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Shrek the Musical: the making of a monster – in pictures

Shrek began life as a less-than-likable character in a children's picture book before turning into the lovable green ogre of four films, and now a West End musical. Follow Shrek's journey from page to screen to stage
  
  


Shrek The Musical: Shrek The Musical
The Shrek story first appeared in 1990, as a children’s picture book by the great New Yorker cartoonist William Steig. In the original version, published when Steig was 82, Shrek is a far less likable character, Donkey has no dialogue at all, and the final surprise about Fiona is revealed at the beginning Photograph: Macmillan
Shrek The Musical: Shrek The Musical
The first Shrek film, often cited as one of the funniest children’s movies ever made, was first imagined as a vehicle for the Saturday Night Live star Chris Farley. Mike Myers had to be recast in the title role, however, when Farley died of a drug overdose in 1997, midway through recording Shrek’s dialogue Photograph: Rex Features
Shrek The Musical: Shrek The Musical
Production on Shrek was extremely long and complex, with the computer animation taking more than four and a half years to complete. At no point during the dialogue recordings did any of the principal actors – Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz or John Lithgow – work alongside one another Photograph: Rex Features
Shrek The Musical: Shrek The Musical
Shrek won the first Oscar ever awarded in the Best Animated Feature category, defeating Pixar’s Monsters Inc at the 2002 ceremony. No DreamWorks film has beaten a Pixar film to the award ever since Photograph: Rex Features
Shrek The Musical: Shrek The Musical
The second Shrek film was a gigantic commercial hit, the biggest of the series so far. In the US, it became the highest grossing movie of 2004, and ended up taking nearly $920m worldwide, nearly doubling the revenue of its predecessor Photograph: Rex Features
Shrek The Musical: Shrek The Musical
Though less critically admired than the first two films, Shrek the Third was a tremendous technical accomplishment, consuming around a million man-hours. Each tree in the film has been drawn with 62,173 branches, with a total of 191,545 leaves growing on them. 1,373 distinct characters are present in Prince Charming’s theatre scene alone Photograph: Rex Features
Shrek The Musical: Shrek The Musical
Something you might not know about the fourth film, Shrek Forever After (supposedly 'The Final Chapter'): it contains an appearance from William Steig’s son Jeremy, a noted jazz flautist. Appropriately enough, he plays the Pied Piper Photograph: Rex Features
Shrek The Musical: Shrek The Musical
Now, somewhat inevitably, there is Shrek the Musical, which has just opened in the West End, with none other than Sam Mendes as creative producer. It draws on both William Steig’s original book, and the first film. Having been a moderate success in New York, an adapted version is now showing at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, with Nigel Harman delighting the critics most, as the evil Lord Farquaad. 'He squirms around the stage,' says Henry Hitchings in the Evening Standard, 'kicking out a pair of little false legs, exuding a wonderfully unabashed sense of camp'
Photograph: Brinkhoff/Moegenburg Photograph: Brinkhoff / Moegenburg
Shrek The Musical: Shrek The Musical
Amanda Holden stars as Princess Fiona, Nigel Lindsay as Shrek Photograph: Helen Maybanks
Shrek The Musical: Shrek The Musical
The Shrek movies may be over, and the musical only just open, but the first spin-off from them, Puss in Boots, will be appearing in cinemas in the UK this December. High-kicks all round!
Photograph: Brinkhoff/Moegenburg Photograph: Brinkhoff / Moegenburg
Shrek: Shrek The Musical special performance - London
Er ... we just rather liked this picture Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
 

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