Once upon a time in a far away swamp, there lived an ornery ogre named Shrek (Mike Myers) whose precious solitude is suddenly shattered by an invasion of annoying fairy-tale characters. There are blind mice in his food, a big, bad wolf in his bed, three little homeless pigs and more, all banished from their kingdom by the evil Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow).

Determined to save their home-not to mention his own-Shrek cuts a deal with Farquaad and sets out to rescue the beautiful Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) to be Farquaad's bride. Accompanying him on his mission is a wisecracking Donkey (Eddie Murphy), who will do anything for Shrek ... except shut up. Rescuing the Princess from a fire-breathing dragon may prove the least of their problems when the deep, dark secret she has been keeping is revealed.

Based on the children's book by William Steig, "Shrek" is directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson from a screenplay by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio and Joe Stillman and Roger S.H. Schulman. Aron Warner, John H. Williams and Jeffrey Katzenberg produced the film, with Penney Finkelman Cox and Sandra Rabins serving as executive producers. The co-executive producer is David Lipman, and Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio are the co-producers.