Word filtering out from Showest in Las Vegas where studios show their wares to theater owners and bookers is that the Dreamworks animated comedy Shrek looks like a hit. 'Can't miss,' '$150 million plus,' are typical of the reactions of the jaded exhibitor types who sat through a work print of the PG (or PG 13) animated comedy that stars Mike Myers as the eponymous swamp troll. The animation unit at Dreamworks is under the watchful eye of Jeffrey Katzenberg, who oversaw the revival of Disney feature animation that began with The Little Mermaid and financially climaxed with The Lion King. Dreamworks' animated efforts so far (Prince of Egypt for example) have proved to be lackluster performers at the box office, so a strong performance by Shrek is probably a necessity if Dreamworks is going to continue to produce expensive animated features. In the wake of The Lion King's success, almost every studio in Hollywood decided to go into feature animation, but not one has yet managed a Disneyesque success. Fox (Titan A.E.) has already axed their animation unit, and if Osmosis Jones doesn't make it this summer, Warner Bros. could be the next studio to drop out of the animated features business.
Katzenberg, who left Disney after the Mouse King Michael Eisner failed to designate him as heir apparent to the rodent empire, managed to fill Shrek with jibes at the cloying Disney versions of popular fairytales. Though many of the anti-rodent in-jokes from Shrek (Myers) and his donkey sidekick (Eddie Murphy) will sail over the heads of the younger members of the audience, Dreamworks is counting on an older, Simpson's demographic--teens and young adults who have been nurtured on weekly doses of cartoon satire emanating from 742 Evergreen Terrace. Shrek should also benefit from a massive TV marketing campaign (see 'Shrek to the Max') and from an early May 18th opening that will allow it to jump the gun on its summer season animated competitors.
