Why 2001 Was A Game-Changing Year For Movies

These 6 films changed our brain chemistry 25 years ago

Credit: Amazon MGM Studios, Universal Pictures, Studio Canal, Warner Bros. Entertainment, New Line Cinema, Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures

Judging by a host of recent retrospectives and marketing campaigns, I’ve noticed quite a few of my favourite films are turning 25 this year. It made me wonder: are these just a couple of diamonds in the rough, or is there a pattern here? To investigate, I looked up the highest-grossing films of 2001.

Wow. What a time to be alive. Perhaps I was too young at the time to appreciate it, but 2001 was a golden year for cinema-goers. Fantasy franchises were born, Pixar was reaching its peak, timeless rom-coms were made, and everything was just a bit extra sparkling.

To examine what made 2001 such a unicorn year for movies, I’m celebrating three culture-defining film pairings across genres. All have stood strong for the last 25 years, creating lifelong fandoms and shaping our conversations beyond the screen. To begin, let’s get magical.

Wizards, wizards, everywhere

Mentally, I’m here. Credit: New Line Cinema/Warner Bros. Entertainment

It’s hard to believe, now, that The Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter film series both kicked off in the same year. And only 1 month apart.

I still remember watching the first teaser for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone: seeing Diagon Alley for the first time, to the tune of John Williams’ whimsically mysterious, now iconic score, I had full-body chills. At 9 years old, the books were a huge part of my life, and the prospect of seeing them come alive on screen was almost too much to handle. The anticipation was well-founded; the film perfectly represented the wonder, nostalgia, and excitement of reading the book for the very first time, giving a glimpse into this wondrous world that might be lurking in plain sight.

While The Lord of the Rings was more enigmatic to me, not being familiar with Tolkien’s work at the time, The Fellowship of the Ring captured that same thrill of pure wonder and magic; from the very opening prologue explaining how the rings were forged, the world-building was so intricate and confident that it immediately captured my imagination and held it for years to come. (As did Orlando Bloom, but that’s for another day.)

Both franchise openers created something unmistakeably special. They brought their stories to life on an epic scale, but kept a sense of cosiness and nostalgia that sits at their hearts. They were both painstakingly crafted, combining the very best of technological SFX with meticulously detailed practical sets and effects. They were both made by teams that clearly cared deeply about the source material, and actors who were fully committed to doing their characters justice. Ian McKellen’s Gandalf and Robbie Coltrane’s Hagrid were simply lifted off the page. An enormous amount of faith, respect, and money went into making The Fellowship of the Ring and The Philosopher’s Stone worthy of the fans.

I can hear this image. Credit: Warner Bros. Entertainment

These movies set the unshakeable tone and identity for these franchises for years to come. When I think of how I enjoy these series now, it’s through seasonal rewatches, of course. But it’s also listening to their scores on repeat, collecting artwork and LEGO sets, visiting exhibitions, dressing as the characters… the list goes on. These aren’t just films, they are the full realisation of imaginative, fantastical playgrounds that have kept growing for decades since.

Since their on-screen inception, Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings have become a part of our cultural DNA, spawning new releases even as I write this: The Rings of Power returns for a third season later this year, while spinoff film The Hunt for Gollum is just about to enter production. Meanwhile, the Harry Potter HBO Max series premieres this December.

None of this would have been possible if those very first movies hadn’t so thoroughly captured our hearts 25 years ago. The only sad part is that we can’t watch them again for the first time.

A couple of monster hits

Job satisfaction, guaranteed. Credit: Pixar Animation Studios/Walt Disney Pictures

While the live-action fantasy genre was booting up in 2001, we were also seeing some huge strides in the world of animation. Some might say, monstrously huge. Yes, this year saw the big screen debuts of both Monsters, Inc. and Shrek.

I know. We were spoiled.

The turn of the millennium ushered in a new era in animation, ditching 2D princess-led musicals in favour of 3D family adventures. Adventures that were allowed to get a bit… weird. The masters of the art, of course, were Pixar. Still relatively new to the feature film business, having only released Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, and Toy Story 2 at the time, Monsters, Inc. continued their streak of Randy Newman-scored bangers, proving that this studio had boundless imagination and knew how to craft a great story.

There was something wholly original about Pixar films at this time. The concept of Monsters, Inc. is genius and so watertight; the play on the “monster in the cupboard” fear that so many of us had as kids, explained through the lens of a monster energy facility lurking just behind our wardrobe doors and feeding on children’s screams? They all deserved a raise for that one.

With Billy Crystal and John Goodman playing the comedy double act as lovable leads Mike and Sully, and plenty of visual gags (the Monsters, Inc. logo covering Mike in the promotional trailer for the factory will never not be funny), this film has humour enough for kids and their parents. Much like another green-tinged film of the same year.

Trying to convince my other half to go on Peter Pan’s Flight at Disney. Credit: DreamWorks Pictures

There was life before Shrek, and life after Shrek. I don’t like to think about the former.

This film was such a boss move from DreamWorks, a studio that still hadn’t quite made their mark on the animation landscape yet, and needed a hit to show they meant business. The beauty of Shrek is that, in many ways, it is the opposite of the Pixar model. Rather than trying to come up with a completely original concept for a story, it was purposely derivative. Instead of starting from a child’s imagination and then broadening the humour, it goes full satire. Crucially, by not being affiliated with Disney, it has free licence to rip the - ahem — mickey out of it. (Sorry).

I remember thinking that Shrek was the funniest film I’d ever seen as a kid. I watched it on alternate weekends for about a year (along with Disney’s Hercules, ironically). The “Welcome to Duloc” song, pastiching “It’s A Small World,” is comedy at its very finest. Every line uttered by Eddie Murphy’s Donkey is award-winning. The needle-drop soundtrack against a fairytale landscape felt so rebellious (I loved it so much that my friend even burned me a CD of it for my 12th birthday).

For a few years, I wondered if my Shrek obsession was unusual; soon, though, the evidence spoke otherwise. From countless nightmarish memes online to Smash Mouth sing-alongs at karaoke to a fully fledged Shrek Broadway musical, this ogre has staying power. While there have been complaints about the animation style changing in the upcoming Shrek 5, the film is guaranteed to bring in the big bucks. Like its 2001 class alums Harry Potter and LOTR, Shrek is a phenomenon of its own now. So much so that the original film achieved its goal, beating Monsters, Inc. to win the first-ever Animated Feature Oscar.

Buddy comedy? Tick. 5 gags a minute? Tick. Green protagonists? Tick. Spontaneous singing? Tick. These two movies have got it all. Also worth mentioning: Shrek 2 and Monsters University are up there with the strongest animated sequels of all time, in my opinion. Feel free to fight me in the comments, though.

Rom-com heroines to root for

She is the moment. Credit: Amazon MGM Studios

Creating a timeless romantic comedy that remains sharp and witty after 25 years, and has a genuinely funny female protagonist at the centre- what, like it’s hard?

For my final 2001 pairing, I’d like to offer two films that have a surprising amount in common, from two sides of the pond: Legally Blonde and Bridget Jones’s Diary. I discovered both of these films after their cinematic releases (at 9 years old, they probably would have flown over my head), but on first watch, I knew they were bona fide classics.

Reese Witherspoon’s Elle Woods is one of the most iconic female characters of all time, no caveat needed. So watchable and charismatic, she proves that femininity and softness can exist alongside confidence and power. And, most importantly, she’s hilarious. Renée Zellwegger’s Bridget Jones, on the other hand, is equally brilliant in a much more British way.

While Elle is eternally confident, Bridget is self-deprecating. While Elle sees the best in people, Bridget is exhausted by her disappointed friends and family. But Bridget, like Elle, still manages to light up the screen. While she gets into embarrassing scrapes, we laugh with her, not at her, rooting for her the entire time because she is so relatable. These films are about women finding their happiness and fulfilling their potential, regardless of what man they end up with. In fact, normally, despite the men that get in their way.

Cinematic parallels. Credit: Universal Pictures/Studio Canal, Amazon MGM Studios

Based on Helen Fielding’s novel, which itself was inspired by the queen of satire Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, Bridget Jones’s Diary is full of wit and dry observations on the nature of a society that is obsessed with matching women up with the nearest “eligible bachelor” by the time they’re 30. When questioned by smug couples around a dinner table about why so many women her age are single, Bridget retorts, “I suppose it doesn’t help that underneath our clothes, our entire bodies are covered in scales.” Classic.

Similarly, Legally Blonde’s screenplay is sharp and self-aware, with Elle’s apparent naïvety masking the cleverness underneath; the perfect weapon to take down her enemies with a friendly smile. The scene where she’s tricked into showing up at the college party dressed as a bunny is a glittering example. Warner’s snobby fiancé sniggers, “nice outfit,” confident in Elle’s complete humiliation. Instead, her reply brings the house down: “I like your outfit too, except when I dress up as a frigid b*tch, I try to look less constipated.”

Pop off, queen.

The ensemble cast in both films rounds out the out-and-out comedy, particularly Jennifer Coolidge’s Paulette treading the line between vulnerable and zany (as she does so well) in Legally Blonde, and Hugh Grant doing his slimy best as the arrogant Daniel in Bridget Jones (he makes a much better villain than romantic hero; I think we can all agree).

The minute the sun comes out in England. Credit: Universal Pictures/Studio Canal

Both films continue to form a blueprint set in motion by Clueless: comedies written by women, for women, where, while romance is important, we’re more interested in spending time with these brilliant ladies. Miss Congeniality and The Princess Diaries also released in the same period, cementing this refreshing new tradition. Bridget and Elle’s particular longevity is proven in the franchises they’ve both created: Bridget Jones has now had three sequels, and Legally Blonde has scored a stage musical and a brand new origin series, *Elle*. These heroines are going nowhere, and I, for one, do not object.

There are so many more iconic 2001 films that I could have included on this list, from Moulin Rouge! and Spirited Away to A Knight’s Tale and Chocolat, but at the risk of getting carried away, I may need to save these for another day. Would you agree 2001 is a golden year for movies? Or would you suggest a year that could beat it? Feel free to drop your opinion in the comments!