Shrek

An ogre (voice by Mike Myers) and a donkey (Eddie Murphy) set out to rescue a princess (Cameron Diaz) for their local tyrant (John Lithgow). DreamWorks SKG again tries to steal a march on Disney: this computer-animated feature is to the forthcoming Monsters Inc. as Antz was to A Bug’s Life. On its own merits, it’s great fun—innocently PG-bawdy, beautifully animated (the expressive faces are a big advance over Antz), and sending up fairy-tale conventions even as it builds inevitably to a happily-ever-after ending (and a rousing, off-the-wall rendition of Neil Diamond’s “I’m a Believer”). There are also several unsubtle swipes at Disney, from Disneyland itself to the ending of Beauty and the Beast, delivered with the pugnacity of an insecure punk out to take down the big guy in town.