Shrek

Shrek opens on a solitary, antisocial ogre named Shrek who lives contentedly alone in a muddy swamp in the fairytale land of Far Far Away. His peaceful existence is disrupted when Lord Farquaad — the diminutive, tyrannical ruler of the gleaming city of Duloc — rounds up all the fairytale creatures in his kingdom (Pinocchio, the Three Little Pigs, the Big Bad Wolf, Gingy the Gingerbread Man, and many others) and dumps them in Shrek's swamp as exiles. Furious at the invasion of his home, Shrek sets off to Duloc to demand Farquaad remove them. He is accompanied, against his will, by a relentlessly cheerful and talkative Donkey who attaches himself to Shrek after escaping capture.

In Duloc, Farquaad consults his enchanted Magic Mirror and learns that to become a true king he must marry a princess. He selects Princess Fiona, currently locked in a tower of a dragon-guarded castle called Dragon's Keep. Rather than retrieve her himself, Farquaad holds a tournament among his knights; the winner earns the 'honor' of rescuing her. Shrek inadvertently wins the tournament through brute strength, and Farquaad strikes a deal: Shrek will rescue Fiona, and in return Farquaad will clear the fairytale creatures from his swamp.

Shrek and Donkey travel to Dragon's Keep. Donkey ends up alone with the castle's enormous fire-breathing dragon and — rather than being eaten — charms her into a surprisingly tender friendship (that blossoms into something more). Meanwhile Shrek finds Princess Fiona in the tower. Fiona is initially appalled to be rescued by an ogre rather than a handsome prince and demands a proper 'fairy-tale rescue' with a kiss. Shrek refuses and drags her out, and the three begin the journey back to Duloc.

Along the road, Fiona and Shrek clash but gradually bond. Shrek explains his antisocial exterior using the metaphor of an onion — he has layers. Fiona reveals she is surprisingly capable: she dispatches Robin Hood and his Merry Men single-handedly using acrobatic martial arts. She and Shrek share mud baths, cook bug kebabs, and make balloon animals from frogs and snakes. Their connection deepens into clear mutual attraction, though neither admits it.

At night, Fiona secretly retreats inside a windmill. Donkey discovers her secret: she is under a curse cast in her childhood — by day she appears as a beautiful human princess, but each night at sunset she transforms into an ogress, reverting to human at sunrise. The curse, she tells Donkey, can only be broken by true love's first kiss. She hopes marrying Farquaad will lift the spell.

Shrek, searching for Fiona to confess his feelings, arrives outside the windmill and overhears the tail end of her conversation. He hears only that she is a 'hideous beast' whom no one could ever love, and misinterprets the words as Fiona expressing disgust at him. Heartbroken and retreating back behind his walls, he greets Lord Farquaad — who has ridden out to meet them — with cold formality and hands Fiona over without a word, then returns alone to his now-empty swamp.

Donkey confronts Shrek and eventually forces him to admit his feelings. Shrek realizes the misunderstanding: Fiona was talking about herself, not him. He races toward Duloc on the Dragon (who arrives with Donkey riding her) to stop the wedding. The ceremony is already underway; the sun is setting as Shrek bursts in and declares his love for Fiona. The sun sets and Fiona transforms into an ogress in front of the entire wedding congregation. Farquaad, revolted, orders Fiona arrested for deceiving him and commands his guards to seize Shrek. At that moment Dragon crashes through the stained-glass window and devours Farquaad whole, ending his rule.

Shrek and Fiona share their first kiss. The curse breaks — but instead of resolving into the 'beautiful princess' form Fiona expected, she remains permanently as an ogress, her 'true form' as revealed by true love. Shrek tells her she's beautiful. The two are married in the swamp, surrounded by their fairytale-creature neighbors and a jubilant Donkey, and depart in an onion-carriage for their honeymoon.

Sources: Wikipedia, IMDb (attempted — dynamic content unavailable)