revolutionary at the time is unfortunately the thing that has not aged well: the effects. What took the filmmakers four years to craft looks really bad in comparison to what we have today. Of course, that’s no fault of anyone in particular, but does make it hard to watch at times, one scene in particular having Shrek walk down a hill of flowers to watch the flowers instantly and entirely disappear and reappear as his feet move through them.

Video

Shrek is presented in 2160p 4k Ultra High Definition Widescreen 1.85:1 featuring HDR10. This 20^th anniversary 4k looks fantastic in HDR, with that dynamic range providing the brighter, deeper and more life-like color that it advertises. There is an abundance of color in this film particularly, and those come through vividly, a definite upgrade from the Blu-ray. While this new transfer does make everything looks much better, it is also able to show the age of the effects in much greater detail, which can be quite distracting at times.

Audio

The audio is presented in DTS:X, sounding very impressive. Levels are well balanced between the surrounds and center channel, with no shortage of sequences that are able to utilize the full range. Whether its action or atmospheric effects, the DTS:X track boasts a very full sounding track.

Special Features

There are plenty of extras to go through, spanning three discs. These include:

• The Animators’ Corner
• Shrek’s Interactive Journey: 1
• Spotlight on Donkey
• Secrets of Shrek
• Deleted Scenes
• Audio Commentary
• Shrek, Rattle & Roll
• Shrek’s Short Films
• Shrek’s Halloween Favorites
• Shrek’s Holiday Favorites
• The Adventures of Puss in Boots TV Episodes
• Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Party
• Baha Men “Best Years of Our Lives”
• Smash Mouth “I’m a Believer”
• Shrek The Musical: “What’s Up, Duloc?”

Regardless of some of the shortcomings the film may have, it set a lot of bars for the animation genre, earning the first ever Academy Award for Best Animated Film. This 20^th anniversary 4k edition has ensured the film has never looked or sounded better, offering fans a big incentive for upgrading. While it’s unfortunate you may never see any of the sequels get the same treatment, for the original, this is as good as it gets.