Varèse Sarabande and Craft Recordings are celebrating 25 years of Shrek with a brand-new picture disc release of Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell’s beloved score for the Academy Award-winning animated classic. The collectible wide-release vinyl features newly designed character artwork, including a hero image of the film’s protagonists on side A and Shrek and Fiona on side B, with a Barnes & Noble-exclusive variant offering alternate film imagery. These new pressings arrive August 28 and are available for pre-order now. A newly reissued CD edition will be released alongside the vinyl, while the score is now streaming across digital platforms.
The reissue arrives as Universal Pictures prepares to return Shrek to theaters for a special 25th anniversary screening run beginning May 15, celebrating one of the most influential animated films of the modern era. Find details of local screenings at Fandango or check your local cinema listings.
Upon its theatrical release on May 18, in 2001, Shrek became a cultural phenomenon that redefined animated filmmaking with its irreverent humor, emotional sincerity and unforgettable music. The film launched a franchise that would go on to became the first animated series to cumulatively surpass $3 billion at the global box office – all beginning with the original Shrek. Central to that legacy was the score by Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell, whose music became an enduring sonic signature of the franchise across the 25 years since the film first arrived in theaters.
Discussing the challenge of scoring Shrek, Powell reflected: “Shrek was the third film that Harry and I scored together for Jeffrey Katzenberg and DreamWorks. So you’d think that it would be getting easier, wouldn’t you? Whilst it was a wonderful film to work on (we could tell that from the first rough cut we saw), and whilst we were teamed up with a great group of people (some of whom we knew very well by then… the darling Marylata Jacob for one), Shrek was still, with all these advantages, a difficult project to do. At times Harry and I felt as if we were crossing the same rickety bridge that Shrek and Donkey crossed above the lake of fiery lava (but I can’t reveal who was the frightened one). Making music for this film required us to walk a thin line between sentiment and subversion, truthful emotion and sticky sap, comedy and action, fruits and nuts. But like Shrek and Donkey, we got to the other side and wondered what all the hollering had been about.”
While some of the songwriting cues may have been a struggle for the dynamic duo, the end result was well worth any hardship that occurred in the recording process. “Harry and John created for us some of the most heartbreakingly beautiful themes as well as some of the most exciting passages I can remember hearing in any film,” explained co-director Vicky Jenson. “Their work brought that last intangible but palpable detail that gave our characters an inner life and soul.”
LP Tracklist:
Side A:
1. Fairytale
2. Ogre Hunters / Fairytale Deathcamp
3. Donkey Meets Shrek
4. Eating Alone
5. Uninvited Guests
6. March Of Farquaad
7. The Perfect King
8. Welcome To Duloc
9. Tournament Speech
10. What Kind Of Quest
11. Dragon! / Fiona Awakens
12. One Of A Kind Knight
13. Saving Donkey’s Ass
14. Escape From The Dragon
Side B:
1. Helmet Hair
2. Delivery Boy Shrek / Making Camp
3. Friends Journey To Duloc
4. Starry Night
5. Singing Princess
6. Better Out Than In / Sunflower / I’ll Tell Him
7. Merry Men
8. Fiona Kicks Ass
9. Fiona’s Secret
10. Why Wait To Be Wed / You Thought Wrong
11. Ride The Dragon
12. I Object
13. Transformation / The End
CD Tracklist:
1. Fairytale
2. Ogre Hunters / Fairytale Deathcamp
3. Donkey Meets Shrek
4. Eating Alone
5. Uninvited Guests
6. March Of Farquaad
7. The Perfect King
8. Welcome To Duloc
9. Tournament Speech
10. What Kind Of Quest
11. Dragon! / Fiona Awakens
12. One Of A Kind Knight
13. Saving Donkey’s Ass
14. Escape From The Dragon
15. Helmet Hair
16. Delivery Boy Shrek / Making Camp
17. Friends Journey To Duloc
18. Starry Night
19. Singing Princess
20. Better Out Than In / Sunflower / I’ll Tell Him
21. Merry Men
22. Fiona Kicks Ass
23. Fiona’s Secret
24. Why Wait To Be Wed / You Thought Wrong
25. Ride The Dragon
26. I Object
27. Transformation / The End
The film’s other co-director, Andrew Adamson, also spoke to the composers’ creative spirit: “We were lucky to find composers as eccentric as the film. Harry and John managed to embrace our eclectic taste and give us a score that was at the same time beautiful and magical.”
While Shrek is known for plenty of needle-drop cues and memorable soundtrack moments, part of the challenge of the film was weaving in those famous songs with the score, which was an integral part of the film’s fabric.
Shrek music supervisor Marylata E. Jacob explained, “Long before Shrek was animated, the filmmakers handpicked a grouping of songs as eclectic as our fairy tale creatures. It was a creative challenge to weave a score that not only bridges these songs, but allows the film to have its own style. Our composers, Harry and John, having great wit, extraordinary talent and a keen sense of adventure, blended these songs with their original underscore to create a one-of-a-kind musical journey.”
As for the score’s timeliness over two decades later, it’s clear that the piece of music remains as relevant today as when it accompanied the film in theaters. Gregson-Williams spoke about the inimitable nature of the Shrek franchise in a 2010 interview with Animated Views, reflecting on the magic that he and Powell bottled for the film:
“I’ve never really been the kind of person who looks back at things for reference. I tend to look forward and just reach forward for whatever the character seems to need. But, yes, I particularly enjoyed scoring the Shrekmovies because of that fairy tale angle. But what has been so cool about it is that it’s always been irreverent. You believe you’re in a classic fairy tale, then something happens to make you realize that it’s not the case at all! But, again, it usually comes back to the relationship between Fiona and Shrek, which has always been fascinating.”
Shrek has become an indelible part of cinematic history and culture at large over the 25 years since it arrived in theaters, and an integral part of its power lies in the score from Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell. Celebrate the iconic and one-of-a-kind release with these brand-new anniversary vinyl and CD editions.
Click here to pre-order/stream Shrek.
