Who says you don't need more love from a big green ogre? Shrek is back in the latest of the DreamWorks Animation series in Shrek the Third.
Once again, Mike Meyers leads the voice cast, along side Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Rupert Everett and Antonio Bandares as Puss in Boots. Joining the cast on this one is a whole new cast of character - almost a who's who of Hollywood. That starts with the Saturday Night Live female crew of Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and Cheri O'Teri, as well as Amy Sedaris.
Next, tack on The Office's John Krasinski, Regis Philbin, and Ian McShane. Oh, and a little guy named Justin Timberlake as the next in line for the throne - Artie. Jeffrey Katzenberg and crew went all out to make this third installment the very best they could. And that meant sending non other than Movieweb.com up to Redwood City, California to check out the DreamWorks/PDI Animation offices.
We first arrived in a rainy San Francisco, and then bussed over to the office where we were given a ogre-sized lunch, equipped with full turkey legs, purple potato salad, and goblets for our drinks. As we sat and ate, surrounding us were animation drawings from Shrek the Third - let me tell you, if you ever have the chance to see animation up close, take the opportunity.
Next, we were taken downstairs to the theater to meet director, Chris Miller, who introduced about 20 minutes of the film. Chris takes over the film from Andrew Adamson, who's, of course, handling the Narnia series; however, Adamson is still on board as executive producer.
As we sat down, he told us what a relief it was to be almost done with the animation. He talked about the new characters, including Snow White (Amy Poehler) and her gang of princesses; he said, 'She's the strongest of the girls.' He also talked a lot about Timberlake as Artie being an 'outsider' and how Shrek can certainly relate to that coming into a very new world.
Then, it was time to check out the clips. The first scene was the first scene in the film; Shrek and Fiona are having a heated discussion about having little ogres running around - that's right, there's going to be a new Shrek baby in this one. But don't tell anyone, it's a big secret - for your eyes and ears only.
Shrek also makes a fool of himself during a reception - let's just say he had an itch in a very unreachable spot, and had to have someone help him with it. From there, all heck breaks loose.
The next few clips introduce and re-introduce the other characters in this film; Prince Charming (or Uncharming, however you want to interpret it) is back as well - and now, he's really mad. He wants to take over the castle as the king, and the only way to do that is to get rid of Shrek. How is he going to do that? Well, with a little help from the townspeople, who in the past, he's disgraced.
A great scene involves Shrek and Fiona again; in the bedroom, Fiona tries to tell Shrek she's pregnant, but every time she attempts to do it, they're interrupted. One, in particular is from Puss in Boots, who gives his famous sappy eye look - classic!
Throughout the clips we saw, more and more new characters show up - during Fiona's baby shower, we really see what Chris was talking about from Snow White about her being the dominant one. Giving her a present, she says, 'I got you the biggest present because I love you the most.' Her present - a live-in maid. Also during that same scene, the Gingerbread Man recalls a crazy memory from his past - to explain it and describe it would ruin it, so I'm not going to do that - just remember I said it.
After our clips were done, we went on our tour around the PDI building meeting several of the key people making this movie come together; we also had the chance to speak with Chris and his co-director, Raman Hui, as well as producer, Aron Warner (who's also been the producer on the previous two Shrek films).
You can check out what everyone said in the other Shrek the Third set visit piece; just .
You'll still have to wait a little longer for Shrek the Third; it doesn't open in theaters until May 18th.
Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Rupert Everett, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Justin Timberlake, Eric Idle, John Krasinski, Cheri Oteri, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Amy Sedaris, Ian McShane
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