The movie Shrek was released in 2001, with Shrek voiced by the Canadian actor and comedian Mike Myers. In the movie, Shrek speaks in a very particular way, but what is his accent?
Mike Myers played Shrek with a Scottish accent in the final cut of the film, after having tried a traditional Canadian accent. When Myers heard the Canadian accent, he decided that a Scottish accent would work much better with the character, and re-recorded all of his lines.
Read more below to find out about the movie’s journey through different accents and character models, as well as the accolades and adaptations of the movie, and where the movie idea originally came from.
Shrek’s Scottish Accent
The character of Shrek went through some major developments and rewrites all because of factors that were outside of anyone’s control. In fact, Mike Myers was not the original voice of Shrek.
The fan-favorite American actor and comedian Chris Farley, known for his iconic sketches on Saturday Night Live as well as comedy films like Coneheads and Beverly Hills Ninja, was set to play Shrek. Farley had recorded 85 to 90 percent of Shrek’s lines when he suddenly passed away, and they couldn’t finish his version of the movie without him.
Farley had played Shrek with a slight New York accent, but as the character model and whole movie were entirely dependent on Farley himself, everything had to be redone when Myers stepped in to voice the character.
After Myers had recorded all of Shrek’s lines with a Canadian accent and watched a rough preview of some scenes, he had a change of heart. The Canadian accent didn’t feel right for the character, and Myers requested the ability to record all of his lines again, this time with a Scottish accent.
In describing why, Myers said, “There is a class struggle in Shrek between the fairy-tale kings and queens and the common people. I always thought that Shrek was raised working-class. And since Lord Farquaad (the villain) was played English, I thought of Scottish.”
The Scottish accent was meant to clash more with John Lithgow’s English accent for Lord Farquaad. “I got a letter from [Steven] Spielberg thanking me so much for caring about the character,” Myers said. “And he said the Scottish accent had improved the movie.”
Myers explained his reasons for doing Shrek, saying, “I wanted the opportunity to work with Jeffrey Katzenberg, and it’s a great story about accepting yourself for who you are.”
Vicky Jenson, the co-director of the movie, praised Myers’s performance as Shrek. “He made Shrek breathe. The unique thing about Mike is that he is an analytical and intelligent comedian. That kind of deep thinking kept Shrek from simply being an oaf who wished people liked him.”
Check out the YouTube video below to watch the fan Isaac Carlson describe the reasoning behind Shrek’s accent and the evolution of the character.
Shrek’s Legacy
The original idea for the movie came from a fairy tale picture book published in 1990, called Shrek! by the American writer and cartoonist William Steig. It was Spielberg who originally purchased the rights to the book, which he then gave to DreamWorks after he was persuaded by Katzenberg.
The film had a star cast with Eddie Murphy as Donkey and Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona. In 2002, the movie won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and won the approval of both fans and critics.
Shrek has had a huge cultural impact even today, shown in popular tweets like this one which jokes, “still can’t believe [S]hrek was so popular that all of [S]cotland adopted his accent.”
The movie created a whole franchise, with the first followed by three more main films as well as plans for more, a collection of short films, stage adaptations, television shows and specials, and even spin-offs for other characters.