Shrek (franchise) in the context of "William Steig"

A supporting character, also known as a side character, is a character in a narrative that is not the focus of the primary storyline, but is important to the plot/protagonist, and appears or is mentioned in the story enough to be more than just a minor character or a cameo appearance. Supporting characters differ from minor characters because they have complex backstory of their own, desires, and emotions. While this is usually in relation to the main character, rather than entirely independently, developed supporting characters add layers and dimension to the story and the protagonist. These back stories can increase the plot or further develop the main character. Different supporting characters have different roles. Some common types of supporting characters include: love interest, antagonist, best friend, mentor, sidekick, comic relief, and caregiver. Each supporting character has their own role that advances the plot and brings about conflict. Often, supporting characters can cross over into different tropes. Some examples of well-known supporting characters include Watson in the Sherlock Holmes stories, Donkey in the Shrek films, and Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter franchise. No matter what type of supporting character, they all help the protagonist achieve their purpose, advance the story, or have personal growth. Supporting characters fit into three broad categories: supporters, antagonists, and informants.

Supporters include caregivers, love interests, comedic relief, and close friends. They are generally important to the protagonist, so they often become the target or victim to the antagonist. They also characterize the protagonist through dialogue and their relationship. They offer the protagonist aid, companionship, and physical or emotional help. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series are examples of supporters.

Films generate income from several revenue streams, including theatrical exhibition, home video, television broadcast rights, and merchandising. However, theatrical box-office earnings are the primary metric for trade publications in assessing the success of a film, mostly because of the availability of the data compared to sales figures for home video and broadcast rights, but also because of historical practice. Included on the list are charts of the top box-office earners (ranked by both the nominal and real value of their revenue), a chart of high-grossing films by calendar year, a timeline showing the transition of the highest-grossing film record, and a chart of the highest-grossing film franchises and series. All charts are ranked by international theatrical box-office performance where possible, excluding income derived from home video, broadcasting rights, and merchandise.

Traditionally, war films, musicals, and historical dramas have been the most popular genres, but franchise films have been among the best performers of the 21st century. There is strong interest in the superhero genre, with eleven films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe featuring among the nominal top-earners. The most successful superhero film, Avengers: Endgame, is also the second-highest-grossing film on the nominal earnings chart, and there are four films in total based on the Avengers comic books charting in the top twenty. Other Marvel Comics adaptations have also had success with the Spider-Man and X-Men properties, while films based on Batman and Superman from DC Comics have generally performed well. Star Wars is also represented in the nominal earnings chart with five films, while the Jurassic Park franchise features prominently. Although the nominal earnings chart is dominated by films adapted from pre-existing properties and sequels, it is headed by Avatar, which is an original work. Animated family films have performed consistently well, with Disney films enjoying lucrative re-releases prior to the home-video era. Disney also enjoyed later success with films such as Frozen and its sequel, and The Lion King (along with its computer-animated remake), as well as its Pixar division, of which Inside Out 2, Incredibles 2, and Toy Story 3 and 4 have been the best performers. Beyond Disney and Pixar animation, China's Ne Zha 2 (the highest-grossing animated film), and the Despicable Me and Shrek series have met with the most success.

Shrek 2 is a 2004 American animated fantasy comedy film loosely based on the 1990 children's picture book Shrek! by William Steig. Directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, and Conrad Vernon from a screenplay by Adamson, Joe Stillman, and the writing team of J. David Stem and David N. Weiss, it is the sequel to Shrek (2001) and the second installment in the Shrek film series. The film stars Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz, who reprise their respective voice roles of Shrek, Donkey, and Princess Fiona. They are joined by new characters voiced by Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Rupert Everett, and Jennifer Saunders. Shrek 2 takes place following the events of the first film, with Shrek and Donkey meeting Fiona's parents as the zealous Fairy Godmother, who wants Fiona to marry her son Prince Charming, plots to destroy Shrek and Fiona's marriage. Shrek and Donkey team up with a sword-wielding cat named Puss in Boots to foil her plans.

Development began in 2001, and following disagreements with producers, the first film's screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio were replaced with Adamson. The story was inspired by Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), and new animation tools were utilized to improve the visual appearance of each character, particularly Puss in Boots. The lead actors also received a significant bump in salary to $10 million, which at the time was among the highest contracts in their respective careers. Like its predecessor, Shrek 2 also parodies other films based on fairy tales and features references to American popular culture. The film is dedicated to the memory of Shrek creator William Steig, who died on October 3, 2003, eight months before the film was released.

Included in the list are charts of the top box-office earners, a chart of high-grossing animated films by the calendar year, a timeline showing the transition of the highest-grossing animated film record, and a chart of the highest-grossing animated film franchises and series. All charts are ranked by international theatrical box office performance where possible, excluding income derived from home video, broadcasting rights and merchandise.

Animated family films have performed consistently well at the box office, with Disney enjoying lucrative re-releases prior to the home video, who have produced films such as Aladdin and The Lion King, both of which were the highest-grossing animated film of all time upon their release. Disney Animation also enjoyed later success with the Frozen and Zootopia films, in addition to Pixar, of which the films from the Toy Story, Inside Out, Finding Nemo, and Incredibles franchises have been the best performers. Beyond Disney and Pixar, franchises Despicable Me, Shrek, Ice Age, Fengshen Cinematic Universe, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar, and Doraemon have been met with the most success. Additionally, the current highest-grossing animated film is Ne Zha 2, a Chinese film that has grossed over $2 billion worldwide, the first-ever animated film to reach $2 billion worldwide.

Jeffrey Katzenberg (/ˈkætsənbɜːrɡ/ KAT-sən-burg; born December 21, 1950) is an American media proprietor and film producer. He served as chair of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994, a position in which he oversaw production and business operations for the company's feature films. Following his departure, he co-founded DreamWorks SKG in 1994, where he served as the company's chief executive officer (CEO) and executive producer of its animated franchises—including Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon—until stepping down from the title in 2016. He has since founded the venture capital firm WndrCo in the same year, which invests in digital media projects, and launched Quibi in 2020, a defunct short-form mobile video platform that lost US$1.35 billion in seven months.

Katzenberg has also been involved in politics as an election donor. With active support of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, he was named "one of Hollywood's premier political kingmakers and one of the Democratic Party's top national fund-raisers". He served as a campaign co-chair for Joe Biden's 2024 presidential re-election campaign, and subsequently Kamala Harris's 2024 presidential campaign.

Donkey is a fictional character created by William Steig and adapted by DreamWorks Animation for the Shrek franchise. He is voiced by Eddie Murphy. Donkey is an anthropomorphic donkey and his appearance is modeled after a miniature donkey named Perry. He is depicted with grey fur, brown eyes, and a black mane. In the franchise, he is the sidekick and best friend of Shrek, husband to Dragon, and father to a litter of Dronkeys (Dragon-Donkeys). As the series' comic relief character, Donkey is well-regarded by critics for his humor, wisdom, energetic nature and Murphy's performance.