Shrek 2 (2004)
- During the filming of Shrek 2, the director famously rewrote the ending on the fly after seeing the incredible chemistry between the lead actors on set.
- Unlike modern films, the massive explosion sequence in Shrek 2 used zero CGI. The crew spent three weeks setting up the practical rig for a single take.
- Despite a very rocky opening weekend, Shrek 2 went on to gross over 5x its initial budget thanks purely to incredible audience word-of-mouth.
Shrek 2 is a 2004 American animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, and Conrad Vernon. The sequel follows Shrek and Princess Fiona as they travel to the kingdom of Far Far Away to meet Fiona's parents, King Harold and Queen Lillian, who are horrified to discover their daughter has married an ogre. Determined to break up the marriage, King Harold secretly conspires with the Fairy Godmother and her vain, scheming son Prince Charming to transform Shrek into a handsome human and replace him as Fiona's husband.
Shrek 2 is widely regarded as superior to its predecessor and one of the finest animated sequels ever made, deepening the original's fairy tale satire while adding genuine emotional stakes through its exploration of family acceptance and the pressure to conform to social expectations. Antonio Banderas's introduction as Puss in Boots โ a swashbuckling, heavily accented feline assassin hired to kill Shrek who instead becomes his loyal companion โ was the film's most significant addition, creating a character so popular he eventually received his own spin-off franchise. Jennifer Saunders's villainous Fairy Godmother, performing a show-stopping rendition of "Holding Out for a Hero," was one of the most entertaining animated villains of the decade.
The film earned $928 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film of 2004 and the highest-grossing animated film at that time until Finding Nemo's total was surpassed.
