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Katzenberg is also leery of taking too many potshots at his former employer. As news stories about the Disney gibes multiplied, he sent a print of Shrek to the studio and asked if it offended anyone. He says the studio replied that it contained "nothing we can't take." (Disney had no comment for this story.) Insiders may find it hard to believe there's not at least some karmic payback here, given the rancor of Katzenberg's high-profile lawsuit to win bonus pay from Disney (he received a multimillion-dollar settlement in 1999).

The payback might just keep coming. Over the next few months, Shrek will compete in various ways with Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Disney's conventional-animation summer tentpole, and Monsters, Inc., the Nov. 2 release from Pixar, Disney's computer-animation partner. Pixar's offices are about an hour from Pacific Data Images, the Palo Alto-based studio that made Shrek. But PDI supervising animator Raman Hui notes relations with Pixar have been chilly since Katzenberg marched out Antz one month before Pixar's A Bug's Life in 1998. "For a while, I think [Pixar creative executive] John [Lasseter] was not too happy with us," says Hui. "Our companies used to be very close." (Lasseter was unavailable for comment.)

The old rivalry may intensify come Academy Awards season, since 2001 will mark the first year there could be a Best Animated Feature. Despite anomalies in the rules that might scotch the category altogether, it's expected that Shrek and Monsters, Inc.will be among the nominees. Meanwhile, an avalanche of toys will compete in stores at Christmastime. DreamWorks had planned to issue Shrek in 3-D around the holidays on giant IMAX screens, with scenes restaged to exploit the format. That's on hold, since the deal with IMAX fell apart last year, reportedly over disagreements about financing. But Katzenberg says the 3-D edition is "75 percent complete. Someday, somehow, we're gonna find a way to bring it to the world."

Meantime, Shrek 2 is already under way. A bulletin at PDI solicited plot ideas, but screenwriters Elliott and Rossio sound like they're steering the course. Elliott says the second Shrek—which could go to theaters or video, depending on how well Shrek does and on whether the voice talents return—may feature a character called Dama Fortuna. "We cut her out early on," Elliott says. "She's a fairy godmother, and we think this next story will be all about fairy godmothers."

Just don't expect any of them to sing "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo."