Courtesy of DreamWorks SKGThe world's favorite green ogre couple is back in ``Shrek the Third'' (``Shrek 3''), and the animated film is bigger than ever with more laughs and larger-than-life characters.
Shrek (narrated by Mike Myers) has matured, and is faced with a lot of choices and decisions to make, with prospects of becoming a father and possibly the next king of Far Far Away.
Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz)'s queen mother (Julie Andrews), cousin Arthur (Justin Timberlake) and lo and behold, three adorable triplet ogres have joined the cast.Shrek's two sidekicks Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and dewy-eyed Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) are back with more groove, and Prince Charming (Rupert Everette) and Cameron Diaz's favorite character Gingerbread Man (Conrad Vernon) also make reappearances.
The animation continues to stand apart the third time around for breaking fairytale conventions and bashing stereotypes. Princesses, including Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel, run around rescuing others, and even a one-eyed monster can have a warm heart and happy family.
``All of us grew up hearing fairy tale stories from our youth, and there's always perfect setting, simple stories about beauty and heroism,'' said director Chris Miller during a press conference at a Seoul hotel on Wednesday. ``Life is so much more complicated than that, and things are not so black and white. There are areas of gray everywhere,``Beauty comes in all kinds of different forms and everyone should be celebrated,'' he said. Miller believes ``you can make your own destiny, your own `happily ever after.' So really, that's the reason why we wanted to make these old stories and just update them, and make them contemporary.''
The film appeals to a wider audience in terms of age range. ``There are certain jokes that only the kids will laugh at and some that an older audience will laugh at, and share laughs,'' he said.
Many adults may empathize with Shrek's anxiety of expanding his family, but ``The amazing thing is that if you ask a four-year-old what's this movie about, and they'll say it's about Shrek being nervous about becoming a daddy,'' said Aron Warner, the producer of the movie.`Shrek 3' also features a medieval high school complete with cheerleaders (or ``cheermaidens'' rather), jousting jocks and ``Just Say Nay'' anti-drug campaigns.
The teen scene with the medieval twist, however, may lose some of its comic factor since it doesn't necessarily translate across non-American audiences. But the core strengths of the film -- quintessential characters and universal themes about self-trust -- will surely win the hearts of viewers in Korea and elsewhere. When asked how many moviegoers ``Shrek 3'' might draw here, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg grinned, ``How many people are in Korea, about 48 million? Then 47 million.''
Shrek fans, eat your heart out, Katzenberg announced that ``Shrek 4'' and ``5'' are on their way. Cameron Diaz said she didn't know what to expect or how far the project would go when she first joined the Shrek crew, ``but then I saw how special it was and it doesn't surprise me that people want more.''
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