Shrek the Third

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This article is about the film. For the video game, see Shrek the Third (video game).
Shrek the Third
File:Shrek the third ver2.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Chris Miller
Raman Hui
Produced by Aron Warner
Denise Nolan Cascino
Screenplay by Jeffrey Price
Peter S. Seaman
Chris Miller
Aron Warner
Story by Andrew Adamson
Based on Characters created
by William Steig
Starring Mike Myers
Eddie Murphy
Cameron Diaz
Antonio Banderas
Julie Andrews
John Cleese
Music by Harry Gregson-Williams
Edited by Joyce Arrastia
Michael Andrews
Production
company
Distributed by Paramount Pictures1
Release dates
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  • May 6, 2007 (2007-05-06) (Los Angeles)
  • May 18, 2007 (2007-05-18) (United States)
Running time
 93 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $160 million[1]
Box office $799 million[1]

Shrek the Third is a 2007 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film, and the third installment in the Shrek franchise. Like the first two Shrek films, the film is based on fairy tale themes. It was produced by DreamWorks Animation and is the first in the series to be distributed by Paramount Pictures1 which acquired DreamWorks Pictures in 2006 (the former parent of DWA). Chris Miller and Raman Hui directed the film, with the former also co-writing the screenplay with Jeffrey Price, Peter S. Seaman, and Aron Warner. Harry Gregson-Williams composed the original music for the film.

The story takes place eight months after the marriage of Shrek and Fiona in the first film.[2] Reluctantly reigning over the kingdom of Far, Far Away, Shrek sets out to find the next heir to the throne—Fiona's cousin Artie, while Prince Charming is plotting to overthrow Shrek and become king. In addition to Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Rupert Everett, Julie Andrews, and John Cleese, who reprised their roles from Shrek 2, the film also features Justin Timberlake in the role of Arthur Pendragon and Eric Idle as Merlin.

The film premiered on May 6, 2007, at the Mann Village Theatre, Westwood in Los Angeles,[3] and was released in the United States theaters on May 18, 2007 (exactly six years after the first film). It was nominated for Best Animated Movie at the 2008 Kids' Choice Awards, but lost to Ratatouille. It was also nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film at the 61st British Academy Film Awards. It was the final film in the Shrek franchise to be produced by Pacific Data Images before its closure in 2015.[4]

The film grossed $799 million on a $160 million budget, becoming the fourth highest-grossing film of 2007. A sequel, titled Shrek Forever After was released in 2010.

Plot

Prince Charming vows that he will become King of Far, Far Away and avenge the death of his mother, the Fairy Godmother. Meanwhile, King Harold is dying and his ogre son-in-law Shrek and daughter Princess Fiona are to succeed him. Shrek, who is having difficulty serving as Regent during the King's medical leave, insists that an ogre as king is a bad idea and that there must be someone else to rule the kingdom. Before dying, Harold tells Shrek of another heir: his nephew, Arthur Pendragon. Prince Charming goes to the Poison Apple tavern and persuades fairy tale villains to fight for their "happily ever after" by appealing to the defeats given in their stories.

Shrek, Donkey and Puss in Boots set out to retrieve Arthur; as they are sailing away, Fiona yells to Shrek that she is pregnant. The trio journey to Worcestershire Academy, an elite magical boarding school, where they discover Arthur or "Artie" is a scrawny 16-year-old underachiever picked on by everyone. At the school pep rally, Shrek tells Artie he is going to be king of Far Far Away. Artie is excited until Donkey and Puss inadvertently frighten him by discussing the responsibilities of being king. Artie tries taking control of the ship and crashes it on a remote island, where they meet Artie's retired wizard teacher, Merlin.

Charming and the other villains attack the castle, but Wolfie, Pinocchio, Gingy, the Three Little Pigs and the Blind Mice stall them long enough for Fiona and her mother Queen Lilian to escape along with Snow White, Rapunzel, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Doris the Ugly Stepsister. One of the Pigs accidentally blurts out that Shrek has gone to retrieve Arthur, and Prince Charming sends Captain Hook and his pirates to track down Shrek. The princesses are captured when Rapunzel betrays them because she loves Charming.

Captain Hook and his pirates track Shrek and his friends to Merlin's island, where they attempt to capture Shrek alive and defeat the others. Shrek and Artie defeat the villains, and Hook mentions Charming and the takeover of Far Far Away. Concerned for his wife and future children, Shrek urges Artie to return to Worcestershire. Instead, Artie cons Merlin into using his magic to send them to Far Far Away. The spell works, but accidentally causes Puss and Donkey to switch bodies. They find Pinocchio and learn that Charming plans to defeat Shrek in a play. Charming's men arrive, but Artie tricks the knights into not taking them into custody and they break into the castle during rehearsals for the play. Caught in Charming's dressing room, the four are taken captive.

Charming prepares to defeat Artie, believing he is the next king. To save Artie's life, Shrek tells Charming that Artie was a pawn to take his place as King of Far Far Away. Charming believes Shrek and allows Artie to leave. Donkey and Puss are imprisoned with Fiona and the princesses, where Fiona grows frustrated with their lack of initiative. Queen Lilian smashes the stone wall of the prison by head butting the walls. While the princesses launch a rescue mission for Shrek, Donkey and Puss free Gingy, Pinocchio, the wolf and pigs, Dragon and Donkey's children. They encounter Artie, and Puss and Donkey explain that Shrek lied to save him.

Charming stages a musical in which he rescues Rapunzel. Just as Charming is about to defeat Shrek, Fiona, along with Puss, Donkey, the princesses and the fairy tale characters confront the villains. Artie convinces the villains that just because they are being treated like losers does not mean that they have to be losers.

Charming lunges at Artie with his sword, but Shrek blocks the blow, so Charming attacks him instead. Shrek, who seems fatally injured, informs Charming that he missed and that the Prince needs to keep looking for his own happily ever after, "cause I'm not giving up mine". As Shrek pushes him aside, Dragon knocks over Rapunzel's tower, defeating Charming. Shrek tells Artie the throne is his if he wants it, and Artie accepts. While the kingdom celebrates, Merlin restores Puss and Donkey to their proper bodies, accidentally switching their tails temporarily. Shrek returns to the swamp with Fiona, becoming the parents of ogre babies.

Cast

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See also: List of Shrek characters

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147px
Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas and Justin Timberlake at the film's British premiere in London.

Production

Following the success of Shrek 2, a third and fourth Shrek movie, along with plans for a final, fifth film, were announced in May 2004 by Jeffrey Katzenberg: "Shrek 3 and 4 are going to reveal other unanswered questions and, finally, in the last chapter, we will understand how Shrek came to be in that swamp, when we meet him in the first movie."[5]

DreamWorks hired Peter Seaman and Jeffrey Price to write the film and Jon Zack, who wrote The Perfect Score, on board as a consultant.[6] Unlike the first two films, the film was not directed by Andrew Adamson.[7] In March 2006, Shrek the Third was announced as the title of the film.[8] Previously, the film was titled Shrek 3.

The film was originally going to be released in November 2006, however, in December 2004, the date was changed to May 2007; "The sheer magnitude of the Shrek franchise has led us to conclude that a May release date, with a DVD release around the holiday season, will enable us to best maximize performance and increase profitability, thereby generating enhanced asset value and better returns for our shareholders." Katzenberg said.[9] The release date change was the day after Disney/Pixar changed the release date of Cars, from November 2005 to June 2006.[10]

Reception

Critical reception

40% of critics on Rotten Tomatoes gave positive reviews, with an average score of 5.4 out of 10, based on 205 reviews.[11] The site's consensus reads: "Shrek the Third has pop culture potshots galore, but at the expense of the heart, charm, and wit that made the first two Shreks classics."[11] The film also has an average score of 58 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 35 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[12]

David Ansen wrote that the film's "slightly snarky wit is aimed almost entirely at parents... this one never touched my heart or got under my skin. It's a movie at war with itself: a kiddie movie that doesn't really want to be one."[13] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, saying the film wasn't "awful, but it's bland, with a barrel-scraping averageness. There are no new ideas, no very funny new characters..." He called the character Merlin a "frankly unfunny new character" and considered the same character to be a rip-off of Albus Dumbledore from the Harry Potter franchise. Bradshaw stated that the film contained "no decent musical numbers, incidentally, and the one cover version is bizarrely chosen. For Harold's funeral we get a rendering of ... Paul McCartney's Live and Let Die. Er ... huh? Because it's kind of sad and it has "die" in the title?"[14] The Times of London rated it 2 out of 5.[15] A. O. Scott from The New York Times said the film "seem[ed] at once more energetic and more relaxed [than its predecessors], less desperate to prove its cleverness and therefore to some extent, smarter."[16]

Box office

Shrek the Third opened in 4,122 North American theaters on May 18, 2007, grossing $38 million on its first day, the biggest opening day for an animated film at the time, for a total of $121.6 million in its first weekend, the best opening weekend ever for an animated film, and the second highest opening for a 2007 film in the United States and Canada. At the time, its opening weekend was the third-highest of all time in these regions.[17] Shrek the Third grossed $322.7 million in the United States, and $476.2 million overseas, bringing its cumulative total to $799 million.[1] The film was the fourth highest-grossing film worldwide of 2007, and the second highest-grossing film in the United States and Canada that year. In addition, it was the highest-grossing 2007 animated film, and the third highest-grossing animated film ever.[18]

Awards and nominations

Awards Category Recipient Result
Annie Awards[19] Directing in an Animated Feature Production Chris Miller, Raman Hui Nominated
BAFTA Awards[20] Best Animated Film
Golden Reel Award[21] Best Sound Editing in Feature Film: Animated
Kids Choice Awards[22][23] Favorite Animated Movie
Favorite Voice From an Animated Movie Cameron Diaz
Eddie Murphy Won
Mike Myers Nominated
People's Choice Awards[24] Favorite Family Movie Won
VES Awards[25] Outstanding Effects In An Animated Motion Picture Matt Baer, Greg Hart, Krzysztof Rost, Anthony Field Nominated
Outstanding Performance by an Animated Character in an Animated Motion Picture John Cleese, Guillaume Aretos, Tim Cheung, Sean Mahoney

Soundtrack

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Main articles: List of songs featured in Shrek and Shrek the Third: Original Motion Picture Score

Home media

The film was released on both DVD and HD DVD on November 13, 2007.[26][27] The DVD was released in separate pan and scan and widescreen formats (being the first DreamWorks Animation film to be reformatted from its original ratio of 1.85:1 to 1.78:1[citation needed]).[28] The HD DVD and DVD special features include several deleted scenes, features, trailers, commentary, music videos,[26][27] and exclusively on the HD DVD version, some web enabled and HDi Interactive Format features such as a special trivia track, a film guide, and an interactive coloring book which can be downloaded as of street date.[29]

The film and special features on the HD DVD version were presented in 1.78:1 widescreen high definition 1080p and feature a Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 audio soundtrack.[30] In addition, this film was released on Blu-ray Disc on September 16, 2008.[31] It was re-released on Blu-ray on August 30, 2011.[32] And on Blu-ray 3D on November 1, 2011 as a Best Buy exclusive.[33]

As of August 30, 2014, DVD sales gathered revenue of $176,661,204 from about 11,863,374 units sold.[34]

Merchandise

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Main article: Shrek the Third (video game)

Many toys, games, books, clothes and other products have made their way to stores. For the first time, a Princess Fiona doll has been released, featured an Ogre face mask, and "Kung Fu" Leg action. Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Rapunzel and Snow White Dolls will also become available.

A video game based on the film has been released for the Wii, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation Portable, PC, and Nintendo DS.

In May 2007, Shrek The Third was made into a mobile video game, developed by Gameloft.[35]

Shrek n' Roll, an action puzzle game featuring licensed Shrek characters from the film was released for the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade on November 14, 2007. A pinball machine based on the film has also been produced by Stern Pinball.[36]

Controversy

In the beginning of the film, in Prince Charming's dinner theater, coconuts are used for horse's hoof beats. This same technique was used in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which also starred John Cleese and Eric Idle. Idle claimed to be considering suing the producers of Shrek for the unauthorised use of this gag, while the producers claim they were honoring Idle and Cleese by putting the part in.[37]

Satirical marketing effort

Adult Swim comedy team Tim and Eric, annoyed by the volume of advertisement they had witnessed in the months approaching the release of the film, decided to independently "promote"[38] Shrek 3 in a series of internet videos[39] as well as appearances on television and radio[40] to encourage people to see the film.

Sequels

The thirty-minute Christmas special, Shrek the Halls picked up from where Shrek the Third left off.[41] The film was followed by another sequel, Shrek Forever After which was released in theatres on May 21, 2010.[42] In an interview with Antonio Banderas, a spin-off film entitled Puss in Boots was confirmed. The spin-off took place before the Shrek films.

Notes

  1. ^ In July 2014, the film's distribution rights were purchased by DreamWorks Animation from Paramount Pictures and transferred to 20th Century Fox.[43]

References

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External links


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  12. ↑ Shrek the Third at Metacritic
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  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  35. ↑ Shrek the Third Review IGN.com. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
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  41. ↑ Peter Zaslav interview (IGN)
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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