\n<\/p>\n
“We had one screening where we’d scored something really high,” Adamson recalled. “And I remember Jeffrey saying to me afterward, ‘Get ready for this. This may only happen once in your life.'”<\/p>\n
This<\/em> turned out to be a $3.5 billion-grossing franchise, the all-star cast and 95 minutes of literal LOL-worthy jokes, largely at Disney’s expense, leading to a $484.4 million box office gross for the May 18, 2001 release. (To mark its milestone anniversary, Shrek<\/em> will be re-released in theaters beginning May 15.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The franchise’s happily ever after also included an Oscar, two holiday specials, a spin-off, a Broadway show and four sequels with Shrek 5<\/em><\/a>\u2014which adds Zendaya<\/strong> to the stacked cast<\/a>\u2014set for a June 2027 release. (Not to mention all the merchandise that has flooded the market since the original film premiered on May 18, 2001.)\u00a0<\/p>\n Plus there’s that earworm of a cover song from Smash Mouth<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n But Shrek<\/em>‘s origin story\u2014dating back to Steven Spielberg<\/strong><\/a> purchasing the rights to the book of the same name in 1991\u2014wasn’t exactly the stuff of fairytales.<\/p>\n To properly recognize a movie the Library of Congress deemed worthy of preservation in the National Film Registry, we must start at the beginning.\u00a0<\/p>\n Once upon a time, there was a picture book, a legendary director, a former Disney CEO and their brand new animation studio…<\/p>\n<\/div>\n