Vicky Jenson's strength is finding warmth in fairy-tale misbehaviour. We recommend Shrek for the affection she and Andrew Adamson bring to its characters, though the jokes about other entertainment are less dependable.
Fi1m perspective
Shrek (2001) puts an ogre beside a talkative donkey and lets them behave badly. Vicky Jenson and co-director Andrew Adamson understand that the company has to be worth keeping once the joke has passed. We recommend their film for that warmth, and for voices that give the fairy-tale teasing some human feeling. We laughed at the bad manners, then found ourselves caring about the pair because the film lets affection survive all the rudeness.
Jenson came to directing through storyboard, design and art-direction work. With Adamson sharing the directing, we cannot reasonably allocate the successful moments to her alone. Their strongest decision is to give the ogre enough personality to sustain more than a joke about the usual fairy-tale hero. The less successful passages depend on recognising other entertainment, and recognition does not always produce a laugh. The storytelling also settles into familiar patterns, which slightly undermines the pleasure of seeing those conventions teased.
After Shrek, Jenson co-directed Shark Tale (2004), then moved into live action with Post Grad (2009). Her return to animated features, Spellbound (2024), was also her first musical, with songs by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater. Its use of fantasy to approach family difficulties connects it to the emotional concerns we value in Shrek. There is room in that interest for more than another round of jokes about fairy tales.
Her practice of letting voice performances and improvisation guide animation is the part of her working method we most want to see encouraged. It leaves room for performers to supply something a neatly planned joke may lack: a character's particular way of speaking and behaving. Our enthusiasm for Jenson rests chiefly on Shrek, whose voices remain a stronger attraction than its references. Start with the ogre and donkey, and allow some patience for the occasions when recognising another film is supposed to be enough.
Biography
Vicky Jenson, also credited as Victoria Jenson, is an American film director, animator, storyboard artist and production designer. Born on 4 March 1960 in Los Angeles, California, she began her career painting cels and worked on animated television series including The Smurfs (1981). She later served as art director on FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992) and production designer on The Road to El Dorado (2000).
Jenson co-directed the DreamWorks Animation feature Shrek (2001) with Andrew Adamson. She subsequently directed Shark Tale (2004) and the live-action film Post Grad (2009). Her later work includes directing and co-writing the animated film Spellbound (2024).
