Shrek

Shrek is an American animated franchise from DreamWorks Animation, based loosely on William Steig's 1990 picture book of the same name and begun with the film Shrek in 2001, which follows a bad tempered ogre who must rescue a princess to reclaim his swamp from a horde of displaced fairy tale characters, aided by a talkative donkey. The original film's mix of fairy tale parody, contemporary pop culture references and pointed jokes at Disney style storytelling made it a critical and commercial success, and it won the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature ever given, in 2002. The franchise grew into four main films released between 2001 and 2010, the spin off Puss in Boots films built around a supporting character voiced by Antonio Banderas, television specials and a stage musical, and its main films together have grossed more than three and a half billion dollars worldwide, making it one of the most commercially successful animated franchises in film history.