Μύ After the monster success of DreamWorks' tooner Shrek in 2001 - about a big green ogre who falls in love with a beautiful princess - a sequel was inevitable. However, nobody could've foreseen the mountain of green that Shrek 2 scooped when it was released two years later. The laughs come thick and fast as our hero strives to impress Princess Fiona's parents (a la Meet The Parents), in a comedy that smashed box office records all over the world and wowed the critics. It should come as no surprise that Shrek 3 is already in the making.
Simon Says
The centrepiece of this DVD is Far Far Away Idol, a rib-tickling spoof of Pop Idol hosted by a CG animated Simon Cowell - and you thought Shrek was scary! Picking up at the end of the movie, you're invited to cast your vote for the likes of Shrek, Donkey, and Puss In Boots (we liked Wolf's cover of Duran Duran's Hungry Like A Wolf) as they engage in a showdown that culminates at the . If you purchase the Special Edition package you can also get a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this brilliantly inventive featurette.
Four more conventional 'making of' featurettes explore various aspects of production while maintaining a light-hearted feel. The best of the bunch is The Tech Of Shrek, following the progress of filmmakers from rough sketches of the characters, to clay models, to previzualisation (CGI storyboards), to the final product - matters expanded upon in a choice of two feature commentaries. There's also plenty of behind-the-scenes footage from the sound-booths where Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas et al turned 2-D drawings into fully rounded characters. In Meet The Cast they also relate their experiences of making the movie and pass judgement on the finished film - "h'is bee-yoo-ti-fool" coos Banderas...
The Technical Goofs reel can only be described as bizarre and risks frightening small children with test images of Shrek and Co blighted with misshapen heads and limbs. Better to distract them with Far Far Away Times, a click-a-thon that features excerpts from Fiona's diary.
Putting The Boot In
Antonio Banderas' growling rendition of Nancy Sinatra's These Boots Were Made For Walking is a laugh riot on Disc Two. However, it's perhaps the only reason you'll want to invest in the Special Edition package, as the remaining selection of extras is rather hum-drum.
Besides the Making Of Far Far Away Idol, you'll find a showcase of voice talent from 33 different countries where the movie was re-dubbed in Around The World. It's only vaguely interesting, as is the Storyboard Comparison - essentially a montage of pencil sketches accompanied by a rather dry vocal rehearsal of two key scenes. Likewise, The Learn How To Draw featurette probably won't keep the kids' attention for too long.
Rounding off the package, Learn How To Burp is a childishly amusing exercise in belching phrases like "I love you" in a variety of foreign languages, although some parents will understandably not approve. Our advice is stick with the single disc edition, it boasts more than enough extras to keep Shrek 2 fans as happy as an ogre in a puddle of mud.
EXTRA FEATURES DISC ONE
DISC TWO - ONLY AVAILABLE AS PART OF SPECIAL EDITION PACKAGE
