Shrek and Amelie were in the "New Releases" section of Blockbuster at the same time. This came up a lot with girls I was dating. Reaching for Shrek on a pre-Netflix "Netflix and chill" date night was a sign that things weren't going to last. The lede is "toilet humor, glibness and shoddy animation." And I mean Shrek, April 2001: Spirited Away, August 2002: Disney dumped Spirited Away in SIX THEATERS because they were contractually obligated to release it. It lasted eight weeks then vanished, then won an Oscar and literally embarrassed Disney into giving it a wide release. That approach to non-referential, non-pop-culture burial is ENTIRELY due to the popularity of Shrek. At the time of Disney's burial of Spirited Away, it was the most popular movie in the history of Japan.