Shrek the Halls
by Gary Trousdale
List Price:
Our Price: $5.00
You Save: $14.99 (75%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.94 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Antonio Banderas, Cameron Diaz, Cody Cameron, Eddie Murphy, Mike MyersDirector: Gary Trousdale
Brand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
Writer: Gary Trousdale
Writer: Bill Riling
Writer: Sean Bishop
Writer: Theresa Cullen
Writer: William Steig
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Dubbed); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Animated, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 22 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-11-04
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Paramount
Product features:
- Condition: New
- Format: DVD
- AC-3; Animated; Color; Dolby; Dubbed; DVD; Full Screen; Subtitled; Widescreen; NTSC
DVD Reviews of Shrek the Halls
DVD Review: A domesticated ogre's swampy Christmas - but, for us, a stocking half-stuffed
Summary: 4 Stars
Three and a half stars for SHREK THE HALLS.
What the moneymakers are counting on is that, come the holidays, this short film about Shrek celebrating Christmas and mucking it up will prove too irresistible to pass up, especially if you have kids who are bigtime Shrek fans. Yes, for its asking price (currently set at $11.99) and with the film's running time of 28 minutes or so, SHREK THE HALLS isn't really worth shelling out for, especially since it's bound to decrease if you just ride it out. But, man, it's Christmas time right now. So, me, I shelled out.
If you want to get really nitpicky, the film is 28 minutes but the story proper only takes up around 22 minutes, with extensive end credits. Chronology wise, SHREK THE HALLS takes place sometime after SHREK THE THIRD and, presumably, before the upcoming SHREK GOES FOURTH. The story itself is routine but likable. It explores the Christmasy themes very well, but thru Shrek's ever cranky viewpoint. Like Jack Skellington before him, Shrek isn't too up on Christmas and its meaning and traditions, instead having to rely on the how-to book Christmas for Village Idiots. Still, he prepares for a quiet Christmas evening with Fiona and their three adorable ogre infants. But his raucous friends aren't about to be left out. Cue the expected shenanigans, and Shrek's inevitable temper tantrum.
While, with each successive entry, the Shrek franchise has continued to lose its edginess, it hasn't completely done away with those tiny subversive touches. To me, this movie's highlight is the Gingerbread Man's disturbing (though hilarious) interpretation of Santa Claus. And, I know it's just a cartoon, but it's gratifying watching Shrek engaged in domestic bliss and hanging out with his kids. Another neat thing going on is that the key voice actors reprise their roles for this TV special (I'm thinking, there must've been a proviso in Myers, Diaz, Murphy, and Banderas's contracts). And, no worries, the animation features the same excellent quality found in the Shrek feature films.
The DVD gives you the option of viewing the film either in widescreen or full frame. Special Features include: The "12 Days of Christmas" & "Deck the Halls" Sing Alongs; Gingy's Dunking Game challenges the kids to pick out the cookies in the batch most closely resembling the Gingerbread Man; upon installation of the Shrek Carnival Craze Video Game Demo, the kids can indulge in three fun activities: Royal Hoopla (a javelin toss), The Melon Bowl (bowling game), and Three-Wheeled Thrills (a tricycle race); the Animation Video Jukebox lets you play back musical scenes pulled from DreamWorks films like the SHREK films, THE BEE MOVIE, A SHARK'S TALE, etc. (the best, if you ask me, is Donkey and Puss in Boots covering "Living La Vida Loca").
SHREK THE HALLS debuted as an ABC holiday special on November of '07 and, as expected, it killed on the Nielsen ratings. But, you have to ask yourself, is the DVD worth the asking price? I doubt it. If you wait long enough, SHREK THE HALLS will probably be released as part of a SHREK package. That's the one to jump on. But, to assist the indecisive consumer, know that there's a dancing roast turkey in the film, and that the Gingerbread Man poops. If that's any kind of incentive.
Description of Shrek the Halls
The Christmas tree isn?t the only thing green in this new holiday classic. Shrek is back and trying to get into the spirit of the season. After promising Fiona and the kids a Christmas they?ll remember, he is forced to take a crash course in the holiday. But just when he thinks he has everything for their quiet family Christmas just right, Donkey, Puss in Boots, Gingy and the rest of the gang decide to crash the party. Shrek the Halls is the greatest holiday tale that?s never been told?until now.Despite its 22-minute run time, Shrek the Halls (originally written as a half-hour TV special), is packed with plenty of laughs and holiday cheer. The animation is rich, and the character interplay among all the folks we know and love--Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, Puss in Boots--endearing and spot-on. Shrek wants to throw the "perfect Christmas" for Fiona and the kids, but as an ogre, has no Yule experience. So he starts at the local bookstore, where a winsome clerk (voiced by Marissa Jaret Winokur) quickly sizes up Shrek's hapless situation and pronounces: "I know all about Christmas, and I have just the book for you: 'Christmas for Village Idiots.'" Shrek becomes so focused on doing the holiday "by the book" that he fails to notice the magic and comradely chaos unfolding all around him. Fiona, for instance, has some neat tricks for making holiday decorations (watch how she turns a festively striped snake into the perfect candy cane). The kids are happily frolicking with the kids of Donkey and everyone else in the village--but the commotion is too much for Shrek, who snaps. Will his ogrely hissy fit ruin Christmas--and make him overlook the meaning of Christmas that can't be found in a book? Even viewers who might guess the answer will enjoy the trip, including competing versions of "A Visit from St. Nicholas," better known as "The Night Before Christmas." Puss's version: "He was dressed all in fur / From his head to his paws / And he stood there heroic, / A real Santa... Claws." And the film is full of cute references to holiday classics like "It's a Wonderful Life" ("Excuse you for what?" barks Shrek after one of his kids does a dainty Fiona belch knockoff). Even bit players get big laughs, like the three German pigs, ready to have a Christmas Eve sleepover. One points out to his brothers: "Look! We are pigs, ja? Und we are in a blanket, ja? It's funny, ja?" Ja! Warning to parents: There is one scary, almost gruesome scene that involves Santa Claus, but it's over quickly and then the film is back to its funny and heartwarming purpose. Extras include an animated sing-along "Twelve Days of Christmas" featurette as well as several holiday games to keep the tykes engaged after the last present is unwrapped. --A.T. Hurley
Bestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Shrek 2 (Widescreen Edition)Shrek; Release date: 2004-11-05; DVD
Best price: $2.80
Price in other shops:
Merry MadagascarPublished: 2009; DVD
Best price: $4.35
Shrek the Third (Widescreen Edition)Shrek; Release date: 2007-11-13; DVD
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops:
Prep and LandingDisney; Release date: 2011-11-22; DVD
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
Donkey's Christmas ShrektacularDVD
Best price: $12.30
Merry MadagascarParamount; Release date: 2011-10-11; DVD
Best price: $7.18
Price in other shops:
Scared ShreklessDreamworks; Release date: 2011-09-13; DVD
Best price: $8.98
Price in other shops:
Artist Not Provided - Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas SpecialTwentieth Century Fox; Release date: 2011-11-26; DVD
Best price: $2.94
Price in other shops:
Shrek Forever After (Single-Disc Edition)Shrek; Release date: 2010-12-07; DVD
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops:
Shrek: The Whole Story Boxed Set (Shrek / Shrek 2 / Shrek the Third / Shrek Forever After)Dreamworks; Release date: 2010-12-07; DVD
Best price: $24.97
Price in other shops: