back in 1998 dreamworks unveiled their first computer animated movie " antz " . 
the film was critically acclaimed , and went on to gross almost $100m dollars at the domestic box office . 
again in 1998 they released their traditional animated film " the prince of egypt " and it named an instant classic , and became a huge hit as well . 
on a winning streak , they released " the road to el dorado " and it wasn't as big as they hoped , but still did ok , then they had the fantastic " chicken run " in the summer . 
now in 2001 dreamworks has released what i can safely name , one of the top five best animated films . 
shrek ( mike myers ) is about a loving , green ogre who lives in the woods of duloc by himself . 
surrounded by fairy tale characters , he hopes somehow he would escape from everyone . 
the ruler of duloc is the short , heartless lord farquaad ( john lithgow ) , who is offering a reward to all the fairy tale creatures , if they are captured and arrested . 
of course many of the owners turn them in for gold and silver , but one of those creatures is donkey ( eddie murphy ) . 
a regular donkey , except he talks and has a definite attitude , after his owner tries to disown him , he escapes into the woods , and runs into shrek . 
lord farquaad however , has different plans and makes all the fairy tale creatures in the woods near shrek's house . 
to get his property back , and his life back shrek must rescue princess fiona ( cameron diaz ) so lord farquaad can be a king . 
shrek wants his property back , but he never thought he would fall in love with princess fiona . 
 " shrek " is such an amazing film , that while watching it you can't help but just smile the entire time and wonder why that other production company can't make movies like this . 
the animated graphics are so great , that they look every bit of realistic . 
i saw previews for this film all last year , and i thought to myself wow , what a great movie this will be . 
i must say i was not disappointed at all , and the film is the best of 2001 so far , and will go down on my best of 2001 list at the end of the year . 
the voice talents are brilliant as well , with the comic genius mike myers . 
in the past he has been a wayne , an austin , and a person married to an ax murderer . 
now he is shrek , not only does he do the voice talent . . . but he is shrek . 
with his irish accent , and he lovable personality , shrek becomes a friend to the audience and warms your heart . 
eddie murphy who showed his voice talent in 1998s " mulan " does another bang up job here , and he is the comic relief in the film . 
the tones of his voice , the lines he utters , and the jokes he gives , he even outdoes the comic genius of robin williams in " aladdin " . 
the always beautiful cameron diaz gives the voice of princess fiona and she does a great job as well . 
she is very funny , and her character fits her to a t . of course the best supporting voice is john lithgow , who is personally one of my favorite actors . 
he as the bad guy lord farquaad does a great job in being both sinister and funny at the same time . 
at times i was so amazed by the computer graphics , that you can't help but just start looking at backgrounds . 
there is many hidden jokes in the film , and even reflections of light on the screen like a camera . 
 " shrek " is a definite kid film , but not just a kid film for it is a film for the entire family to enjoy . 
there are many adult jokes in the film that the kids won't get , but the parents will be laughing . 
believe me though , everyone will be laughing the entire way through . 
in the end , " shrek " gives a very important message to it's audience to enjoy and be who you are . 
everybody out there is beautiful in their own way , even though it may be inside . 
there's not many words that can praise " shrek " enough , but my words to you is to stop what you are doing and see this movie now .