Mike Myers corrects reports regarding the cost of re-recording Shrek's Scottish accent for the film. Released in 2001, Shrek has since become one of the most beloved and well-known animated movies of all time. The film tells the story of an ogre named Shrek, voiced by Myers, who sets out on an epic adventure with Donkey (Eddie Murphy) to rescue Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) after a host of fairy tale characters disrupt the peaceful swamp he calls home.

While Shrek features standout voice performances from its entire cast, it's Myers' role as the titular ogre that really sets the film apart. Shrek almost sounded very different, however, as it was widely reported around the film's release that after recording all of his lines with a Canadian accent, Myers pushed to re-record everything with a Scottish accent instead. Myers reportedly wanted the change to make Shrek feel more working-class and to stand in opposition to John Lithgow's posh British villain, Lord Farquaad. Various publications, at the time, estimated that the cost to re-record and reanimate was around $4 or $5 million.

Related: Mike Myers Comments Are Great News For Shrek 5 – But Will It Happen?

In a new career retrospective video with Vanity Fair, after explaining his reasoning for wanting Shrek to sound more working-class with a Scottish accent, Myers reveals that the amount of money it cost to re-record and reanimate was less than was reported. Myers says that the studio spent "some money" to re-record the lines but stresses that he redid his lines for free because he just wanted the movie to be good. Check out Myers' full comment below:

"I always thought that ogres were working people, growing up as a working person, so I tried it as a Canadian. And it just didn't have any 'oomph', then I said, 'Can I record it again as Scottish?' I have relatives in Scotland and a background in Scottish and they're working people. It's a working people accent. And they went, 'No, we like it the way it is.' And I said, 'Oh, come on, just let me.' Steven Spielberg said, 'Why don't you try it once.' He sent me a lovely letter, saying, 'You're so right. It's way better as Scottish. Thank you so much.' They spent some money, but not the amount of money that has been reported in the press, I'd like to point out. And, by the way, I recorded it all for free one more time and [I was] just happy to do so because I wanted it to be good."

Shrek and Fiona holding hands and looking at each other

While Myers doesn't reveal how much money it did actually cost to re-record the lines, it would seem that the amount was definitely less than the $4 or $5 million that was reported. Although re-recording lines comes with its own price tag for sound recordists and mixers, changing the accent would also have meant reanimating Shrek's mouth and body language in order to better match the voice performance, something that undoubtedly wouldn't have been cheap. Myers' decision to do the lines again for free also demonstrates how strongly he felt about the change and how much he believed in the project at the time.

It's possible that fans will never know just how much money Myers' decision actually cost the production, but most will agree that the change was for the best. Plus, with Shrek having earned over $487 million at the box office, it was clearly a worthy investment that would continue to pay off in Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third. Myers' push to re-record his lines was likely a fairly significant undertaking, but one that seems to have stemmed from a desire to make the movie as great as possible.

More: Shrek Almost Had A Different Actor – Why Mike Myers Was Cast

Source: Vanity Fair/ YouTube