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1. What kind of creature is Shrek?
An ogre
He comes from William Steig's 1990 picture book of the same name, give or take an exclamation point, and the name is the Yiddish and German word for fright. Steig's ogre is far uglier and quite happy about it; the film kept the attitude and softened the face.
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2. Where does Shrek live?
A swamp
The swamp is where Lord Farquaad's soldiers dump the fairy-tale creatures they have rounded up, and Shrek marches on Duloc to get them evicted. He is handed the rescue instead, with the deed to his land as the reward.
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3. Who voices Shrek?
Mike Myers
Chris Farley was cast first and had recorded most of the part before his death in 1997. Myers then rerecorded the role in a Scottish accent after first trying a Canadian one, a change that meant redoing a good deal of finished animation.
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4. Who voices Donkey?
Eddie Murphy
Murphy had already voiced a sidekick for Disney, Mushu in Mulan, three years earlier, and Donkey's patter is partly his own improvisation. He also sings part of 'I'm a Believer' at the wedding party at the end, trading lines with Smash Mouth.
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5. Who is the princess Shrek is sent to rescue?
Fiona
Fiona has been shut in the tower for years and expects a rescue by the book, with a knight, a kiss and a sunset. Shrek keeps his helmet on when he climbs in, so she takes him for a knight until it comes off. Odette is the Swan Princess.
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6. Who voices Fiona?
Cameron Diaz
Diaz stayed with the part through all four films, as did Myers and Murphy. Fiona's fight with Robin Hood's Merry Men, with its freeze-frame spin kick, is a direct spoof of The Matrix, which was then two years old.
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7. Who rules Duloc and sends Shrek on the rescue mission?
Lord Farquaad
Farquaad needs to marry a princess to become a king, so he sends the ogre to fetch one and keeps his own boots clean. Duloc, with its turnstiles and singing puppets, is widely read as a swipe at Disneyland by a studio run by a former Disney executive.
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8. Who voices Lord Farquaad?
John Lithgow
Lithgow plays the ruler of Duloc as a tyrant whose castle is far taller than he is, which Shrek suspects is compensating for something. Farquaad ends up eaten by the dragon at his own wedding, and the name itself is a schoolboy joke the studio let through.
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9. What vegetable does Shrek use to explain that ogres have layers?
An onion
Donkey counters with cake, since everybody loves cake and cakes have layers, and then with parfaits, which he reckons the most delicious thing on the planet. Shrek sticks with onions, which is also his way of telling Donkey to stop asking about his feelings.
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10. What guards the castle where Fiona is held?
A dragon
The dragon turns out to be female and takes an immediate shine to Donkey, who talks his way out of being eaten. She comes back at the end to swallow Farquaad whole at his wedding, and by the end of Shrek 2 she and Donkey have a litter of flying dronkeys.
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11. What does Fiona turn into at night?
An ogre
The spell cast on her as a child turns her into an ogre from sunset to sunrise and can be undone only by true love's first kiss. Shrek doesn't know, which is why she insists on being alone after dark, and the kiss, when it comes, leaves her an ogre for good.
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12. Which cookie character does Farquaad question?
The Gingerbread Man
Gingy, already missing his legs, is dunked in milk and threatened over his gumdrop buttons, and the interrogation dissolves into the Muffin Man nursery rhyme, Drury Lane and all. He's voiced by Conrad Vernon, a story artist who went on to co-direct Shrek 2.
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13. Which band performs All Star at the start of the movie?
Smash Mouth
The song had been a hit in 1999 and was only a placeholder in test screenings, until audiences liked it too much to lose. Smash Mouth return at the end to cover The Monkees' 'I'm a Believer' for the wedding party.
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14. Which object helps Farquaad choose a princess?
A magic mirror
The mirror runs through three eligible princesses, Cinderella, Snow White and Fiona, in the style of a TV dating game, and Farquaad's guards talk him into picking number three. It's voiced by Chris Miller, a story artist who later directed Shrek the Third.
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15. Which award did Shrek win at the 2002 Oscars?
Best Animated Feature
The category was new that year, and Shrek beat Monsters, Inc. and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius to the first statuette. It was also nominated for Adapted Screenplay, a rare thing for an animated film, but lost to A Beautiful Mind.
