Ever walked out of a movie theater and thought, "That shouldn't have worked, but it did"?
That was basically everyone in 2001. We’re talking about a film that features a cynical ogre who uses his own earwax as a candle and a talking donkey that—honestly—won’t shut up. It was a weird, messy, irreverent middle finger to the polished Disney formula. But when people ask who directed the movie shrek, they often expect a single name, maybe a big-shot like Spielberg.
The reality? It was a tag team of first-timers.
The Duo That Built the Swamp: Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson
The 2001 classic Shrek was actually co-directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson.
It’s kinda wild to think about now, but neither of them had directed a feature film before this. Adamson was a New Zealander who had made his bones as a visual effects supervisor. If you look at his credits before 1996, you’ll see stuff like Batman Forever and A Time to Kill. He was a tech guy. A wizard of digital pixels who suddenly found himself at the helm of a $60 million gamble.
Vicky Jenson, on the other hand, was an American story artist and background painter. She’d worked on everything from The Smurfs and He-Man to FernGully: The Last Rainforest. She was deeply embedded in the "traditional" world of animation but had this sharp, comedic instinct for story beats.
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They weren't the original plan, though.
Production on Shrek was notoriously chaotic. Originally, Kelly Asbury was supposed to co-direct with Adamson. But Asbury left a year into the project to work on Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. That’s when Jenson stepped in. She had been working as a story artist on the film and was doing such a killer job "pulling pieces together" that DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg basically looked at her and said, "You’re it."
Why the Directorial Style Felt So Different
You might’ve noticed that Shrek feels less like a corporate product and more like a collection of jokes that made the crew laugh. That’s because it was.
Because they were both "first-timers" in the director’s chair, Adamson and Jenson didn't really follow the "rules" of how an animated movie was "supposed" to be made. Adamson famously said he just did things out of instinct because he didn't know any better.
They split the work in a way that’s actually pretty common in animation now, but felt fresh then. They each took half of the sequences in the film to manage. One would handle a chunk of the story, and the other would handle another, basically acting as "control freaks" (their words, not mine) to ensure every frame was perfect. If you were an animator and had a question about the bridge-crossing scene, you went to one. If you needed help with the tournament at Duloc, you went to the other.
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They also fought for the movie's soul. Adamson reportedly had some pretty heated arguments with Katzenberg about the tone. He wanted it edgier—more sexual jokes, more rock music (he even wanted Guns N' Roses on the soundtrack). While they didn't get everything they wanted, that push and pull created the "PG-but-actually-for-adults" vibe that made the movie a massive hit.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Shrek Directors
A huge misconception is that Steven Spielberg directed Shrek.
I get why people think that. His name is everywhere. Spielberg actually bought the rights to William Steig’s book back in 1991. He wanted to make a traditional 2D animated movie with Bill Murray as Shrek and Steve Martin as Donkey. Can you imagine that version? It would’ve been a totally different movie.
But Spielberg couldn't get it off the ground. He ended up passing it to Katzenberg and the DreamWorks team. While Spielberg’s influence is in the DNA—especially the "Amblin" sense of wonder mixed with subversion—he wasn't the one in the trenches.
Another weird bit of trivia: being assigned to work on Shrek was actually considered a punishment at DreamWorks at the time. Animators who "failed" on The Prince of Egypt (the studio's prestige project) were sent to the Shrek team. They called it being "Shreked" or being sent to "the Gulag."
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Adamson and Jenson took a team of "rejects" and made the first-ever Academy Award winner for Best Animated Feature. Talk about a comeback story.
Where Are They Now?
After the massive success of the first film, the two directors went on very different paths.
- Andrew Adamson stuck around for Shrek 2, which many people argue is even better than the first. He eventually moved into live-action, directing The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
- Vicky Jenson didn't return for the sequel. She stayed at DreamWorks for a bit to co-direct Shark Tale (which was... a choice) and eventually transitioned into live-action with the film Post Grad. She recently returned to her roots, directing the 2024 Netflix/Skydance animated film Spellbound.
Interestingly, Jenson remains the only female director to have ever helmed a Shrek movie.
Actionable Takeaways from the Shrek Production
If you’re a creator or just a fan of film history, there’s a lot to learn from how Adamson and Jenson handled this:
- Trust Your Gut over "Rules": Part of Shrek’s charm is its lack of polish. If Adamson had followed the "Disney Rulebook," we never would've gotten the Smash Mouth opening.
- Collaborative Splitting works: If you're leading a massive project, don't try to oversee every single detail simultaneously. Divide and conquer by sequence or department.
- The "Underdog" Advantage: Don't let being the "B-team" stop you. Sometimes, when expectations are low, you have more freedom to take risks.
To really appreciate the work they did, go back and watch the scenes where Shrek and Donkey are just walking and talking. Notice the timing. Notice how the dialogue (much of it improvised or rewritten on the fly by Mike Myers) fits the character's facial expressions perfectly. That's the result of two directors who knew exactly how to blend technical visual effects with classic storyboard storytelling.
Next Steps for You
- Watch the "Shrek Retold" project on YouTube to see how 200+ independent artists interpret the foundation Adamson and Jenson built.
- Check out Vicky Jenson's Spellbound on Netflix to see how her directorial style has evolved over 20 years.
- Look up the "Chris Farley Shrek" tapes to hear what the movie sounded like before the directors and Mike Myers pivoted to the version we know today.