Why the Soundtrack to Shrek is Actually Genius

Turns out the music has layers....

Dan Olson's "The Art of Editing and Suicide Squad":

Also, big shoutout to literally everyone who's made a video essay on Shrek
I'd link them all here, but it's literally all of the videos I listed in the clip

Lemme know in the comments if I missed any sources and I'll add them here!

[RandomizedName]

The music has layers, Shrek the movie has layers...

The whole trilogy is one big onion.

[maenad]

It’s the funnest fact to me that “All Star” was just a test song/placeholder that wasn’t originally intended to be in the final movie. They just kept it in because test audiences reacted so well to it.



Thankyou Test Audiences. Thankyou so much

[crstph]

I remember being a little girl watching shrek and being disappointed that fiona didnt get to be pretty at the end. It seemed like a sad ending to me. Because in every other movie...it is. This message is really important actually

[Posiman]

The "I need a hero" song also serves as a sort of ticking clock. It connects Shrek's siege to the wedding inside. The villain is celebrating her presumed victory by singing while Prince Charming and Fiona dance to it, him trying to kiss her. We know that if Shrek doesn't get there before the song ends, everything is lost.

The song serves a narrative purpose...

[anabear]

Someone made a good point on why Disney is failing at making a not damsel in distress. Because they overcorrect it and make them girl bosses without the layers

[stevethepocket]

When you revealed the music motif that was hiding in the "Holding Out for a Hero" scene this whole time... _I felt things._

[GinHindew]

Basically: music should advance the story, not merely describe it, and you can also do that with pop music

[brynotar]

Anyone remember the American Idol style competition included in the DvD extras of Shrek 2? It had Simon Cowell in it and you were able to vote for who you thought won. I've never met anyone else who remember that.

[WeAreTheInsurgents]

Accidentally in Love was written for Shrek 2 and was actually nominated for an Oscar for best original song

[manictiger]

1999: Ugh, why do we have to read another essay?
2019: Ooh, another YouTube essay! Me likey!

[damiensmidt]

The main theme has formed as the main fairy tale theme in my head, to the extent that I forgot it was shreks main theme. Now that's a theme.

[abadhaiku]

I think the BIGGEST reason that the "I Need a Hero" scene is so impactful is that instead of the pop song determining the pace of the scene, it feels like the natural impression of the SCENE that *happens* to sync with her singing at the same time.

[rhaegnarok]

"Shrek, REALLY impacted people."


Lets be real, we didn't realise it till recently but yeah.

[AaronTsuii]

Disney: Music drives the plot
Shrek: Plot drives the music, with a cherry on top

[Jazzphnk]

"YOU WANT TO HOLD HER?!"
"Yes!"
"YOU WANT TO *PLEASE* HER?!"
" *Y E S!* "

[gobywan]

I still can't believe that this was the movie people got shoved over to if they were underperforming on Prince of Egypt. Not that PoE isn't an actual masterpiece, it's just bizarre to think that this was made by what Dreamworks execs considered their B-team.

[sergeantpickles]

Any film that can continue to be culturally relevant almost 20 years after it came out is an unironically good film. Just like Spongebob, people meme Shrek out of affection.

[Ari_Dupree]

TL;DR: The reason Shrek is different from Suicide Squad is because Shrek uses pop music to highlight dramatic irony, while Suicide Squad tries to use pop music as shorthand to spoon-feed the audience information about the characters.

[floatzilla]

When you mentioned shreks theme, I was really confused, because I didn't rember any theme music from shrek. And then you played it, and I immediately started humming along to it.

[kasia]

I remember feeling so betrayed as a little kid at the end of the second movie when they both decided to be ogres again, like why don't they want to be pretty and have a perfect life???? It's only now that I can appreciate how the writers insisted on a strong moral backbone of the story, and how harmful disney-like narratives can be!!