Shrek 2

Release Date: May 19, 2004

I wonder if that thing gets good gas mileage?

On the Big Board
Position Staff In Brief
32/55 Reagen Sulewski Considering I hated the first, this is high praise. At least it's internally thematically consistent this time.
42/126 Kim Hollis Superb animation plus laugh-out-loud humor means fun for all ages.
48/92 David Mumpower Either I'm sane and everyone else is crazy or vice-versa.
92/133 Dan Krovich Didn't measure up to the original

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In 2001, DreamWorks fired a shot heard ‘round the world, but especially by Disney. Shrek was a CGI extravaganza that took five years to produce, but by the time it was all said and done, it had accumulated $267.7 million in domestic box office receipts, $202 million overseas, and an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Not only did it trump the mouse house’s Monsters, Inc. with bigger numbers and more awards, but the movie poked a lot of fun at Disney stereotypes and was widely enjoyed by insiders from the industry.

It’s only natural, then, that the studio would follow up the film with a sequel, especially since prep time is considerably shorter thanks to the fact that the major characters are already created and rendered. For Shrek 2, the three major voice actors will be returning to reprise their roles, including Mike Myers as Shrek, Eddie Murphy as Donkey, and Cameron Diaz as Fiona.

According to DreamWorks executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, the new story will revolve around the fact that Fiona’s parents have heard that their daughter has married her true love, leading them to invite the couple to their kingdom, known as Far Far Away. When the happy couple arrives, naturally the folks are a little bit shocked. They had assumed she had fallen in love with Prince Charming and are extremely surprised to realize that their new son-in-law is a 700 pound ogre with bad hygiene and a talking donkey. In fact, Katzenberg even describes it as Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner meets Shrek.

Playing the part of Fiona’s parents are Julie Andrews and the always-hilarious John Cleese. In fact, Cleese got his start in radio and compares his experiences on Shrek 2 to those early beginnings, saying that he actually prefers this type of work. Rupert Everett will provide the voice for a understandably pissed off Prince Charming (we're confident that Rupert will bring the snark). Jennifer Saunders, creator and star of Absolutely Fabulous, will play the obligatory Fairy Godmother. Antonio Banderas plays Puss in Boots, a flashy, egomaniacal Zorro-esque (mmmmm, cross movie synergy) character.

With CGI becoming more and more widely considered to be the standard for animated films, they seem to becoming bigger and bigger with each year. Shrek 2 will be the first of the genre to see wide release in 2004, with Pixar’s The Incredibles and another DreamWorks production, Sharkslayer, to follow later in the year. Once again, a huge battle of the studios has been set. It remains to be seen who will be the ultimate champion. (Kim Hollis/BOP)




Vital statistics for Shrek 2
Main Cast Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz
Supporting Cast Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Antonio Banderas, Rupert Everett, Jennifer Saunders
Director Kelly Asbury
Screenwriter Joe Stillman
Distributor DreamWorks
Trailer Click Here for Trailer
Official Site http://www.shrek2.com/
Rating PG
Screen Count 4,163
Awards Awards page for Shrek 2
Talent in red has entry in The Big Picture



Comparison films for Shrek 2
Title
Date
Opening
Adjusted Opening
Screens
PSA
Adj PSA
Total BO
Adjusted Total
Mult
Monsters, Inc. 11/2/0163.48 67.75 3237 19611.00 20131.6 255.87 273.09 4.03
Toy Story 2 11/24/9957.39 68.39 3236 17735.00 20248.6 245.82 292.94 3.05
Ice Age 3/15/0246.30 48.13 3316 13966.00 13966.0 176.39 183.39 3.81
Shrek 5/18/0142.35 45.20 3587 11805.00 12118.4 267.65 285.66 6.32
Bug's Life, A 11/25/9832.83 42.20 2686 12223.00 15115.9 162.79 209.29 3.56
Toy Story 11/24/9529.14 40.39 2457 11860.00 15813.3 191.78 265.84 4.90
Jimmy Neutron:Boy Genius 12/21/0113.83 14.76 3139 4407.00 4524.0 80.86 86.30 5.74


     


 
 

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