One of the reasons that it has become standard practice for videos to be released on Tuesdays is to maximize their distance from the traditional movie-premiere day of Friday; it is rightly believed that purchasers of a new video will most likely spend the evening with it rather than go out to a theater (and, conversely, people planning a movie outing would be unlikely to purchase a video that day). By separating the two events, studios hoped to maximize the opening day sales of each.

The unusual Friday street date of Shrek, then, is a key to understanding the film's subtext; having it hit the stores on the day of rival studio Disney's Monsters Inc. underscores that the film is largely DreamWorks partner Jeff Katzenberg's revenge against his ex-employer. Those who know this going in will enjoy another level of Shrek's wicked humor, as DreamWorks makes some gentle jabs -- and some sharp stabs -- at the Disney legacy from the early princess stories to modern-day Disney World, and places Disney's Michael Eisner in the role of the Wicked King. The "Age of Irony" may be reportedly over, but everyone enjoys a good disgruntled-employee tale -- especially when it is as well-done as Shrek.

Very loosely based on the 1990 children's book "Shrek!" by New Yorker cartoonist William Steig, the film has in one form or another been in the works since 1994; originally conceived as a stop-motion animated film starring the late Chris Farley, it was reworked in 1998 following Farley's death the previous year.

Film Synopsis: Shrek (Mike Myers, in a Scottish brogue indistinguishable from his "Fat Bastard" role) is a green-skinned ogre who wants nothing more than to be left alone in his enchanted-forest cottage. When the evil Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow) evicts all fairy-tale creatures from his land Duloc, Shrek's swamp becomes a refugee camp for the likes of Pinnochio, Snow White, the Three Little Pigs, and hundreds of others. Forced to return to civilization -- and Duloc, in a sidesplitting take-off on Disneyland/Walt Disney World -- in order to challenge Farquaad, Shrek meets up with a Donkey (voiced by Eddie Murphy, doing Eddie Murphy) and attempts to rescue the enchanting Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) from a forced marriage with Farquaad.

Technical

Video:	Widescreen (Disc 2): Widescreen 1.78:1 (Anamorphic) Full-screen (Disc 1): 1.33:1
Audio:	ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 (Discs 1 & 2) ENGLISH: DTS Digital Surround 5.1 (Disc 2) ENGLISH: Dolby Surround 2.0 (Discs 1 & 2) SPANISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 (Disc 2) SPANISH: Dolby Surround 2.0 (Disc 1) FRENCH: Dolby Digital 5.1 (Disc 2) FRENCH: Dolby Surround 2.0 (Disc 1)
Subtitles:	English, French, Spanish, Closed Captions
Chapters:	20

The Shrek set contains two discs. Disc 1 contains the Pan-and-Scan transfer of the film (as well as a complement of extra features), while Disc 2 provides the widescreen transfer (and optional filmmaker's commentary by directors Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson), as well as the rest of the set's supplemental features. The widescreen is 1.78:1 with anamorphic support for 16x9 televisions.

The transfer, as you might expect, is superb. Colors are solid and sharp, with little evident compression artifacts or other distractions, and sudden transitions from light to dark are handled well. The transfer is so clear that the full range of fractal detail can only be seen on a large (56" or greater) screen; if you have a progressive-scan DVD player, this disc is worthy of inviting the neighbors (and perhaps complete strangers) over to watch.

The two-disc set also provides the space for no less than six soundtracks: English in 5.1 Dolby Digital, 5.1 DTS, and 2.0 Surround, and Spanish and French each in both 5.1 Dolby Digital and 2.0 Surround. The English 5.1 Dolby Digital and DTS tracks are to our ears indistinguishable, and -- like the video -- are presentation quality. The 2.0 mixes necessarily lose the soundspace of the 5.1 mixes, but remain clear and discrete.

Supplements

Disc 1:

• HBO First Look: The Making of Shrek (24:30)
• Sneak Peek: "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" (2:50)
• Cast (Interviews and Credits)
  • Mike Myers as Shrek (Interview: 0:50)
  • Eddie Murphy as Donkey (Interview: 0:39)
  • Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona (Interview: 1:23)
  • John Lithgow as Lord Farquaad (No interview)
• Filmmakers:
  • Andrew Adamson (Director)
  • Vicky Jenson (Director)
  • Aron Warner (Producer)
  • John H. Williams (Producer)
  • Jeffrey Katzenberg (Producer)
  • David Lipman (Co-Executive Producer)
  • Penney Finkelman Cox (Executive Producer)
  • Sandra Rabins (Executive Producer)
  • Ted Elliott (Screenwriter / Co-Producer)
  • Terry Rossio (Screenwriter / Co-Producer)
  • Joe Stillman (Screenwriter)
  • Roger S.H. Schulman (Screenwriter)
  • Harry Gregson-Williams (Composer)
  • John Powell (Composer)
  • Sim Evan-Jones (Editor)
  • James Hegedus (Production Designer)
  • Ken Bielenberg (Visual Effects Supervisor)
  • Raman Hui (Supervising Animator)
  • Jane Hartwell (Associate Producer)
• Shrek In The Swamp Karaoke Dance Party (2:48)
• Games:
• Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall
• Shrektacular Trivia
• Production Notes
• DreamWorks Kids Play Area:
• Favorite Scenes
• Shrek's Music room:
• Baha Men "Best Years Of Our Lives" Music Video 
• The Making of the Baha Men Video
• Smash Mouth "I'm A Believer" Music Video
• The Game Swamp:
• Rescue The Princess
• Shrektacular Trivia
• Character Morph
• Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall
• Dress Up The Gingerbread Man

Disc 2:

• Filmmaker's Commentary
• Storyboard Pitch of Deleted Scenes (multi-angle):
• Fiona's Prologue
• The Deal
• Fiona Gets Them Lost
• The Tech Of Shrek (22:07)
• X-Box Game Playing Hints
• Technical "Goofs" (2:50)
• Dubbing Featurette (2:01)
• Cast (same as Disc 1)
• Filmmakers (same as Disc 1)
• Progression Reel (character development):
• Shrek
• Fiona
• Beast Fiona
• Donkey
• Farquaad
• Dragon
• Dragon's Castle
• Shrek's House
• DuLoc
• Theatrical Trailer (2:04)
• Production Notes

This is another of this season's ultra-dense collector's sets, with a reputed 11 hours' worth of supplemental material. Try as we might, however, we could not come up with a total even close to that; despite the notice that the eleven hours refers to bonus features, the wildly inflated number must include the running time of both the widescreen and P&S films, or includes an hours-long appreciation of the animated menus, perhaps by cataleptics. Maybe there are yet-to-be-discovered feature-length Easter Eggs.

The commentary track by directors Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson is an enjoyable talk, containing a wealth of background information not repeated elsewhere. The two are animated (no pun intended), and well worth the hour-and-a-half.

The "Dubbing Featurette" requires the disc to be played in a DVD-ROM drive, and permits the user armed with a microphone to dub his or her voice into a dozen or so scenes. You of course have the choice to use the actual dialog, or make up your own, Mystery Science Theater 3000-style. It's an interesting exercise, and the gimmick might find its way into future DVD special editions.

The "Sneak Peek" is a two-minute trailer for next year's DreamWorks animated feature Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, a mixture of traditional and computer animation.

Other notable supplements include the "Technical Goofs," which is a disappointing three-minute compilation of low-res computer-rendering errors, such as Donkey without the fur-smoothing algorithms in place (as a result, each hair sticks straight out, giving Donkey the old character-in-the-clothes-dryer "poofed" look); the "Character Interviews," one-minute-or-so interviews with the actors which have been animated to the characters (despite ads to the contrary, John Lithgow/Farquaad's interview is not on the DVD); and the much-touted "Extended Ending," which is accessible separately as the "Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance Party," featuring Beast Fiona doing a commendable Madonna send-up, and a sneaky Robin Hood and His Merry Men choreographed to the Village People's "YMCA."

Easter Eggs: There is one known Easter Egg (other than the obvious "Karaoke Dance Party" reachable via the musical notes symbol on the "Special Features" menu on Disc 2). On either disc, go to the "Special Features" menu, then move to the "Main Menu" link. Move up to highlight the Gingerbread Man's gumdrop buttons. Select these, and you'll get a meaningless tidbit about the movie. Additional selects here will play alternate information.