Shrek reo Māori announced, to debut at Māoriland Film Festival
Tuesday, 17 September 2024
A reo Māori version of the much-loved kids’ movie, Shrek, will hit the big screens in Aotearoa in 2025.
It’s the result of a collaboration with Māoriland and DreamWorks.
While Shrek is available in 40 different languages, it will be the first time a DreamWorks Animation film gets the reo Māori treatment.
In a huge win for te reo Māori, one of the highest-grossing animated films of all time, Shrek, is being adapted into te reo and will make its world premiere at the 2025 Māoriland Film Festival.
It will then be screened across Aotearoa.
Since 2001, Shrek has been dubbed into more than 40 languages, but this is the first time a DreamWorks Animation film has been adapted into te reo.
The adaptation has come as a result of a collaboration between Māoriland and DreamWorks.
Read this story in te reo Māori and English here. / Pānuitia tēnei i te reo Māori me te reo Pākehā ki konei.
'Shrek is a sensational movie because it's a masterpiece of comedy, loaded with irony, puns and sly references to Western pop culture,” said Māoriland director Tainui Stephens. “Any reversioning of Shrek presents significant but delicious linguistic and performance challenges.'
The Māoriland Film Festival’s screening of Moana Reo Māori was a huge success, attended by hundreds of Māori-speaking whānau.
Lead translator Te Kiwa Goddard was excited about the prospect of Shrek in te reo Māori.
“I’m a father of six, and I see this film is not only being gratefully received by my tamariki, their friends and whānau, but by non-Māori-speaking people as well, as it’s that sort of film where you are carried away by the story and the music.
'There's a hunger for stories in te reo that bring the world to our tamariki. The biggest challenge is to find the 'sweet spot' when it comes to matching the humour - which is funny when expressed in English - and then find its equivalent in Māori.”
This news follows the cinematic release of Encanto Reo Māori which opened just in time for Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori.
Shrek reo Māori will make its debut at the Māoriland Film Festival 2025. More information can be found here.