Story reels from animated films are always fascinating to see, since they show the early development of a project that slowly becomes a beloved animated film. But the one from DreamWorks Animation’s beloved 2001 comedy Shrek that resurfaced online this week is far more interesting than others. That’s because Chris Farley is the voice of the titular ogre.
The 1997 reel, which features Eddie Murphy voicing Donkey and Farley as Shrek, was posted on Reddit Wednesday, where it earned over 1,300 comments. On YouTube, the video has over 420,000 views.
EW notes that the video actually first surfaced on Vimeo two years ago, but it is just going viral now. It might have something to do with the release of the new documentary I Am Chris Farley.
“Originally the Shrek character was a little bit more like Chris, like a humble, bumbling innocent guy,” Kevin Farley, Farley’s brother, told Yahoo Movies last month.
Farley died in 1997 and DreamWorks Animation ended up picking Farley’s fellow Saturday Night Live co-star Mike Myers. The role was significantly changed, with Myers giving Shrek a Scottish accent. The film was finally released in 2001 and became the first winner of the Best Animated Feature Oscar. It spawned three more sequels, plus a Puss In Boots spinoff and several shorts.
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screenshot from YouTube video