ON PREVIOUS DAYS:
- YESTERDAY:
America's Last Witchtrial - DAY BEFORE:
The Man Who Shot The Pope - DAY BEFORE THAT:
Dynasty's Flamboyant Finale - DAY BEFORE BEFORE THAT:
The Return Of 'The Scream'
ON THIS DAY
How Shrek Changed Hollywood
Dreamworks’ irreverent animated comedy Shrek opened in 3,500 U.S. theaters on 18th May, 2001 – dethroning The Mummy Returns with a $42 million opening weekend, and eventually raking in nearly $500 million worldwide.
But the journey to swampy superstardom was anything but smooth. The project bounced around for a decade, surviving the death of Chris Farley, the original voice of Shrek, and burning through so many scriptwriters (whose work never saw the light of day) that the animation department became known as the ‘gulag’.
In this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca reveal how Jeffrey Katzenberg modelled Lord Farquaad after Disney CEO Michael Eisner; recall a time when computer animation needed to be seen to be believed; and consider how the film’s innovative use of pop music, celebrity voices and adult humour changed animated filmmaking forever…
Further Reading:
• ‘Shrek at 20: How a Chaotic Project Became a Beloved Hit’ (The New York Times, 2021): https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/18/movies/shrek-20th-anniversary.html
• ’How ‘Shrek’ was created as a skewed criticism of Disney’ (Far Out Magazine, 2024): https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/shrek-criticism-disney/
• ‘Shrek (2001) Trailer #1’ (Dreamworks, 2001):
Thanks so much for supporting the show! We massively appreciate it.
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Edit producer: Ollie Peart.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026.
ON THIS DAY
How Shrek Changed Hollywood
Dreamworks’ irreverent animated comedy Shrek opened in 3,500 U.S. theaters on 18th May, 2001 – dethroning The Mummy Returns with a $42 million opening weekend, and eventually raking in nearly $500 million worldwide.
But the journey to swampy superstardom was anything but smooth. The project bounced around for a decade, surviving the death of Chris Farley, the original voice of Shrek, and burning through so many scriptwriters (whose work never saw the light of day) that the animation department became known as the ‘gulag’.
In this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca reveal how Jeffrey Katzenberg modelled Lord Farquaad after Disney CEO Michael Eisner; recall a time when computer animation needed to be seen to be believed; and consider how the film’s innovative use of pop music, celebrity voices and adult humour changed animated filmmaking forever…
Further Reading:
• ‘Shrek at 20: How a Chaotic Project Became a Beloved Hit’ (The New York Times, 2021): https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/18/movies/shrek-20th-anniversary.html
• ’How ‘Shrek’ was created as a skewed criticism of Disney’ (Far Out Magazine, 2024): https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/shrek-criticism-disney/
• ‘Shrek (2001) Trailer #1’ (Dreamworks, 2001):
Thanks so much for supporting the show! We massively appreciate it.
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Edit producer: Ollie Peart.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026.
ON PREVIOUS DAYS:
- YESTERDAY:
America's Last Witchtrial - DAY BEFORE:
The Man Who Shot The Pope - DAY BEFORE THAT:
Dynasty's Flamboyant Finale - DAY BEFORE BEFORE THAT:
The Return Of 'The Scream'
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OLLY MANN
Olly Mann made his name with another trivia-wielding podcast, Answer Me This! with Helen Zaltzman – and now presents The Modern Mann, The Week Unwrapped, and Four Thought for BBC Radio Four. He also has an A-Level in History, so Dan Snow beware.
REBECCA MESSINA
Rebecca got a passion for podcasting working at The Week magazine and a passion for trivia appearing on University Challenge in 2011, making The Retrospectors her natural home.
ARION MCNICOLL
Arion started out in satirical news in Australia, then moved to the UK to work for ostensibly serious publications including The Times, CNN, and The Week… before realising that since around 2016 the news has all been satire really.
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