Twenty-five years after Shrek turned the fairy tale upside down, Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell’s original score returns in a new Collector’s Edition from Varèse Sarabande.
Arriving August 28, the collectible picture disc features newly designed character artwork, with the film’s heroes on Side A and Shrek and Fiona on Side B. Barnes & Noble will also offer an exclusive picture-disc variant featuring alternate imagery from the film. A newly reissued CD arrives the same day, while the score is available now across digital platforms.
The anniversary festivities extend beyond the turntable, with Shrek returning to theaters nationwide for special 25th anniversary screenings beginning May 15.
→ PRE-ORDER SHREK (25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION)
NOT YOUR AVERAGE FAIRY TALE
When Shrek arrived in May 2001, it found its comedy in turning familiar fairy-tale conventions inside out. Behind the jokes, pop-culture references and talking donkey, however, was a story with plenty of heart.
That combination gave Gregson-Williams and Powell a particularly tricky assignment. As Powell recalled, scoring the film meant walking a fine line between “sentiment and subversion,” finding space for genuine emotion without losing the irreverence that made Shrek different in the first place.
Co-director Andrew Adamson found the duo particularly well-suited to the job, describing them as “composers as eccentric as the film.”
FINDING THE HEART OF SHREK
While Shrek became famous for its eclectic collection of songs, the original score had to connect those musical moments while giving the film a sound of its own.
The composers built a musical world that could handle everything from Lord Farquaad’s absurd grandeur and a fire-breathing dragon to Shrek’s quieter moments of isolation. Through it all, the developing relationship between Shrek and Fiona provided the film with its emotional center.
Co-director Vicky Jenson credited Gregson-Williams and Powell with giving the characters “an inner life and soul,” while music supervisor Marylata E. Jacob described their job as creating a score capable of bridging the film’s handpicked songs into one musical journey.
That balancing act became part of the franchise’s musical DNA, with Gregson-Williams later pointing to the tension between classic fairy-tale storytelling and the movies’ irreverence as one of the things he enjoyed most about scoring them.
LISTENING NOTES
“Fairytale”
The perfect opening fake-out. It welcomes you into a storybook world before Shrek starts gleefully dismantling just about everything you expect from one.
“March of Farquaad”
Lord Farquaad takes himself very seriously, which makes the grand musical treatment even funnier. A great example of the score joining in on the joke without winking too hard.
“Dragon! / Fiona Awakens”
One cue, a whole lot going on. The composers get to jump between danger, fantasy and character beats as Shrek’s supposedly straightforward rescue mission gets increasingly complicated.
“Starry Night”
Step away from the jokes for a minute. This is where the score makes room for the loneliness and vulnerability underneath Shrek’s prickly exterior.
“Transformation / The End”
The emotional payoff. The fairy-tale sweep is there, but by this point the movie has rewritten what its happily-ever-after is supposed to look like.
HAPPILY EVER AFTER, 25 YEARS LATER
Shrek went on to become a cultural phenomenon, launch a multi-billion-dollar franchise and win the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. But beneath the irreverence was a surprisingly sincere story, and Gregson-Williams and Powell’s score knew exactly when to play along with the comedy and when to let that sincerity through.
Twenty-five years later, the new picture-disc and CD editions put that musical side of Shrek back in the spotlight, celebrating a score every bit as eclectic, heartfelt and unconventional as the ogre at the center of it.
Follow @VareseSarabande and @CraftRecordings for more soundtrack releases, stories and favorites from the catalog.