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shrek 2
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RAMAN HUI (NEXT PAGE) BEGAN HIS ANIMATION CAREER IN HONG KONG, BEFORE MOVING TO CANADA AND ON TO HOLLYWOOD A DECADE AGO.
IN ADDITION TO BEING SUPERVISING ANIMATOR ON BOTH SHREK FILMS,
HE FULFILLED THE SAME FUNCTION ON THE SHORT FILM WHICH IS USED IN
THE UNIVERSAL STUDIO TOUR’S ‘SHREK 4-D’ ATTRACTION.
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TRAVELLING HOPEFULLY
Shrek, Donkey and new friend
Puss in Boots (voiced by
Antonio Banderas).
“When Jeffrey Katzenberg first came to me about doing a sequel, I realised we had painted ourselves into a corner as far as your typical fairy tale goes,” says Adamson. “We’d let Shrek and Fiona get married, presumably to live happily ever after.”
But, in the end, the very predictability of the conclusion pointed the direction for the sequel. “It ended up creating a whole new story angle for us,” he continues. “I started thinking about what happens after marriage; the idea being that you don’t just marry your spouse, you marry their whole family.”
So Shrek and Fiona - and of course Donkey, forever asking, like a six-year-old in the back seat, “Are we nearly there yet?” - set off for Far Far Away, the country where Fiona lived before she was shut in the dragon’s tower (from where Shrek rescued her in the first film: do try to keep up) and where her parents (John Cleese and Julie Andrews) are still King and Queen. They are joined by the first of Shrek 2’s major new characters, Puss in Boots, a kind of feline swashbuckler voiced by Antonio Banderas.
“Antonio gave Puss in Boots a Zorro personality times 10,” says Vernon. “He definitely embraced his character. He was practically climbing the walls in the recording studio. He was whipping around, hissing and spitting and marking his territory. It was amazing, because we thought we made that character over the top. But Antonio took it to the next level and made it his own, which was fantastic.”
It’s as well that Shrek, the Princess and Donkey have a new friend, because things do not go at all well when they arrive in Far Far Away. Not to beat about the swamp, Shrek is really not the kind of husband King Harold and Queen Lillian had imagined for their darling daughter. They already had a Prince Charming in mind (voiced by Rupert Everett at his most Machiavellian). And then there is the small matter of Charming’s mother, Fairy Godmother, voiced by AbFab star Jennifer Saunders, who is more concerned about getting her own wishes granted than in doing anything much for her goddaughter. So, while there are less dragons and battles to be fought, the struggle that Shrek and the Princess have on the way to true love is every bit as tough as it was in the first film. Ever after is not always everything it’s cracked up to be.
“The heart of the film is about being strong enough to ignore other people’s judgement and be able to define your own ‘happily ever after’,” says Adamson. “That’s really what I hope people take away from this - a sense of independence and the freedom to create their own happiness… with lots of laughs!”
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