Dreamworks' classic Shrek gets te reo Māori treatment

A 2001 classic given a new lease of life through the words of Māori, Shrek – Kātahi Te Korokē has, has had its world premiere.

The animated feature of a Māoriland Productions and DreamWorks Animation collaboration saw the green carpet laid out at Ngā Purapura during the Māoriland Film Festival in Ōtaki.

Producer Libby Hakaraia said what started as a suggestion thought to be far-fetched, now the big, grumpy ogre Shrek, has become fluent in te reo Māori.

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On a road trip to Wellington two years ago, Hakaraia asked a group of rangatahi what movie they would like to see dubbed in te reo and when they responded with Shrek, she told them to "forget it".

“That was the truth, and then it sat with me that evening... I went, well, why not?”

At the time, she didn’t know anyone who worked for DreamWorks, so she did a bit of rangahau (research) and reached out to the company.

“I got an answer the next day from the vice president of DreamWorks going, ‘we love this. It's Indigenous Language Day in L.A. We'd love to have a conversation.’ He doesn't answer a lot of messages, but he answered that one.”

Hakaraia explained Kātahi Te Korokē taps into many societal topics.

“Shrek's a cheeky, multi-layered film. It might be in its second decade from its original release, but there are lots of themes in there - it breaks up all of these tropes about women and where they should be, and we're all outsiders, people have had their land taken off them or their swamp in this case, there's a lot of things that are really translatable now.”

“When it's in te reo though, oh! The layers are deep. And it's funny. You know, like toitū everything.”

It’s also the first time DreamWorks Animation had ever dubbed into an Indigenous language.

Scott McCarthy, the head of dubbing for DreamWorks, said the idea of a Māori-speaking Shrek was a good opportunity to learn about Indigenous communities outside of the United States.

“Coming into this, honestly, I didn't know about the Māori language. I didn't know about the culture and the community and how important something like this would be,” he said.

Working with Māori has had a chain reaction. Last night, McCarthy revealed to RNZ that they’re in talks with some Native American nations about dubbing animated films in their tribal languages.

“There's just so many hurdles to get over, but what Māori and this project has done has opened the door for us to really start having these conversations and we're using this success of Shrek in the Māori language to show what is possible.”

“In many ways it's given me a new purpose for what I do in dubbing. Dubbing has a way to reach out and to bring cultures and communities together and I'm now seeing it with such a broader, more expansive view. There's so many cultures and languages I want to connect to that I never even realised were available and the impact that dubbing and work like this can have. It's really opened my eyes in that way.”

He is also seeing the fruits of the production through the eyes of his own tamariki who accompanied him on his visit to the Ōtaki. 

Before the premiere, he and his whānau went to their accommodation to unwind. He gave them the option to stay put or watch a movie in a foreign language.

"You're not going to understand it,"he told his seven-year-old daughter, but she was adamant on seeing Shrek in another language.

“I'm like, okay, tears are coming. [But] it just put it all into perspective of how important this work is and even my seven-year-old can see that.”

Although it was rangatahi who wanted Shrek dubbed in te reo Māori, it will be those who awaited the first release of Shrek back in May 2001 who may be most amused.

Tuakoi Ohia, who voiced Fiona - the Princess of a kingdom of Far Far Away, said the revamp would be hot for her millennial generation.

“This is a movie that I love. I still watch it, you know, when I'm like sad or whatever, had a big day, just put on Shrek and then it makes me feel better.

“To be able to be a part of all of that, it's just the best, and especially for a movie that I really love, honestly, it's like, what the hell?”

She never thought she would be in the cast of her comfort movie, but it was more special for her to do it alongside her brother Tahuaroa who played Gingy.

“It was pretty significant. I really didn't want to stuff it up. So just the fact that I got a chance to give it a go is really great, and being part of the DreamWorks whānau and the Māoriland whānau is just such a beautiful collaboration.”

Tuakoi admitted she had underestimated the physicality of the animated character which led to a cracked voice after two days.

“It was challenging in that way, but I wouldn't have it any other way. It was honestly probably one of the funnest jobs I've ever had.”

A team of witty translators was led by Te Moananui ā Kiwa Goddard and Hēni Jacob who translated the original dialogue.

TeKohe Tuhaka, aka Robin Hood, grew up with te reo Māori as his first language. He said the delivery of jokes in the new film has a classic Māori spin.

“I think in any Indigenous language you can get away with a lot more.”

Tuhaka credited Disney for being the first to dub a movie in the Māori language with the likes of Moana, The Lion King, and Frozen to name a few, which led to DreamWorks to follow suit.

“The dream is to be able to do the Toy Stories, to do the Kung Fu Pandas, all of these things that us as adults, who let our children watch these things, still find comedy in.”

“But I think we have to really lean into the original heart of these stories. We can't just make them, re-version them just for kids. We still have to re-version them so that they honour the original text, the original characterisations, so that the stories and those messages can transcend both the younger generation and us oldies.”

With the Kōhanga generation coming through, he said having the ‘oldies, but goodies’ available in tereo would be the norm.

“It's not a matter of when anymore, it's actually a matter of like, let's just get it done.”