VIDEO OGRE LOADED DREAMWORKS PACKS ``SHREK'' DVD WITH 11 HOURS OF FEATURES (AS IF THE FILM WEREN'T ENOUGH).

Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor

DreamWorks says it's a coincidence that its monster DVD version of the animated smash hit ``Shrek'' is coming out on Friday, the same day Disney is releasing ``Monsters, Inc.'' from Pixar Studios, the same folks that brought out ``Toy Story.'' This also comes one day after the submissions to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are due for films to be considered in the new animated category.

(Not wanting to feel left out, the folks at MTV are already reminding us that their film ``Jimmy Neutron,'' being released in December by Paramount, will also be in the running.)

When asked why DreamWorks chose Friday instead of the normal release date of Tuesday for DVD and videos, Kelly Sooter, domestic head of DreamWorks Home Entertainment, said, ``We actually had an opportunity that we really wanted to be able to capitalize on that came up on that day.''

When pressed, Sooter would only refer to a marketing event that ``lends itself to a better opportunity of going on Friday.'' As of press time there had been no announcement as to what the event would be.

Considering the competition between Disney and DreamWorks - remember ``Antz'' and ``A Bug's Life'' and the fact that one of DreamWorks' founders, Jeffrey Katzenberg, worked for the Mouse - we'll leave it up to you to decide if the Friday date was a coincidence.

Hollywood machinations aside, Sooter acknowledged that DreamWorks' video division was ``fortunate to be working on a successful movie.'' It grossed $266.7 million domestically. Not only was it successful but critically acclaimed ... and for good reason. In fact, ``Shrek'' could be an Oscar candidate for Best Picture.

Based on William Steig's offbeat fairy tale, ``Shrek'' - with its sparkling, realistic-looking computer animation - is cleverly written to appeal to adults as well as its target audience: kids.

The title character (voiced by Mike Myers) is a green ogre who likes to live in peace in his swamp, mostly because he's convinced that no one likes him. When Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow) starts rounding up fairy-tale creatures, they escape to Shrek's swamp for protection. It's clear early on that the ogre has a good heart even as he tries to evict them. (``Dead girl off the table,'' he tells the Seven Dwarfs.) Other Disney characters such as Pinocchio, Cinderella and Tinkerbell are part of the roundup - just another coincidence, huh?

Realizing he won't get rid of them unless he confronts Farquaad, Shrek and his new pal, a talking donkey (Eddie Murphy), head off to the castle, which has a mild resemblance to a certain magic kingdom. There is even a group of small toys that sing an insipid but funny song. Coincidence, huh?

After a battle in which Shrek defeats the lord's knights, the vertically challenged Farquaad makes a deal with him. If Shrek rescues the Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) from the castle where she's imprisoned by a dragon, he will give Shrek back his land and privacy. Like Shrek, the movie has a good heart, even if it's a little gross on the outside (there is some fairly inoffensive potty humor). And beyond that it has a good message for kids about not judging people by their appearance.

So even if ``Shrek'' wasn't a monster DVD, it would still be worth seeing. But wait - there is 11 hours of programming.

``What we did when we started this project,'' says Sooter, ``was we got together with the directors and key animators and Jeffrey Katzenberg and sat down and talked about what we wanted in a DVD.''

That started in content and even menu design. She says the directors and the animators took it upon themselves to go back and approach the menus as if they were approaching the movie. ``They storyboarded the whole thing and pitched it to us, and that's how we were able to come up with the new animation for the menus.''

Another aspect was to appeal to all ``Shrek'' fans - ``both the broad family audience and the adult audience,'' she says.

Sooter says DreamWorks decided to take the DVD and break it into two discs. On disc one there is the pan-and-scan version - which involves just picking part of the picture and letting it take up the entire TV screen - and more family features, and on the other disc contains the widescreen version and more technology pieces.

When asked what her favorite part of the DVD was, Sooter said it was the Re-Voice studio area, which is part of the DVD-ROM part of the disc. ``It's an area where we picked scenes of the movie where you can actually record your voice in place of the character voice; so you can be Donkey or Fiona or Shrek. It really makes it a very interactive entertaining experience,'' she said.

OK, to be fair, Sooter did have a point about ``Shrek'' 's release date. She points out that DVD release dates have become very competitive because of the amount of money they are generating, and that it's become ``a big jockeying game'' especially around the holidays. Universal, she notes, had already picked just prior to Thanksgiving for the release of ``The Grinch,'' starring Jim Carrey, and DreamWorks was looking for an optimal release date for ``Shrek.''

Well, no matter what happens in the awards season, there is one thing for sure: The ``Shrek'' DVD is a big winner.

``Shrek'' (DreamWorks) costs $24.99 on VHS. The two-disc DVD is $26.99. The first disc includes a pan-and-scan version of the film, a behind-the-scenes featurette on the making of the film, Game Swamp (Over 15 Interactive Games and Activities), Shrek's Music Hall, Shrek's Re-voice Studio (DVD-ROM), Favorite Scenes Selection, Donkey's Tale Read-Along and hidden fun facts. Disc 2 includes a widescreen version of the film, filmmakers' commentary, menus with new animation, ``The Tech of Shrek,'' storyboard pitch of deleted scenes, technical goofs, international dubbing feature, character-design progression reel and hints for playing Xbox Shrek video game.

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no caption (``Shrek'')