"We actually sent a rough cut of the film to Disney - and from what we heard, it was very well received," says Andrew Adamson, previously a visual effects supervisor on movies like "Batman and Robin". He's talking about "Shrek", the CGI-animated bank-buster that is his directorial debut, sharing duties with Vicky Jenson.
The reason for their communication with the Mouse House comes thanks to accusations that "Shrek" lampoons Disney's fairytale storytelling. But the movie, which features the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz, is also much ruder than its more traditional counterpart. "What do you mean rude?" laughs Jenson. "We censored ourselves. Originally, when Robert Hood tried it on with Princess Fiona, he used these terrible pick-up lines. But we were uncomfortable showing it to our mums." Adamson grins, "We were more worried about our mothers than the kids."
This hasn't stopped the movie scooping $176 million and counting in the US. Much of that may be due to the state-of-the-art visuals. Reveals Adamson, "This is the first time you enter so many different computer-generated environments." "It's also the first time you have human CGI characters taking leading roles," adds Jenson. "Princess Fiona had to be a convincingly beautiful woman."
But what about the rumours that the film makers went over-budget after Mike Myers insisted on re-recording his dialogue in a Scottish accent? "He recorded it in a Canadian accent. Then, he saw the movie and said he'd something better to offer. So, we decided Shrek's parents had moved from Scotland to Duloc, where the movie is set." "We had some Scottish people working for us who monitored him," remembers Jenson, "but they were too particular about which area of Scotland the accent was from!"
"Shrek" is released in UK cinemas on Friday 29th June 2001.
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