Hey folks, Harry here... DAMMMMN, this looks cool... dontcha think? I'm the guy that prefers ANTZ to A BUG'S LIFE... and to me... this also looks very very promising...
Hey, Harry. Papercuts here.
This is my first time reporting on anything for AICN, so bear with me. I Just got back from the M.A.G.I.C. Show in Las Vegas with some news on Dreamworks' Shrek- the upcoming C.G.I. fantasy from the same team that brought you ANTS.
* * * WARNING * * * SPOILERS
Shrek stars Mike Myers in the title role- a feisty ogre who brushes his teeth with squished bugs, farts, and belches a lot.
Eddie Murphy stars as Donkey, a…um, donkey who becomes Shrek's unwanted friend/sidekick.
John Lithgow plays the evil Lord Farquaad, a 4-foot tall anal-retentive tyrant who wants his kingdom of Dulok to include no fairy tale creatures. The trouble is, he isn't a king.
Therefore, to be a king he must marry a princess- voiced by Cameron Diaz, but she has a dark secret of her own.
Here is a brief synopsis of the story with my opinions on the 20 minutes of footage that I saw (in various stages of completion ranging from sketches to basic line animation to rough computer animatics to the fully rendered final product.)
The opening scene shows Shrek walking out of his hut, doing his morning ritual of breakfast, brushing his teeth, etc. This was (for the most part) fully rendered and set to that shooting star song by Smashmouth. To Shrek's surprise and displeasure, he finds his swamp over-run by various fairytale creatures who've been kicked out of Dulok by Lord Farquaad because they do not fit into his vision of the perfect kingdom.
Let me tell you, the graphics looked amazing!!! But Myers chose to voice Shrek in his obligatory Scottish Brogue- which may or may not work depending on if they add effects to his voice to make it sound more "ogre-ish." As it stands now, it sounds like "Fat Bastard lite" because Shrek's voice is not as guttural as Fat Bastard's is, which I think would have been better.
Anyway, Shrek sets off to confront Farquaad about getting the creatures out of his swamp. On the way, he saves Donkey's life, and finds he now has a new best friend. Murphy basically plays the same fast-taking, smart-ass character as Mushu, the dragon he voiced in Disney's Mulan.
Meanwhile, we're introduced to Farquaad (and how tall he is!!) as he tortures the Gingerbread Man (for info on where the fairy creatures are hiding) by ripping off legs and dipping him in milk, etc.
This scene is hysterical!!!
The Gingerbread Man confesses, asking Farquaad "Do you know the Muffin Man?" to which he replies "the Muffin Man?" etc., etc.
His guards interrupt, bringing in the Magic Mirror. He asks the mirror if he has the most perfect kingdom, to which the mirror informs him that this technically isn't a kingdom because he isn't a king, and that he must marry a princess to become a king. The mirror then shows him in dating game style the top three eligible princesses including Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella, who he rejects in favor of Fiona (Diaz), who's being held in a tower against her will by a ferocious dragon. The mirror tries to tell him something more about her, but he's no longer listening, having decided to hold a tournament to find the best warrior to rescue her.
The knights assemble just as Shrek and Donkey come walking up. Farquaad tells the warriors that the one to slay the ogre will be named the winner. What ensues is a W.W.F style fight in which Shrek defeats all the knights.
When it's finished, this scene might be good, but in my opinion should've been left out of our preview because it was all animatics and mock-ups, and looked terrible. The knights were 3-D blobs with heads moving statically across the screen, and the audience watching were unmoving blobs in rows, basically showing where they're supposed to be. And including the wrestling (with ring and all!!!) seemed really contrived, pandering to what's popular. An all out brawl would have been better, but Hollywood knows best, right?
Anyway, Shrek's named the winner and strikes a bargain that if he rescues Fiona, Farquaad will have to get rid of the fairy creatures in his swamp.
So, Shrek and Donkey set off to rescue Fiona, and on the way discuss how an ogre is like an onion because they both have layers. I think this was supposed to be funny, but wasn't. And it lasted forever!!!
They get to the castle where Fiona is being held and Donkey goes looking for the stairs while Shrek looks for the dragon. Unfortunately, Donkey finds the dragon, who is apparently female, and she falls in love with him as he flatters her to save his life. Shrek finds Fiona, who's expecting to be awakened with a kiss and swept off her feet, but Shrek rudely shakes her awake and tells her to follow him. He starts to fight the dragon, but Donkey says they're friends, and they leave to make their way back to Dulok. This segment was mostly finished, was funny, exciting, and looked amazing!!!!
On the way back, yup! You guessed it!!! Shrek and Fiona start to like each other.
They have a great day by a windmill where they're spending the night, but just as the sun starts to set, she runs inside the windmill and shuts the door. Shrek can't figure out what happened, so he goes off to get her flowers. As they're talking, Shrek walks up and overhears Fiona say something like "How can anyone love something so hideous," thinks she's talking about him, and decides to bring Farquaad to her and get back to his swamp where he belongs.
As Farquaad and Fiona begin the wedding ceremony, Shrek finds out the truth.
The End.
