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Shrek 3, Advertised as Shrek the Third, is a 2007 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film, produced by DreamWorks Animation distributed by Paramount Pictures which acquired DreamWorks Pictures in 2006 (the former parent of DWA). It is the second sequel to the 2001 movie Shrek and marks the first time a computer animated film series has made it to three movies. Mike MyersEddie Murphy, Cameron DiazAntonio BanderasJulie AndrewsJohn Cleese and Rupert Everett reprised their roles of Shrek, Donkey, Fiona, Puss-In-Boots, Lillian, Harold and Prince Charming. They are joined by Justin Timberlake and Eric Idle who play Fiona's teenager cousin Artie and his old teacher Mr. Merlin. It was released in U.S. theaters on May 18, 2007, the same exactly same year the first film was released. Although the film received mixed reviews from critics, it grossed $798 million, making it a commercial success. It was produced with the working title of Shrek 3, the name being changed to avoid potential confusion with Shrek 4-D. Like the first two Shrek films, the film is based onfairy tale themes. 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. This film also pairs former Monty Python members Eric Idle and John Cleese for the first time since 1993'sSplitting Heirs (Idle plays Merlin, Cleese plays King Harold).

Plot[]

Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) performs onstage in a bar, vowing that he will become King of Far Far Away and avenge the death of his mother, the Fairy Godmother. Meanwhile, King Harold (John Cleese) is dying and he tells his ogre son-in-law Shrek (Mike Myers) and daughter Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) that they are set to become the next King and Queen of Far Far Away. Shrek, who is having difficulty serving as Regent during the King's medical leave, insists that an ogre as king isn't a good idea and that there must be someone else for the job. Before dying, Harold tells Shrek that there is another heir: his nephew, Arthur Pendragon. Prince Charming goes to the Poison Apple tavern, where he persuades numerous fairy tale villains to fight for their "happily ever after" by appealing to their tragic defeats given in their stories. Shrek, Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) set out to retrieve Arthur; as they are sailing away, Fiona yells to Shrek that she is pregnant, leaving Shrek somewhat shocked. The trio journey to Worcestershire Academy, an elite boarding school, where they discover Arthur ("Artie", as he prefers to be called) 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 an island, where they meet Artie's retired wizard teacher, Merlin (Eric Idle). Charming and the other villains attack the castle, but their fairly tale creatures stall them long enough for Fiona and her mother Queen Lillian (Juile Andrews) to escape along with Snow WhiteRapunzelCinderellaSleeping Beauty and Doris the Ugly Stepsister. Unfortunately, one of The Three Little Pigs (Cody Cameron) accidentally blurts out that Shrek has gone off to bring in Arthur, and Prince Charming sends off Captain Hook and his pirates to track down Shrek. Even worse, the ladies are captured when Rapunzel betrays them because she is in love with Charming. Captain Hook and his pirates track Shrek and his friends to Merlin's island, where they attempt to capture Shrek alive and kill the others. Shrek and Artie send the villains running, but not before 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 all to Far Far Away. The spell works, but accidentally causes Puss and Donkey to switch bodies. They learn that he plans to kill Shrek in a play that night. Charming's men arrive, but Artie tricks the knights into not taking them into custody. They break into the castle during rehearsals for the play. Caught in Charming's dressing room, the four are taken captive. Charming prepares to kill 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 run away. 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 the fairy tale creatures, Dragon and their children. They encounter Artie, and Puss and Donkey explain to him that Shrek lied so Charming would not kill him. Charming stages a musical in which he rescues Rapunzel. Just as Charming is about to kill Shrek, Princess Fiona along with Puss, Donkey, the princesses and the fairy tale characters confront the villains. Artie then arrives convinces the villains to give up their evil ways, saying that just because they are being treated like losers doesn't mean that they have be losers. Touched by Artie's speech, the villains agree to give up their evil ways, except for Charming, who is furious at being thwarted. He attempts to lunge for Artie with his sword, but Shrek blocks the blow, so Charming lunges at him instead. Shrek, who at first seems fatally injured, informs Charming that he missed and that the Prince needs to keep looking for his own happily ever after. As Shrek pushes him aside, Dragon knocks Rapunzel's tower on Charming, presumably killing him. Shrek then tells Artie the throne is his if he wants it, and Artie decides to accept it. While the kingdom celebrates, Merlin restores Puss and Donkey to their proper bodies, accidentally switching their tails temporarily (they are changed back to normal later). Shrek and Fiona return to their swamp, becoming the parents of ogre triplets.

Cast[]

  • Mike Myers as Shrek
  • Eddie Murphy as Donkey
  • Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona
  • Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots: Another friend of Shrek and Donkey.
  • Justin Timberlake as Arthur "Artie" Pendragon
  • Rupert Everett as Prince Charming
  • Eric Idle as Merlin
  • Julie Andrews as Queen Lillian
  • John Cleese as King Harold
  • Conrad Vernon as Gingerbread ManRumpelstiltskin and Headless Horseman
  • Cody Cameron as Pinocchio and the Three Pigs
  • Larry King as Doris the Ugly Stepsister
  • Christopher Knights as The Three Blind Mice
  • Amy Poehler as Snow White
  • Maya Rudolph as Rapunzel
  • Amy Sedaris as Cinderella
  • Aron Warner as Wolf
  • Cheri Oteri as Sleeping Beauty and Actress
  • Ian McShane as Captain Hook
  • Susanne Blakeslee as Evil Queen
  • Regis Philbin as Mabel the Ugly Stepsister
  • Mark Valley as Cyclops
  • Chris Miller as Puppet Master
  • Seth Rogen as Ship Captain
  • Tom Kane as Guard #1
  • Kari Wahlgren as Old Lady
  • John Lithgow as Lord Farquaad (seen in a flashback by Gingy)
  • John Krasinski as Lancelot

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."[2] DreamWorks hired Peter Seaman and Jeffrey Price to write the film and Jon Zack, who wrote The Perfect Score, on board as a consultant.[3] Unlike the first two films, the film was not directed by Andrew Adamson; "No, I can't. They're actually working on the story right now. I'm staying involved, but I can't do that and this." Adamson said. 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.

Reception[]

Critical reception[]

Critical reaction to Shrek the Third was generally mixed, in contrast to the critical acclaim achieved by the previous films. On Rotten Tomatoes, it states that 40% of critics gave a positive review, with an average score of 5.4 out of 10, based on 205 reviews.[6] The film also has an average score of 58 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 35 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". 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."[8] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film 2 out of 5 stars. He said 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 also called the character Merlin a "frankly unfunny new character" and considered the same character to be a rip-off of the Harry Potter franchise. In the last paragraph of the review, 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?"[9] The Times newspaper also rated it 2 out of 5. In contrast, writers such as A. O. Scott from The New York Times, held that 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."

Box office[]

Despite these criticisms, Shrek the Third, which opened in 4,122 North American cinemas on May 18, 2007, grossed $38 million on its first day, the biggest opening day for animated film of all time (that record was however later broken in 2010 by Toy Story 3 with $41 million), 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, behind Spider-Man 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.[12] 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 is the fourth highest-grossing film worldwide in 2007, only behind Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's EndHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and Spider-Man 3. It is also the second highest-grossing film in the United States and Canada that year, behind Spider-Man 3. In addition, it is the highest-grossing 2007 animated film, the second highest-grossing film in the series,[13] the 44th highest-grossing film of all time and the 9th highest-grossing animated film. Compared to its predecessors and successor, the film also had an unusually short box office lifespan; Shrek the Third spent only 12 weeks in theaters, while ShrekShrek 2, and Shrek Forever After were in release for 29, 21, and 16 weeks, respectively.

Soundtrack[]

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 13th 2007. The DVD was released in separate pan and scan and 1.78:1 widescreen formats (being the first DreamWorks Animation film to be reformatted from its original ratio of 1.85:1 to 1.78:1).[22] The HD DVD and DVD special features[23] include several deleted scenes, features, trailers, commentary, music videos, 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. 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.[26] In addition, this film was released on Blu-ray Disc on September 16th 2008. It was re-released on Blu-ray on August 30, 2011. And on Blu-ray 3D on November 1, 2011 as a Best Buy exclusive. As of August 30th 2014, DVD sales gathered revenue of $176,661,204 from about 11,863,374 units sold.[28]

Merchandise[]

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. 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.

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.[31]

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"[32] Shrek 3 in a series of internet videos[33] as well as appearances on television and radio[34] to encourage people to see the film.

Sequel[]

Shrek Forever After was released in theatres on May 21, 2010. 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.

Trivia[]

Gallery[]

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