Shrek's Lord Farquaad actor, John Lithgow, reveals the moment he understood the film would be a massive hit. Based on the 1990 picture book of the same name, Shrek was released in 2001 to near universal critical-acclaim and proved to be a success at the box office, pulling in over $480 million. Mike Myers starred as Shrek, a large green ogre who lives in a swamp in self-imposed isolation when Lord Farquaad exiles a large group of fairy tale creatures to Shrek's land. In an effort to rid himself of his new tenants, Shrek makes a deal to rescue Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) and deliver her to Lord Farquaad in exchange for his home.
Shrek began production shorty after Toy Story's release in 1995, the first full-length computer-animated feature film. In an ambitious attempt, Shrek was intended to be a live-action/CG hybrid. However, after working for a year and a half on a test reel with less than desirable results, the film was reworked as a complete computer-animated film. In 1998, Dreamworks turned to visual effects and animation company, Pacific Data Images (PDI), to complete the film. With only Antz under their belt, Shrek proved to be an important step going forward as they had later success with films such as Madagascar as well as Megamind.
Lithgow recently sat down with GQ and revealed when he knew that Shrek was going to be massive before it was released. While discussing his work on the film, the actor admitted that he was the only actor to visit the animators working on the film. He saw the meticulous process of animating the minute details of the movie firsthand which made him realize how big and special the film would become. Read what Lithgow said below.
"I am the only actor who has ever visited [the animators]. And I walked through this place -- still, a year before the film came out -- to all these computer cubicles, where all these all these animators were working. One was in charge of nothing but milk being poured out of a pitcher into a glass. One was in charge of only leaves blowing in the wind. One was in charge of mud when a wheel went through the mud. Working on this for months, in this technology that not many people had used yet. And I suddenly realized, I am in something history making and I didn't even know it."
Through Lithgow's tour of the animation studio, he understood the rigorous nature of a CG film animator's work. Due to the fact that computer-animated films were still relatively new to cinema, with only a few films produced such as Pixar's A Bug's Life and Walt Disney Picture's Dinosaur, stepping behind the scenes to peek behind the curtain at a still fledgling process of filmmaking must have been a revelatory experience for the actor. Lithgow's visit of the animation studio is telling as it shows his interest and respect for the people behind the scenes.
Although the actors of animated films are often praised and focused on by media during the promotion of the film, their work is minuscule compared to that of the animators who toil over every detail of a frame to turn the actor's performances into something that feels real. At the time of Shrek's initial production, most of the processes to create CG worlds were relatively new, or have yet to be invented. The animators were on the forefront of media that eventually took the world by storm. As a result of the painstaking process and impressive effort by the animators, Shrek has become the classic it is regarded today.
Source: GQ