Shrek: From the Swamp to the Screen Goes Behind the Scenes of The Shrek Movies
Written: May 23 '04 (Updated May 18 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Interesting information on how Shrek and Shrek 2 were made
Cons: Plot spoilers for the movies were included
The Bottom Line: Shrek: From the Swamp to the Screen is loaded with information about the making of the Shrek movies. Fans of the movies should enjoy it. Beware of spoilers.
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| dragonfire88's Full Review: |
I first saw the movie Shrek in the theater in 2001. The movie was a huge hit, and a sequel, Shrek 2 opened on May 19, 2004. I have seen Shrek many times and really enjoy it. I have been looking forward to seeing Shrek 2 for months. Recently when I was in the bookstore, I noticed a shelf full of books that tied into Shrek. Most were aimed at children, but I spotted one for older readers. Shrek: From the Swamp to the Screen is full of information on both Shrek movies and how they were made.
Shrek: From the Swamp to the Screen is an oversize hardback book. I only recently saw the book at my local bookstore, but I saw that the publication date was listed as March of 2004 on one on-line bookstore. The book was written by John Hopkins. The book had semi-glossy paper.
Shrek: From the Swamp to the Screen doesn’t have an actual plot. The book deals with how the movie version of Shrek and the sequel were created and made. There really weren’t plot summaries to either movie included in the book, but things that happened in each movie were discussed. Some things that were mentioned could be spoilers if the movies haven’t been seen yet. I bought my copy of this book before Shrek 2 was released, and read it before seeing the movie. There were a few things mentioned that happened in the second movie that I consider to be spoilers. They popped up here and there throughout the book. There weren’t a lot of details about the plot of Shrek 2, and most of what was mentioned were things from trailers, but there were a few things mentioned that I think should have been kept a secret until viewing the movie. People who plan to see Shrek 2 should read this book cautiously since there are some spoilers in it. I don’t think that people who haven’t seen Shrek would have any interest in this book. It is for fans of the movies.
Shrek: From the Swamp to the Screen had a short foreword written by Mike Myers. In it, Myers talked about how he ended up giving Shrek a Scottish accent. He briefly mentioned some things related to the making of the two movies. At the end of the book, everyone who did anything for either movie is listed, along with what they did. John Hopkins included some acknowledgments. Throughout those pagers were some sketches of some of the people involved in making the movies. Just in front of the credits was a two-page spread called Up Close & Personal. Small pictures of the main characters and some bits of information about them were included, like the fact that Shrek’s favorite song is It’s Not Easy Being Green by Kermit the Frog. The rest of the book was divided up into five sections.
The first section of Shrek: From the Swamp to the Screen focused in on the process of making a movie based on a short children’s book. The process began in 1994 when one of the heads of DreamWorks Motion Pictures showed a copy of the book Shrek by William Steig to Jeffrey Katzenburg, one of the founders of DreamWorks. The book was short, so more plot would have to be added to make a full length animated movie. A brief overview of the original book was shared, and it is different from what ended up in the movie version of Shrek. It was decided early on in the process that computer animation would be used. Some of the technology used to make the movie was discussed. I learned from this section that originally Chris Farley was going to do the voice for Shrek. When he died, he had already worked for a year on the movie. That slowed down production on the movie for a while until Mike Myers took on the part. The popularity of the first movie was also discussed in this section. There was some information about the life of William Steig included as well.
The second section of the book discussed the decision to make Shrek 2 and how they came up with the idea for the plot. The book does say that a decision was made before Shrek was ever released to do Shrek 2. I just saw a special on tv about the making of the movies that said that the decision wasn’t made until after Shrek became so popular. So there is conflicting information out there about when the decision to make Shrek 2 was made. The new characters were discussed, along with how they evolved into the forms they are in the movie. Puss in Boots was inspired by the director’s actual cat. Costume choices and locations for the second movie were discussed. Some more technical aspects of animating the movie were explained. The third section dealt with the storyboard process, editing, and the evolution of the plot. The fourth section discussed some changes that had to be made to the story. The actors who provided voices for the characters were discussed, along with some things they did to help with the development of their characters. Things related to being able to do more realistic animation of people and other elements were explained. The last section of the book talked about finishing up the movie. The music for both movies was mentioned. I thought it was interesting how the music for the movies was picked. The release date of Shrek 2 was given as May 21, 2004 in the book, two days after it actually opened.
Shrek: From the Swamp to the Screen was full of pictures. Most of the pictures were of scenes from the two movies. Some of the pictures were small, and others filled up an entire page, or even a two-page spread. All of the pictures were clear and very colorful. There was a large picture taking up two pages at the beginning of each section of the book. I liked all the pictures that were in the book. They went along with the text. There were early sketches of some characters shown, and how they changed into the final forms that were in the movie. There were some strange looking versions of Shrek early in the process. I did enjoy seeing the early sketches of the characters. I thought it was really interesting to see how the characters changed. I also enjoyed seeing some of the development art that showed early versions of some scenes. There were a few photographs of the people who were involved in the making of Shrek and Shrek 2.
Shrek: From the Swamp to the Screen explained many technical things that went into making computer animated movies. John Hopkins explained those things in such a way that I was able to understand what he was talking about. There was information about different aspects of the computer animation process included in every section of the book. Some things were only mentioned briefly while others had more depth. The book was very well written, and organized in a logical manner. The book wasn’t that long, but it had a lot of information about the making of the two movies. There was more focus in on the process of making Shrek 2 than there was for the original movie, which makes sense since it is the newer movie. Several different people involved in the making of the movies shared some of their thoughts about things related to the making of both movies.
I loved going to see animated movies when I was a child. At that time, there weren’t as many animated movies or just movies aimed at children in general as there are today. I really looked forward to going and seeing whatever new animated movie came out. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve kept my love for animated movies. I have often thought that if I had any artistic talent, I would have tried to become an animator. I first picked up Shreck: From the Swamp to the Screen because I spotted the big picture of Shrek on the cover. I briefly flipped through the book and decided to get it since I really liked the first movie and was looking forward to seeing the second one. I’m really glad I got this book. Since I love this type of movie, I’ve been fascinated by the animation process. Before reading this book, I knew a little about the process with traditional hand drawn animation, and very little about computer animation. I learned a lot from this book. Some people could find the information about computer animation boring and dry, but I didn’t feel that way. I thought that information was very interesting. I wasn’t bored by the book at all. Once I started reading, it didn’t take me long to finish it.
I really enjoyed Shrek: From the Swamp to the Screen. The book is packed with information about the two Shrek movies, as well as many sketches and pictures. Fans of the movies may enjoy reading about how the movies were made. People who are interested in the animation process, especially computer animation, may also enjoy the book. I do think that this book is aimed at the adult fans of the movies instead of children. I think children could be bored by all the information that is in the book.
Shrek Reviews
Shrek ~ Shrek 2 ~ Shrek the Third ~
Recommended:
Yes
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