Animating an ogre such as Shrek is like an onion. It has layers until it arrives at the final product.
Original test footage from 2001’s Shrek, which was previously assumed lost, has been discovered and posted online. Set to the tune of James Brown’s “I Got You (I Feel Good),” the video sees a very different-looking version of everyone’s favorite ogre dancing around and then flinging a would-be mugger up into the air.
Check out the original test footage, posted on YouTube by The Zoom Art Studio and then shared on Twitter by @blameitonjorge, below (watch more videos):
Chris Farley recorded lines for Shrek before Mike Myers
Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, Shrek was released in the United States in May 2001. The movie quickly became a box office hit, bringing in $491.8 million at the worldwide box office off a $60 million budget, and went on to spawn a franchise for DreamWorks Animation.
Shrek was originally going to be turned into a traditionally animated movie after Steven Spielberg bought the rights to the children’s picture book by William Steig in 1991. The property eventually found its way to DreamWorks; however, the studio initially wanted to create the movie through motion capture, which resulted in poor test results.
Around this time, Chris Farley had been hired to voice Shrek. Farley recorded nearly all of his dialogue but passed away in 1997 before he could finish the movie. Mike Myers — who wound up recording all of his lines twice as Myers decided he wanted to give the character a Scottish accent after watching a rough cut of the film — was then brought in to replace Farley.
Following four theatrically released Shrek movies, two theatrically released Puss in Boots spin-offs, a number of specials and television series, and a stage musical adaptation, Shrek 5 is now officially in the works from DreamWorks Animation. Not much is currently known about the upcoming sequel apart from the fact that the original voice cast is expected to return.
