BILLED as "the greatest fairy tale never told", the DreamWorks cartoon Shrek is greater than the sum of all its parts.

It's a blistering race through pop culture and it's also a spoof that blows apart the conventions of the Disney-fied "happily ever after" cartoon, poking fun at icons such as as Snow White, Pinocchio and the Three Little Pigs along the way.

It's a fun cartoon journey that's quite a sight to behold and it's an instant animated challenge to Disney's empire.

The movie, produced by PDI/DreamWorks - Steven Spielberg's organisation - wastes no time in making big impressions. The opening credits for the movie are absolutely incredible and the rest of the movie is great fun.

Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers) lives alone in a swamp, employing personal habits that ensure his solitude -- mud showers, fish-killing flatulence and making candles from his earwax.

But his privacy is shattered when a host of fairytale creatures show up in his swamp, his dining room and even (in the case of a certain nightgown-clad wolf) in his bed. It seems they were all evicted from the kingdom of Duloc by Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow), a ruler with a major Napoleon complex.

Shrek makes a deal with Farquaad -- he gets his swamp back if he rescues Farquaad's intended bride, the lovely Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz), from a dragon-protected castle.

Shrek, accompanied by a donkey (voiced by Eddie Murphy) with a mean tongue, does rescue Fiona -- who is a tad too eager to do the "true love's first kiss" thing, for reasons that become apparent later.

The animation, produced by the Pacific Data Images crew that made Antz and guided by co-directors Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, is first-rate.

The textures are detailed, the movements are realistic and the three-dimensional feel even improves on the humour - you may think you've seen every good Matrix parody, but you haven't until you see this.