Pixar might have pioneered the 3D animation space, but Dreamworks definitely refined it. Dreamworks animation- in its 2D incarnation- always tended to skew towards stories that felt infinitely more mature than Disney's output. Films like Road to El Dorado and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas possessed an edge- albeit relatively slight- that Disney movies of the era just couldn't duplicate. With its innuendo and pop culture references aplenty, Shrek went on to continue that trend while providing Dinsey's Pixar with some much-needed competition.
Even though I love the first Shrek immensely, I can't help but wonder what the film's original version- with Chris Farely serving in the lead- would have looked like. Farley even provided some lines of dialogue for the film prior to his tragic death. If you've never checked out the test footage from Farley's spin on Shrek, I took the liberty of linking a clip above.
