With full knowledge that some show-stopping musical numbers helped define “Shrek” and “Shrek 2,” the filmmakers were again eager to raise the bar with “Shrek the Third.”

“When it comes right down to it, it almost feels like music is half the movie,” says Miller.  “It's such a big part of what makes these films work.”

This time, Harry Gregson-Williams, who composed music for the first two “Shrek” films, was not only asked to rejoin the team, but to build on his previous work and move it forward.  “It was a great challenge,” says Gregson-Williams.  “I do a lot of scores every year, but my children only care that I keep doing the ‘Shrek’ movies. 

It's been quite a trip.  I don’t think any of us knew quite what we were embarking on when we started.  I love ‘Shrek the Third.’  It's got all the elements of the first two and more.  It's got a slight angle.  It's quite subversive in places.”

“It would have been really easy for Harry to kind of give us the stuff he'd done before and call it a day, but this time around, he really amazed us,” says Warner.  “He spiced it all up big-time for us.  We have this big musical number at the end in which many of the characters are playing instruments they don’t know how to play, so Harry made things sound bad on purpose, which is always hard for a composer to do.  Then he had to blend it into the real score.  It was a tough job.”

“Film music is very important, and can bring another dimension to what you're seeing on screen – particularly in animation, because remember, in animation there's nothing that’s real,” explains Gregson-Williams.  “If this were live action, and Shrek and Arthur were sitting on that log by the fire, there would be sounds of the night; there would be an ambience.  But, in this case, you're starting with a blank canvas.  What we're doing is filling in the mood.”

Choosing just the right soundtrack is another way to convey the mood of the characters and the story.  “Shrek the Third” boasts an impressive array of classic rock songs and new tunes penned specifically for the film.

“It’s really important to us to find music that matches the integrity of the first two films.  It's very eclectic, very wide-reaching,” says Warner.  “We have a lot of great older songs.  We also have new artists who created original songs, and then we have new artists covering older songs.  What we always tell bands is that we want the songs to represent the voice of Shrek.  That means they've got to be kind of rough, and the feeling needs to be real.   We tend to shy away from stuff that's got a lot of production value to it.”

“I remember when we started off, we had a few songs in mind that we sort of built the picture around,” adds Miller.  “But as the film changed, so did the songs.  We were always searching.  It was a vital part of making the film work.”
Among the songs picked to represent Shrek’s story are Wings’ “Live And Let Die,” “Do You Remember Rock ‘N’ Roll Radio” by The Ramones, “Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin, “Barracuda” performed by Fergie, “Joker And The Thief” by Wolfmother, “Cat’s In The Cradle” by Harry Chapin, “Thank You (Falettin’ Me Be Mice Elf Again)” by Eddie Murphy and Antonio Banderas and “Losing Streak” by the eels, as well as an original song by the eels, “Royal Pain.” The “Shrek the Third” soundtrack will be released by Geffen Records.