Shrek: Movie Analysis

The first stage of the hero's quest as outlined by Campbell is the ‘Departure’ that typically begins with a "Call to Adventure" in Campbell's terms. The movie opens with the hero, Shrek, existing comfortably in his everyday ordinary world. In Shrek’s swamp he enjoys and has everything he needs to get by, for example the mud for bathing, the slugs for food, and a nearby village where he can horrify the people when he gets bored. In the film, we see that Shrek’s basic attitude and stance toward life is that of isolation- he just wants to be left alone. Unfortunately, the story folds into such that the exterior world would intrude into Shrek’s solitude. The local lord Farquaad had banished all storybook characters from his empire. Campbell (1949:4)