it stands as a moment one will not soon forget : a giant , green ogre flips through the pages of a cliche fairy tale , narrating it with every bit of dull inspiration that the story holds . 
this leads one to believe that this serves as the prologue to shrek , dreamworks' second computer animated feature , but in a pricelessly hilarious bit of cinema , a page of this tale serves as that ogre's toilet paper . 
from this opening moment , one can infer shrek's defying of all expectations regarding it as a standard , disney-esque fairy tale . 
although rampant moments of hilarity dot shrek , the true charm of the film lies in the bold elements of friendship , courage , and acceptance , excelled by outstanding direction , stunning actor voice work , and most importantly , a witty screenplay with more going on than meets the eye . 
while shrek features an abundance of humor related directly toward adults , positive friendship values aimed at younger children fulfill the storyline : shrek , the previously mentioned ogre , holds a position of absolute nothingness within his community . 
the jolly green giant meets a fellow outsider , known only as the donkey ( his species ) who talks , and although he remains reluctant to warm up to him for a good portion of time , shrek eventually comes to a mutual understanding with him by acknowledging their common state as outcasts of the world . 
the pair team up to retrieve princess fiona from a castle guarded by a dragon for the powerful lord farquaad , learning quite a bit about each other and themselves along the way . 
their friendship exhibits the core theme of the need for someone to lean on , exemplifying to any child who may witness the film that acting as an honest companion can unquestionably affect someone . 
shrek and donkey endure as supposed freaks of nature due only to their differences from others but cling to each other for support and guidance along their journey . 
courage demonstrates itself within two major storylines : along the journey to rescue fiona , donkey's immeasurable cowardice reveals itself . 
whether he encounters walking over a shaky bridge or living alone , donkey withholds fears that he continuously puts aside without self-acknowledgment . 
but the yapping donkey must face his phobias when presented with the giant , fire-breathing dragon guarding fiona ; either he dies from terror or he triumphs with courage . 
he wisely chooses courage by pretending as if no dangerous situation actually faces him , allowing the donkey to overcome a horror that likely only continued due to his insistence of them . 
secondly , upon shrek's and donkey's redeeming of princess fiona , the ogre finds the princess has plans for whomever saves her : to satisfy her desire for a ( human ) knight in shining armor . 
throughout this storyline , shrek faces his deep , perpetual misgivings of inhering as an ogre and struggles to determine how he will reveal his true identity to fiona . 
an ongoing struggle occurs between himself and his reluctance of the truth , but eventually , shrek courageously conquers his fear by telling the forbidden secret to fiona . 
children can realize from donkey and shrek that fear remains only as complicated as one makes it ; if one sets his/her mind to overcoming something in particular , endless possibilities exist . 
after the friendships and courage prevail , the three central characters at the heart of shrek must take one more stretch of development : acceptance . 
surprisingly , fiona holds a dark secret of her own : due to a spell cast upon her years ago , she transforms into an ogre by night . 
in this storyline , fiona must learn to hold acceptance for herself , and she must realize what beauty truly means : to simply act as one's self . 
upon fiona's learning of shrek's desire to pursue a relationship with her , fiona , knowing that acceptance of herself serves as the only platform for her love with shrek to work , gives in to her inner demons of self-ridicule and hatred . 
any child can pull from fiona's transformation the meaning of beauty and the meaning of self-acceptance . 
on the technical side , shrek triumphs . 
directors adam adamson and vicky jenson pace shrek in a consistent and satisfying manner , evenly distributing the lessons learned by the central characters . 
these central characters spring to life thanks to brilliant voice work from mike myers ( shrek ) , eddie murphy ( donkey ) , and cameron diaz ( princess fiona ) . 
myers creates his shrek as a lovable and troubled ogre whose green color not only serves as a skin color but perhaps his envy of other , " normal " beings . 
murphy succeeds with his donkey through recreating the high-strung persona that so many know the actor to have off screen . 
cameron diaz exudes charisma and innocence as fiona , giving the princess/ogre a sense of power that many female characters in animated films lack . 
while the direction and voice work certainly elevate shrek , the ultimate factor in the film succeeding lies in the screenplay , written by ted elliott , terry rossio , joe stillman , and roger s . h . 
schulman . 
the script never underestimates the intelligence of the viewer , combining the three previously spoken of elements with humor for adults and children alike . 
capping it off with a constant tongue-in-cheek feel that pokes fun at classic disney animated features , the fresh and entertaining screenplay delivers . 
with shrek , dreamworks executive jeffrey katzenberg has certainly one-upped himself by creating an instant animated classic that will live on for ages to come . 
the smaller children will laugh and cheer ; the adults will laugh even harder and leave understanding much that their children did not . 
a film that breaks stereotypes and creates a definite standard of its own , shrek can certainly endure as one for the ages .