Despite some hairy CGI challenges, making Shrek 2 was quite the dream come true for its cast and crew. Hollywood.com sat down to get their take on the long-awaited sequel to DreamWorks’ 2001 CGI blockbuster.
Hair Today, Hair Tomorrow
Forget the plot, the casting, or the script–according to the creators of Shrek 2, the hair was the hardest to handle. For the follow-up to 2001’s well-loved CGI narrative, filmmakers were faced with a bevy of challenges, not the least of which was creating a “Breck Girl” moment for the film’s dazzling Prince Charming character.
“I wanted him to walk in, take off his helmet, then flip his hair around in that fabulous kind of way,” explains director Andrew Adamson, demonstrating with his own long silken locks, “but in the end, it certainly wasn’t as easy as it sounds.”
The animated-hair request set off a chain of events that resulted in three months of intensive labor and a custom-made software program with the curious moniker “Wig System Program.” According to Adamson, “long hair” proved to be a nearly insurmountable challenge, but other visual obstacles included “folds on clothing and velvet.”
At the mere sound of the word “velvet,” the director literally cringes. “We thought the velvet would take 2 weeks to render,” he sighs, “but in the end it took three months.”
Despite such difficulties, however, all the hard work, precision and diligence appears well worth it. Thanks to the help of computers systems as much as five times faster than those used on the original film, along with the gift of a massive budget and a “room to breathe” shooting schedule, what the team behind Shrek 2 has achieved is nothing short of marvelous. Shrek’s world shimmers magically on the screen, an intricately crafted pseudo-photo reality that skews real life without losing its fragile, delicate nuances–sunlight piercing a drop of dew, cool mist drifting slowly through an early morning wood.
Three years later, the sequel’s narrative finds our newlyweds pretty much where we left them. Now post-honeymoon, Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers) is heading off to the land of Far, Far Away with his bride, the Princess Fiona (voiced by Cameron Diaz), to finally meet the in-laws. Considering the fact that Fiona is returning very much a “changed” woman–er, ogre–the trip is fraught with anxieties and the eventual meeting is imbued with all the tension, humor and awkwardness of 1967’s interracial romance Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.
“We didn’t want to rest on our laurels,” explains Adamson. “We wanted to take the story to another level, create new characters and new themes. We also wanted it to be just as entertaining for the parents as the kids. The new film is about dealing with the in-laws, so it hits on a lot of levels. We all deal with alienation, bigotry and love.
“The trick is authenticity and not condescending to your audience,” he continues. “At this point, I know this world. I can hear the characters talking now. And if you’re very honest in your message, you carry that through to the final product.”
Shrek’s messages are clear without a hammering to the head. Fiona’s parents reside in the land of Far, Far Away, a kind of highbrow retirement community for fairy-tale characters, blatantly modeled after Beverly Hills. There are white stretch-limo carriages, the words “Far, Far Away” emblazoned in towering white letters above the city, and the cheerful embrace of a host of L.A. stereotypes.
“We wanted to put Shrek in a world where he didn’t belong, ” explains Adamson, ” the antithesis of the swamp, an image-conscious place.” He laughs. “When you think
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‘image-conscious place’ it’s pretty easy to jump to Beverly Hills. Plus, it was familiar territory.”
The film also has a grand time poking fun at Hollywood convention, self-reflexive jabs that include parodies of Joan Rivers, Larry King and Justin Timberlake.
“We were hoping Cameron wouldn’t be sore about that,” says Adamson says, referring to the fact Diaz is dating the singer, “but she and Justin both had a sense of humor, thank God!”
It’s an Actors’ Life
In addition to Diaz and Myers, Shrek 2 sees the return of Eddie Murphy as Donkey. The film’s new characters are just as impressively cast, with Julie Andrews as Fiona’s mum, Queen Lillian, John Cleese as King Harold, Rupert Everett as the flaxen-haired Prince Charming and Antonio Banderas in a hilarious turn as renowned ogre killer Puss-in-Boots.
“It was a role that required that you to lick yourself,” Banderas laughs, “so that was easy, I do that every day!” (We’ll take his word for it.)
Shrek 2 presented the actors with the opportunity to work independently, recording studio voice-overs, a remarkably simple process in comparison to the extensive commitment of a live action shoot. “It was fascinating,” admits Andrews. “You did a ton of variations in the dialogue. It is truly a director’s medium.”
“I was in Bangkok,” remembers Everett, “and they needed me to redo some voice-over and suddenly there they were in Thailand, with a studio ready! It’s really is a minimum-output, maximum-intake situation.”
Adamson worked with each actor directly, allowing room for ideas and improvisation.
“It’s interesting,” he admits, “you’re in this room with the actor and there’s really no one else. Mike had to do his love scenes with me, but so did Cameron, so that kind of balanced things out.”
Involvement in what is one of the most successful family’s film franchises in recent years also provided the cast with the opportunity to impress the most discerning audience of all.
“The best thing is I get to impress my seven grandkids,” Andrews says, laughing. “I’ve been very lucky that way. So far in my career I’ve played three nannies and three queens. What could be more fun?”
“They called me up and said and the word ‘Shrek’ and I said ‘Yes!'” says Banderas, “I think it’s really a special movie in that kids relate to this movie and the message they’re getting is so wonderful. That it’s not important to be thin, to be beautiful, to be the best, but it’s what is inside that’s important. I think that message that is absolutely necessary in the world we’re living in.”
In the end, Shrek 2 resonates with the same themes as its predecessor–the need to accept oneself for who one is, despite pressure from the outside world to attain what is inevitably a false perfection.
“I think everyone has a little Shrek inside them,” offers co-director Kelly Asbury. ” I mean, aren’t we’re all looking for our happily ever after?”
Shrek 2 opens wide May 19.
