Shrek 2 (a.k.a. Shrek the Sequel) is a 2004 American computer-animated romantic-fantasy-adventure-comedy-mystery film directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon. It is the sequel to 2001's Shrek and the second installment in the Shrek film franchise. The film stars Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz, who reprise their respective voice roles of Shrek, Donkey, and Fiona. They are joined by new characters voiced by Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Rupert Everett, and Jennifer Saunders. Shrek 2 takes place following the events of the first film, with Shrek and Donkey meeting Fiona's parents as her zealous Fairy Godmother, who wants Fiona to marry her son Prince Charming, plots to deal with Shrek and Fiona's marriage. Shrek and Donkey team up with a swashbuckling cat named Puss in Boots to foil her plans. It is DreamWorks Animation's 8th feature film.
Development began in 2001, and following disagreements with producers, the screenwriters from the first film were replaced with Adamson. The story was inspired by Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), and new animation tools were utilized to improve the visual appearance of each character, particularly Puss in Boots. The lead actors also received a significant bump in salary to $10 million, which at the time was among the highest contracts in their respective careers.
Shrek 2 premiered at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or, and it was released in theatres on May 21, 2004. Met with favorable reviews like its predecessor, the film grossed $919.8 million worldwide. It scored the second-largest, three-day opening weekend in US history and the largest opening for an animated film at the time of its release. It went on to become the highest-grossing film of 2004 worldwide. Shrek 2 is also DreamWorks Animation's most successful film to date, and it held the title of being the highest-grossing animated film of all time worldwide until Pixar's Toy Story 3 surpassed it in 2010. The film received two Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song, and its associated soundtrack reached the Top 10 on the US Billboard 200. A sequel entitled Shrek the Third was released in 2007.
On March 12, 2024, Universal Studios announced that the film will be theatrically re-released in the United States for one week beginning on April 12, 2024 in celebration of its 20th anniversary, as part of DreamWorks Animation's 30th anniversary celebration.
Shrek 2 was released on VHS and DVD on November 5, 2004 and on Game Boy Advance Video on November 17, 2005. It became one of the best-selling DVD releases of all time with over 37 million copies being sold grossing $458 million.
A 3D-converted version of the film was released exclusively with select Samsung television sets on Blu-ray on December 1, 2010, along with the other three films of the series. A non-3D version was released on December 7, 2010, as part of the Shrek: The Whole Story box set, and a stand-alone Blu-ray/DVD combo pack was released individually on August 30, 2011, along with the other two films of the series. A stand-alone 3D Blu-ray version of the film was released on November 1, 2011. The DVD release features two full-length commentary tracks, one by co-directors Conrad Vernon and Kelly Asbury, and a second by producer Aron Warner and editor Michael Andrews. Shrek 2 was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray on November 22, 2022, by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
Trivia[]
In the Fairy Godmother's factory, some workers are putting potions bottles on a conveyer belt. One of the bottles is marked "Viagra".
Antonio Banderas also provides the Puss in Boots' voice both in the Spanish and Latin America version, and even in Italian.
This was the first sequel ever nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
When Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey are leaving for Far, Far Away, Donkey starts singing "Rawhide." Eddie Murphy ad-libbed the version that was put into the film.
This movie can be featured in the Game Boy Advance Video.
When Mongo is hit by the warm milk, his roar is the same roar as the original Japanese Godzilla.
Jennifer Saunders got a voice coach to help her sing for the Fairy Godmother's opening number.
In one draft, Prince Charming was a lot more childish and immature and he frequently threw tantrums.
Shrek's face is so expressive because it has 218 working muscles in it.
John Cleese and Julie Andrews recorded most of their scenes together at the same time, an unusual practice for an animated film.
Originally, the Dragon from the first film was to have a major role, and turn into a Stallion when Donkey drank the potion.
This is the first film to have a release of over 4,000 theaters in the USA.
The Gingerbread Man's legs have been re-attached with little bands of frosting.
This is the first DreamWorks film to use the new DreamWorks Animation logo.
Over 300 Hewlett Packard workstations were employed in the making of the film.
