Once upon a time, there was a lovely princess. But she had an enchantment of a fearful sort which could only be broken by loves first kiss. She was locked away in a castle guarded by a terrible fire-breathing dragon. Many brave knights had attempted to free her from this dreadful prison, but none prevailed. She waited in the dragons keep in the highest room of the tallest tower for her true-love and true-loves first kiss. laughs Like thats ever gonna happen. SomeBODY

All-Star-by-Smash-Mouth

Oncetoldme its in there? All right. Lets get it! Woah. Hold on. Do you know what that thing can do to you? Yeah, itll grind your bones for its bread. Yes, well, actually, that would be a giant. Now, ogres, theyre much Havelayers Theyll make a suit from your freshly peeled skin. No! Theyll shave your liver. Squeeze the jelly from your eyes! Actually, its quite good on toast. Back! Back, beast! Back! I warn ya! Right. ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAR! This is the part where you run away. And stay out! Wanted. Fairy tale creatures. All right. This ones full. Take it away! Move it along. Come on! Get up! Next! Give me that! Your flying days are over. Thats 20 pieces of silver for the witch. Next! Get up! Come on! Twenty pieces. crying This cage is too small. Please, dont turn me in. Ill never be-stubborn-again. I-can-change. Please! Give-me-another-chance! Oh-shut-up.

Oh!

Next! What have you got? This little wooden puppet. Im not a puppet. Im a real boy. Five shillings for the possessed toy. Take it away. Father, please! Dont let them do this! Help me! Next! What have you got? Well, Ive got a talking donkey. Right. Well, thats good for ten shillings, if you can prove it. Oh, go ahead, little fella. Well? Oh, oh, hes just a little nervous. Hes really quite a chatterbox. Talk, you boneheaded dolt. Thats it. Ive heard enough. Guards! No, no, he talks! He does. I can talk. I love to talk. Im the talkingest damn thing you ever saw. Get her out of my sight. No, no! I swear! Oh! He can talk! Hey! I can fly! He can fly! He can fly! He can talk! Ha, thats right, fool! Now Im a flying, talking donkey. You might have seen a housefly, maybe even a superfly but I bet you aint never seen a donkey fly. Ha, ha! Uh-oh. Seize him! After him! Hes getting away! Get him! This way! Turn! You there. Ogre! Aye? By the order of Lord Farquaad I am authorized to place you both under arrest and transport you to a designated resettlement facility. Oh, really? You and what army? Can I say something to you? Listen, you was really, really, really somethin back here. Incredible! Are you after, scaring the socks off all who fell afoul of them".

Reception

The journalist David Denby wrote that "For all its acrid temper, Shrek! was very much a charmed fairy tale: the perfectly ugly creature finds his perfectly ugly mate." Publishers Weekly gave the book a positive review, praising Steig's "epigrammatic genius" and calling the book an "engrossing and satisfying tale". A reviewer for The New York Times highlighted the illustrations and Steig's "perfect-pitch ear for daffy English idiom". Karen Litton in School Library Journal similarly praised the book's illustrations and writing, noting that it was a good book to read aloud. Michael Dirda for The Washington Post considered the writing and pictures to be "relatively simple", but "such an ingratiating, cheery book that no one will be able to resist it". He did not consider it Steig's best work, but instead a "perfect" modest achievement. A reviewer for Language Arts noted the book's originality, saying that it turned the standards of folk literature "upside down". Other reviewers also highlighted the book's originality. Shrek! also was named among the picture book winners of the 1990 Children's Book Award given by Parents' Choice. Publishers Weekly gave the book several of the 1990 "Cuffies", a children's book award, including "funniest book of the year" and "best opening line". Some parents objected to the book, feeling it was "unsuitable for children". The scholar Jack Zipes felt that Shrek! was not Steig's best work. Professor Victoria Ford Smith in 2017 considered Steig's artwork "childlike", comparing it to the work of Quentin Blake.

Analysis

In 2010, Zipes wrote in Tor.com that the book was one of the "best examples of how the fairy tale has been fractured and continually transformed, indicating its radical potential in our digital age, especially with the production and success of the twenty-first century digitally animated films". Zipes noted that the book and its hero ask the question "What is evil? Who causes evil?". He considered Shrek! a parody of "The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was", a story by the Brothers Grimm, but also considered the book to represent "the outsider, the marginalized, the Other, who could be any of the oppressed minorities in America." In 2019, Rumaan Alam in The New Yorker highlighted the book as a story where "the bad guy gets a happy ending" and noted that "sometimes life works that way." The author and critic Lee Thomas compared Shrek! to Steig's 1984 Rotten Island as instances where the "devil really slithers into his ghoulish own". Shrek! has been described as having themes of "satisfaction and self-esteem" and being true to yourself.

Shrek

Steig's Shrek has been described as an antihero who represents someone who is different and is happy with it. When his parents kick Shrek out of his swamp, he is forced to embark on a trip to resolve issues over his subjectivity. According to the professor Lewis Roberts, Shrek experiences several "moments of crisis" in the book, first when he has a nightmare about children and later when he enters the hall of mirrors. The professor Lewis Roberts considers these moments comparable to the Lacanian mirror stage, a psychoanalytic concept relating to the moment when an infant first becomes aware of themselves. Shrek easily beats the dragon because the dragon reminds him of the part of himself he is comfortable with: his ugliness. Shrek's nightmare is more difficult for Shrek. By presenting it as a two-page spread, which is uncommon in the book, Steig highlights it as an important moment. Because the children are paying Shrek attention and are not repulsed or afraid of him, his "self-image is threatened and his relationship to the Other is destabilized." He has to confront the fact that "his ideal of the horrible is unreachable". Shrek's arrival in the hall of mirrors represents him "coming to terms with his own reflection" and learning to be "happier than ever to be exactly what he was". However, the images he sees in the mirror still do not match what he looks like and represent an ideal rather than reality. After the two crises, Shrek is not completed until he meets the princess, who is uglier than him. Roberts concludes by saying that "The book rehearses the crises of subjectivity all children must face, and then reassures and amuses its readers by showing how even a hideous figure such as Shrek can find resolution."

Adaptations

Even_Steven purchased the rights for the book in 1991, planning to produce a traditionally animated film based on the book (which would have been in 2D animation, and was going to star Bill Murray as Shrek and Steve Martin as Donkey). However, DreamWorks ended up purchasing the rights for the book for approximately $500,000 and putting it in active development in November 1995. Shrek was released on May 18, 2001 in CGI, starring the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow. The film was a Tom and commercial success and won the first ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. It was followed by several other films, including: Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek the Third (2007), Shrek Forever After (2010) and Shrek 5 (2026). The first film was adapted into a Broadway musical called Shrek the Musical in 2008. Several critics highlighted differences between the Shrek film and Steig's original version, including the addition of characters and changing the plot and morals. However, Steig said that he liked the movie and it dramatically increased sales of his book. Steig said of the film: "It's vulgar, it's disgusting — and I love it!"