Why Shrek Won the First Animated Feature Oscar

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]Hey, it's Brian. Welcome to the awards contender. I am thrilled to welcome to my channel for the very first time, Jackson Murphy is here today, Lights, Camera Jackson on the awards contender.

[00:00:11]We are talking Shrek, the very first film to win and best animated feature at the Oscars on its 25th anniversary. How are we doing, Jackson?

[00:00:21]>> Doing great, Brian. Thank you for having me. I've been watching your videos for several years. you're so knowledgeable and indepth when it comes to the awards season and what's going on in the movie world. So I appreciate you reaching out to me and and having me on.

[00:00:35]>> So you know it's not like every year Jackson we get uh a new Oscars category.

[00:00:40]We just got best casting for this year which was a huge deal >> but oftentimes like decades will go by and there's not a new category. Best animated feature had been tossed around for a while.

[00:00:52]>> Yes. Uh, I think about the 1990s. Like, do you think like Disney would have just like won this every year in the 90s?

[00:01:00]>> Absolutely. Look at look at Beauty and the Beast, which is my all-time favorite movie. It is my favorite film and being the first animated film up for best picture ever and the only one in terms of five nominees in a year in history.

[00:01:14]Um it's such an incredible film and yes you have that and Aladdin and Lion King which a lot of people said Lion King should have been up in 1994 and that didn't happen but yeah it would have dominated and I think about that 99 2000 era of Toy Story 2 winning the Golden Globe for Comedy Musical and you have Tarzan and you have Iron Giant and you have Chicken Run and I think lots of people respected these movies enough to say all right it's time animation deserves its own category.

[00:01:44]Yeah, it it finally arrived for 2001.

[00:01:47]This was a good year to get started because, as you say, we had some wonderful animated movies. Did you look at what the film submitted were for this? It's really interesting. Final Fantasy, The Spirits Within, Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius, which gets in, Marco Polo: Return to Xanadu, Monsters, Inc., which gets nominated, Osmosis Jones, which I saw in the theater. That was wild.

[00:02:09]>> Wow. Uh, The Prince of Lights, Shrek, which wins, The Trumpet of the Swan, and Waking Life. Now, one title stood out to me, Jackson, not being here. Atlantis, the Lost Empire, the big the big Disney summer animated film is not even submitted. So, I looked around the internet. Apparently, Disney forgot to submit Atlantis and and the deadline passed. And then the Academy reached out and said, "We will still take Atlantis."

[00:02:41]And Disney just said, "Forget it. We're going to put all our chips in for Monsters Inc."

[00:02:47]>> My thinking might have been, well, yes, the Monsters Inc., we want to make sure Monsters Inc. gets in. And the Disney splitting of the votes, they didn't automatically maybe want Shrek to win.

[00:02:56]They wanted Monsters Inc. to have a chance. Of course, Monsters Inc. would win in the song category for Randy Newman. So maybe they felt that way and trying to cover up for the fact that they completely forgot, but it it should have it should have gotten into that that submission list anyway. It should have >> cuz I I wonder we're going to talk about Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius, which I just watched for the first time two nights ago.

[00:03:20]>> Okay.

[00:03:21]>> Um I feel like there was room here for something else. Waking life, as you said, the trumpet of the swan. I think those are the main two that could have been up for that third slot. But I I feel like if Atlantis had been submitted, maybe it would have gotten the third slot over Jimmy Neutron. But I guess, you know, if you're going to think of it like Disney putting their chips in for Monsters Inc., I mean, if you have Atlantis also in the category with just three nominees, you would have vote splitting there. And so their thinking would be, well, Shrek probably wins if we have some people voting for Atlanta, some for Monsters, Inc. So, I get that, >> right?

[00:04:02]>> But the quality of Atlantis, like it should at least have gotten recognition like being submitted. So, that's silly.

[00:04:08]So, the nominees for best animated feature for 2001. We begin with Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius.

[00:04:17]>> Hey, I'm here.

[00:04:18]>> Goodbye, son. Have a good day.

[00:04:21]>> Oh, Goddard. out of the porch. So, uh I I assume you did not see these in theaters, right? How old were you in 2001?

[00:04:30]>> So, I was about uh two or three in the month.

[00:04:35]>> Jackson, I was uh 16 going on 17 in the year 2001.

[00:04:41]>> I loved animation. Still do have my whole life. In ' 01, I I was like super excited for Shrek. Huge Pixar fan. I was at Monsters Inc. opening day. Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius. I said, "I'm too old for this. We're going to see that." And I remember it got the Oscar nomination.

[00:04:59]Even way back then, I would try to see all the major movies nominated.

[00:05:04]>> And I was like, "It's not going to win."

[00:05:06]So, I don't think I have to see Jimmy Neutron. But for our conversation here today, I was like, "Well, I have to watch it finally." I I I mean, I was happy it was 80 minutes. That was nice.

[00:05:16]Um, it's not all bad. I gave it a five out of 10, two and a half stars on Letter Box. I didn't give it like one or something. It's not a horrible movie. I think the first half of it works okay.

[00:05:28]It's very colorful and creative. It's inventive and all of the things that Jimmy Neutron does. Once they go to space, it's a lot of chaos and noise.

[00:05:38]And I got tired of it real quick. And it ends with this like horrendous crude humor notes of the mom and dad like like belching in the kitchen. And I'm like, that's how this movie ends.

[00:05:50]>> Oscar nominee for animated feature. I don't know. It It was okay. I don't think this is one of the better nominees in this category.

[00:05:58]>> The mother and the father. It's funny cuz on the TV show, the dad was a goofball and they, you know, they carried that through the show and the mother and their their wacky oneliners and their high jinks. what I think this movie was celebrated for and and trying to understand why it got nominated for the Academy Award. I think it's because it spoke to a lot of people including Roger Eert. You know, I went back and read his review. It spoke to it spoke to people about um childhood and the inventive nature of childhood and that fun and friendship and the positive energy that comes from having close friends. You have Sheen and Carl, Jimmy's best friends, and that carried over into the show really well. You have the pet dog, the robot dog, and I think that spoke to a lot of people as well as the visuals, taking chances on visuals in fun ways from a child perspective. I think I think that's why it got nominated for best animated feature.

[00:06:52]>> Yeah. And and this is 2001. It's the early years still of computer animation.

[00:06:57]It's not like it's gotten so sophisticated like 10 years later, let's say, there's a thousand films competing here. There's not a ton of computer animated films coming out in 01, >> right?

[00:07:08]>> So, you have that. It It's an end of the year release. I looked it made over a hundred million dollars. I was like, "Oh, people people saw this."

[00:07:15]>> Oh, yeah. Family over Christmas and New Year's and and you had the Nickelodeon uh network behind it because of Nickelodeon movies being a part of it and Paramount being a part of it. So, you had a lot of marketing and a lot of attention and clear immediate success and internal success for Nickelodeon to say, "Let's do a show as well." I mean, what I like about this nomination is that it allows another studio to get in.

[00:07:37]Like the first year of animated feature with just three nominees, it could have been Disney, Disney, Disney, and that would have been boring.

[00:07:45]>> I like that it's DreamWorks, Disney, Pixar, and Nickelodeon. So, you have different studios competing there. I like that about it.

[00:07:53]>> Yeah. and and for the other animation studios for the next year when there would be five nominees to say yes spreading the love spreading the love is is a good thing and um and yeah maybe after this whole experience of the first year of something Disney opening their eyes to making sure we submit everything the next year and beyond just seeing how it all worked out. Yeah.

[00:08:18]>> Next up is Monsters Inc.

[00:08:21]>> She's not scared of you anymore.

[00:08:25]Looks like you're out of a job.

[00:08:27]>> Monsters, Inc., what a lovely film this is. I had not seen it in a while. I watched it again two nights ago right after Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius. I needed a cleanser. I was like, let's put on Monsters Inc. and had such a great time.

[00:08:43]I wouldn't say it's in like their absolute top tier, the very best Pixar.

[00:08:48]I'd have it one notch down. It has a few lols in like the second act I found watching it again, but what beautiful characters animation. That action scene at the end with the closet doors is incredible. It holds up so well 25 years on. This would have been a great first win in best animated feature at the Oscars. genuinely emotional and moving and heartwarming and and along with the comedy of Billy Crystal and his banter with John Goodman, you have this core relationship that is um one of the best I think out of the entire Pixar catalog in terms of emotion, without hitting you over the head, um without it being forceful, it just happens because you go on this journey and you want to see a happy ending and a and a a satisfying resolution. And yes, the door scene is iconic, and there are great set locations and oneliners and little characters that pop in for cameos and the abominable snowman. There is so much to like about this movie that in other years, without question, it would have won best animated feature. I do believe Monsters, Inc. had a lot going for it.

[00:09:58]It comes out later in the year than Shrek. This is a November release, so the film is more like fresh in Academy voters minds.

[00:10:05]>> It was a huge box office hit. It did well with critics.

[00:10:09]So, it's interesting to look back. It's like it it kind of makes sense in a way that Disney wins the first animated feature Oscar and Monsters Inc. was right there.

[00:10:21]>> Gosh, up until now, I thought Monsters Incorporated was a documentary on the Weinstein, but all >> so like, why do you think it couldn't quite pull it off? I think it has to do with the fact that a lot of people thought that Shrek was better and and the campaign behind it, which we'll get into in a little bit. Um, but I think they thought that Monsters Inc. was still a quality movie. This was this was, you know, the these top two. And I remember Pete Doctor talking about how he was actively searching for something in the vein of Toy Story. And of course, Toy Story got those honorary Academy Awards for the achievement that it did 1995 and groundbreaking for CG of of toys coming to life, something similar of Monsters in the Closet and and and that's I think, you know, Pete Doctor was looking for something like that that would speak to people. And I think it it spoke to a lot of people, but maybe not quite as much as that other movie. So, um yeah.

[00:11:19]>> Yeah. I don't think there is another reason. I think the reason Monsters Inc.

[00:11:23]can't win is Shrek. Yeah, >> that's it.

[00:11:26]>> Yeah, >> I think if Shrek isn't there, it's a lesser film.

[00:11:30]>> Uh, in the other slot, you have Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius, some other movie that's wellliked enough. And Monsters, Inc., I think Monsters Inc. wins 100%.

[00:11:39]>> Without question, and the Academy liked it still enough to have it be nominated for other things and winning for song uh to finally give Randy Newman an Oscar.

[00:11:47]So, they liked it. They just didn't like it quite as much as Shrek.

[00:11:51]>> So, Monsters, Inc. It obviously was in second place. It might have been closer than we think, but yeah, it just couldn't beat out Shrek, our final nominee and the winner of best animated feature.

[00:12:05]>> That was really scary. And if you don't mind me saying, if that don't work, your breath certainly will get the job done cuz you definitely need some Tic Tacs or something cuz your breath stinks.

[00:12:13]>> So this month, Jackson Shrek is celebrating its 25th anniversary. I had not seen this in a long time. What a fun roller coaster ride of humor and emotion those 90 minutes are. I was worried like the animation might not hold up 25 years on. It still looks fantastic.

[00:12:33]>> It's very colorful, very well animated from beginning to end. Beautifully done and those voice performances, especially Mike Meyers and Eddie Murphy. I mean, wow. Talk about on another level. Eddie Murphy got a BAFTA nomination for best supporting actor for Shrek. I don't know if everyone knows that, but he is so great in this. It's one of his funniest performances ever.

[00:12:59]>> When we think about Shrek today, obviously we think about the franchise, the theme park rides and and everything to do with Shrek. But you go back to May of 2001. I was there. I was 16 years old seeing that opening weekend. There was nothing like Shrek. It brought the house down. It was one of those cultural phenomenons that took everyone by storm.

[00:13:25]And yeah, even though Monsters, Inc. is a great film, going into the Oscars, Shrek was always going to be in first place to win. It was the combination of the comedy, the jabs at fairy tales and princess movies and all of that that people >> and Disney >> and Disney was so used to seeing all these Disney movies for so long. Here comes DreamWorks and they go, "Okay, wow, this is bold. This is for adults and for kids. There's a lot of adult jokes they sneak in there right over kids' heads." And I just remember enjoying the fun of it, the song at the end, and just the energy of it and the characters and the journey and the quest. Um, there's so much there with Shrek, and it gets an adapted screenplay nomination because of that. People were just blown away by a movie like this that took so many chances. It's interesting thinking back to 2001. Let's say animated feature starts in O2. Does Shrek get into Best Picture? Because I think once you have the animated feature category and you only have five slots in picture, >> it's really tough to break in there.

[00:14:33]Beauty and the Beast, as we said, is the only ones to have done it, you know, without animated feature there, >> right?

[00:14:39]>> And Shrek was so beloved. I mean, it it would be kind of weird because it's so subversive in its humor for that kind of animated film to get into picture, but it was popular enough it might have been floated for best picture if animated feature wasn't introduced.

[00:14:58]>> Yes, I think so. I think it was in that critic's choice 10, and I think you're right that it it might have it might have even still been in one of the top 10 in the ballot. Again, we'll never know unless they unveil them, but at some point, but yes, I think so because the impact of it was so strong. You look back at that box office, it did about 42 million or so opening weekend. It did the same exact amount of money the very next weekend. That's how people the word of mouth on this was tremendous of wow, this is a movie not just for kids. It's a date movie. It's a movie for grandparents to go to. It's a movie for just movie fans to go to, for storytelling and animation fans to go to. the impact of this was immediate um and and now long lasting here into 25 years.

[00:15:42]>> Yeah. So, as we continue talking about Shrek, let's get into the reasons why it won. Reason one, as I as I touched on, it was more than just a massive critical and box office hit. It was a cultural phenomenon. I mean, this just this took over everything in the summer of 2001.

[00:15:59]It was in the theaters for months.

[00:16:01]People were going back over and over again. And and then once it hit like DVD in the fall or whenever it was like like everybody was watching Shrek on a loop and it was it was just one of the it films of 2001 regardless of it being animated or not. Like like that didn't even matter at the end of the day. It was just a movie everybody adored.

[00:16:23]>> So that's one reason why it won. And then reason two, as you just said, it appealed greatly to both adults and kids. A lot of animated movies, they really just appeal to kids or maybe young teenagers, but adults are like, "G, do I have to sit through this movie?" Shrek was not that. Maybe the most memorable aspect of seeing this movie back in May of 01 is that my dad, who never went to an animated movie in the theater, he saw it twice in the theater. He went with me and my brothers and I think he took my mom like later on that month. And I was like, you just saw an animated movie in a theater twice?

[00:17:03]Like my dad? I could not believe it.

[00:17:06]That's when I knew this was a phenomenon.

[00:17:09]>> So, Beauty and the Beast, as I said, my favorite film ever. When my father went to see Beauty and the Beast when it opened in 1991, he went to the showing of it, loved it so much, he stayed right in that room and stayed for the very next showing of it. that it's it's these animated movies when they do something different, they have such an immediate impact and there you go. I mean the the both of these movies did that um for so many people I think in their respective years.

[00:17:38]>> Yeah, cuz like I think Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius that really is mostly for kids.

[00:17:44]You're not going to have a bunch of adults wanting to see that. Monsters Inc. works for both adults and kids. But I just I think there was something about Shrek. It was cool to see and love that movie more so than Monsters Inc. Adults could go without kids and see Shrek.

[00:18:04]>> Monsters Inc. even though it's a wonderful film. I feel like most adults in November of 01 would have taken kids to Monsters Inc. versus Shrek where they can see it on their own if they want.

[00:18:17]>> Yeah. Because of Eddie Murphy. Because you have Eddie Murphy, because you have Mike Meyers, John Lekow, who was so popular at the time on Third Rock from the Sun, and you have Cameron Diaz.

[00:18:26]These actors very well known for films for adults. Yes, Eddie Murphy was also in Mulan, but you have a and Dr. Doolittle, but you have these actors in in very popular franchises and comedies and films for adults. That that casting is part of the reason why.

[00:18:42]>> Yeah, that's my reason three. It's the incredible voice cast. You have, as you say, especially Eddie Murphy and Mike Myers. Uh, I know Chris Farley before he died was the first choice to play Shrek, and he even recorded some of it, and I've heard some of that, and that's interesting. Yeah.

[00:19:00]>> And then you get to Mike Myers and correct me if I'm wrong, he recorded like the whole movie in one way and then uh for free for no pay he came back and did it all again with the voice we hear now in that film and the franchise. And that was key that Mike Myers did it again. Right.

[00:19:20]>> That Scottish accent. Yeah. It just I I think it either just came to him or there was a a consensus that maybe it would work better this way for the character to sound this way. And now it's now it's so iconic.

[00:19:32]>> Eddie Murphy is so great in this movie.

[00:19:34]I it it might be in his top three finest performances ever. He's so hilarious.

[00:19:40]>> You really care about his character.

[00:19:42]He's not just wisecracking makes you laugh. You really by the end of that movie, you come to love him.

[00:19:49]>> And I I I think it's really inspired that he got a BAFTA nomination for best supporting actor. like we we haven't had somebody give a voice performance and then get in at the Oscars in an acting category. Eddie Murphy like might have been in the running there. He he was definitely up there. I think he's another reason why Shrek wins the Oscar for animated feature because of his performance. It's so funny. It's so memorable. I love the voice performances in Monsters Inc. as well as we talked about. Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Bushi is fantastic as the villain in that.

[00:20:24]>> But yeah, the voice acting in Shrek is something else, especially Eddie Murphy.

[00:20:30]It's just such a beloved character and performance. He's also a reason why it won.

[00:20:35]>> Yeah. And now he's finally going to get his own movie. It took this long for there to be a donkey movie that's in the works now at Drew Works. It took this long finally.

[00:20:42]>> Oh, yay.

[00:20:44]And then reason number four, Shrek won, is that it's also nominated in adapted screenplay.

[00:20:51]>> Monsters, Inc. is not in screenplay, but Shrek is. It It does help, I think, if your animated film gets one other nomination for something, especially in screenplay. That shows it's really beloved. And I knew I remember on the night like seeing it get into adapted screenplay, I was like, "It's going to be Shrek. It has to be Shrek." And it was.

[00:21:12]>> Yeah. Yeah. That makes total sense. Uh that the Academy appreciated what it did for not being a Disney animated movie to get into one of these screenplay categories. I I believe was historic and um people were just blown away by the chances this movie took and felt that it deserved to be up there uh in that category.

[00:21:31]>> Part of a reason I think like maybe that first year they didn't just want to go with a Disney film. That might have been too obvious. Why not go with a different studio and show we're not just going to give this to Disney every single year.

[00:21:44]The way Disney kept winning in original score and original song.

[00:21:48]>> In the early '9s, it was like just every year it's like >> they had to introduce like new music categories so we could give something else like best score. I mean, doesn't Alan Min have eight Oscars? I think he has eight.

[00:22:03]>> He's got a lot. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:22:05]>> It's like wow. what what he did and um all those songs. Yeah, incredible.

[00:22:09]>> But I would say the fifth and final big reason Shrek wins was that it just didn't have huge competition. Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius was never going to win. The only competitor was Monsters Inc. And I mean I I wonder if like the Pixar film for 2001 was Finding Nemo.

[00:22:28]Does that beat Shrek? Maybe. Like Finding Nemo is incredible and it's so immersive in its environment. It's so beautifully done, so emotional. I feel like that would have been a bigger competition. Monsters, Inc., I get it.

[00:22:44]It's a really, really great film. It just it didn't have what it needed to overtake Shrek. It wasn't quite at that level. And so Shrek could win the Oscar.

[00:22:54]Finally, I want to thank my fellow producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, who has a love for animation that borders on obsession and who is the real reason we're here tonight. So, this was so much fun, Jackson, to have you on the awards contender for the first time talking about animation Shrek on his 25th anniversary. This was a blast. If you can tell our viewers where they can find you online, now would be the time.

[00:23:17]>> Thank you, Brian. Yeah, this has been wonderful. lights-came-jackson.com x at lcjreviews Instagram at lightscamjackson. The YouTube channel is lightscamerajack and I'm also on podbean apple podcast with the podcast and the movie reviews and animationcoop.com with the animation interviews as well. All right, thanks again for being here, Jackson, and I will see you next time at the awards contender.