History WesternAnimation / Shrek1

** This is the only movie in the series that doesn't use a pre-existing fairy tale character as the BigBad (e.g. [[WesternAnimation/Shrek2 the Fairy Godmother]], [[WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird Prince Charming]], or [[WesternAnimation/ShrekForeverAfter Rumpelstiltskin]]); Lord Farquaad fills this role.

* ObfuscatingStupidity: In the beginning, Donkey attempts to evade being sold by his owner by refusing to talk, with the intention of making his owner look crazy in the eyes of Lord Farquaad's guards and deny her from selling him. It doesn't last.

* SoHideousItsTerrifying: Provides the trope image. Shrek exploits this trope at the beginning of the first movie to scare off ogre hunters and protect his privacy. The All Star Smash Mouth sequence has him having a bath in a quagmire, having a shower with mud (with a clear shot of his buttocks) brushing his teeth with bug guts (the latter scene ending with [[MirrorCrackingUgly his mirror cracking]]) and, finally, roaring at the villagers who wanted to kill him (with a close-up of his teeth and saliva). However, the trope is downplayed later in the movie and sequels because he finds a love interest with AnAesop about inner beauty, his best friends get along with him without any trace of fear (well, as long as [[OhCrap Shrek doesn't lose it]]) and his ugliness is lampshaded only in gags and scenes where either his ogre physique or lifestyle are put in contrast with those of more attractive characters.

-->'''Shrek:''' Shrek: I like my privacy.\\

%%* AsceticAesthetic: Duloc.
* AssholeVictim: Lord Farquad is eventually defeated and killed by Dragon eating him alive. And considering Farquad was a racistic douchebag who despised fairytale creatures, planned to put Shrek in a position where he would beg for death to save him and threatened to have Fiona locked back in Dragon's Keep for good. It is very obvious nobody is going to miss him at all, especially since people of Duloc cheered greatly how they are finally free of him after Dragon ate him.

* AnAesop:
** Don't judge people before you get to know them, and true beauty is on the inside.
** Happily Ever After isn't always what you think it will be, and that's OK.
** Real love is blind and the right people will love you no matter what.

The film features Shrek (Creator/MikeMyers), a grumpy ogre living happily alone in his swamp, where he regularly frightens off villagers and lives the lazily luxurious life of an ogre. However, his perfect world is rocked when his loving home is invaded by fairy tale creatures simply seeking refuge after being cast into exile by the cruel-hearted Lord Farquaad (Creator/JohnLithgow). When Shrek confronts Farquaad, he agrees to let the ogre live in peace if he can rescue the Princess Fiona (Creator/CameronDiaz) from a dragon guarded castle so that Farquaad can marry her and become a true king. With the aid of his new and obnoxiously garrulous self-proclaimed best friend, [[ADogNamedDog a talking Donkey named Donkey]] (Creator/EddieMurphy), Shrek sets off on his quest to restore balance to the delicate fairy tale world he's living in.

* ExactWords: Fiona's curse states that she will "take love's true form" when she finds her true love. She takes this to mean that she will become a human full time, [[spoiler: but it actually causes her to permanently assume the form that her true love -- Shrek -- finds beautiful, i.e. her ogre form.]]
** Shrek is also well aware of this trope, and takes steps to make sure Farquaad doesn't screw him over if he completes the quest.
--->'''Farquaad''': All right, Ogre. I'll make you a deal. Go on this quest for me and I'll give you your swamp back.
--->'''Shrek''': Exactly like it was?
--->'''Farquaad''': Down to the last slime-covered toadstool.
--->'''Shrek''': And the squatters?
--->'''Farquaad''': As good as gone.

* HeroesWantRedheads: And villains, too, in the case of Fiona, as Farquaad solely wants her so he can become king of [=DuLoc=], and while bringing her back to Farquaad, Shrek starts falling for her too, and Donkey tells him not to hide from his own feelings. In the middle of a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, no less.

Notorious for its modern twist on the FairyTale genre, ''Shrek'' was a smashing success at the time of its release. The film became the first installment of the ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'' franchise, receiving three theatrical sequels and two spinoffs. It ushered in a new era of computer animated films to Creator/DreamWorksAnimation, and the titular Shrek became the company's unofficial mascot.

''Shrek'' was also the winner of the first-ever MediaNotes/AcademyAwardForBestAnimatedFeature, ''and'' it was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the UsefulNotes/NationalFilmRegistry, making it the first and thus far only animated feature not from Creator/{{Disney}} and Creator/{{Pixar}} in the registry. As it was from 2001, it also became the first piece of animation from the 21st century to have that honor as well.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: In one scene, Shrek asks the ringleader of a couple guards "You and what army?" The guard turns around and notices that the other guards fled.

* ShipperOnDeck: Donkey to Shrek and Fiona.

->Like ''that's'' ever gonna happen! What a load of ''(FLUSH!)''[[note]][[Music/SmashMouth SomeBODY once told me the world was gonna roll me...]][[/note]]

* AsceticAesthetic: Duloc.

''Shrek'' was also the winner of the first-ever UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardForBestAnimatedFeature, ''and'' it was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the UsefulNotes/NationalFilmRegistry, making it the first and thus far only animated feature not from Creator/{{Disney}} and Creator/{{Pixar}} in the registry. As it was from 2001, it also became the first piece of animation from the 21st century to have that honor as well.

* ExcusePlot: Supposedly, the reason why Fiona changes into an ogress every night is because "when she was a little girl, a witch cast a spell on her". This witch is never mentioned again or elaborated upon in any way, and the only reason it seems to have been included was just to supply a reason behind Fiona's transformations.

* IgnorantAboutFire: In one of the bonus features, Donkey and Dragon sing a cover of "Burn, Baby, Burn", and Donkey's tail catches fire but he doesn't notice.
-->'''Shrek:''' You're on fire, Donkey! No, literally, you're on fire!

%%* SuddenMusicalEnding

%%* AstonishinglyAppropriateInterruption

* TakeThat: The film, made by several former Disney employees, was made as a ''gigantic'' middle-finger to the company, and more specifically then-CEO Creator/MichaelEisner (whose personality and mannerisms are reflected in the villain, Farquaad). It's not an accident that the movie itself is a DeconstructorFleet of the classic instalments of the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon as well as the Disney Renaissance films.

* AwardBaitSong: Played straight, though somewhat out of place in a movie that took the ''mickey'' out of tropes popularized by the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon, with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfNJsDm5Di8 It Is You (I Have Loved)]] by Dana Glover, the only non-instrumental song on the soundtrack written specifically for the movie.

* AwardBaitSong: Played straight, though somewhat out of place in a movie that [[JustForPun took the mickey]] out of tropes popularized by the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon, with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfNJsDm5Di8 It Is You (I Have Loved)]] by Dana Glover, the only non-instrumental song on the soundtrack written specifically for the movie.

* BeastAndBeauty: Shrek and Fiona, [[spoiler: though it's subverted when Fiona becomes an ogre full-time]].

* ToiletHumour: There are plenty of grossout gags in the film. The very first gag in the film is Shrek using a storybook page as toilet paper in an outhouse. Heck, the entire opening is a magnificent cavalcade of scenes showing off just how gross Shrek is!

* ForWantOfANail: Farquaad refusing to listen to the mirror when the mirror tries to warn him about Fiona. If he had, the rest of the film would have turned out quite differently, as Fiona wouldn't have actually appeared, Shrek would still be alone, and the rest of the films in the series would also not have happened.
** Shrek as well. Shrek agrees to this journey simply because he wants his swamp back. He meets the love of his life and marries her and the events of the rest of the series happen because of this.