Man Teaches Robot to Write Out Entire 'Shrek' Film, Fans Ask 'Why?'

An artist has used a robot to write out the entire "Shrek" movie and people online are baffled.

In footage shared on TikTok by an artist called Sunday.nobody, the artist showcased the lengthy method that he used to create his work based on the 2001 hit animated film.

The video, which was posted on October 11, begins with the man "watching the whole movie and writing out everything that they said."

He then shows that he has a very large piece of paper placed on a CNS (Computer Numerical Control) machine, which is meant for cutting wood, and he has made a 2D printed custom penholder for where the "cutting bit would usually go."

In the footage, which can be watched here, we can then see the machine setting to work, writing out the text.

However, it doesn't write it out line by line because, as the artist explains: "Where the pen moved was controlled by a program, not a human, so it didn't have to write like a human it just optimized the path and wrote in whatever freestyle order it wanted."

The writing took the machine three days, and at points the bubbles in the paper caused unintentional lines between characters so the artist had to weigh it down with pens.

There were also a few areas where the writing was barely visible, but the artist claimed he liked the mistakes, calling them "happy accidents."

The video then ends with Sunday.nobody showing how he built the frame and then mounted the large artwork.

The footage has been watched 35,100 times on TikTok, but where it has really gained traction is Reddit, having attracted more than 67,000 upvotes in 8 hours (at the time of writing).

Additionally, over 1,500 people have commented on the art, with some voicing their confusion as to why it was created.

One Redditor, DeepMadness asked: "Why?"

ABlackDa played on the Shrek theme song by writing: "If you must ask... [sigh]. SomeBODY once told him the world was gonna roll him, and he ain't the sharpest tool in the shed..."

Another person, NickleBackSlaps, admitted: "Really feel like he missed an opportunity to carve it into wood with that... you know... wood carving machine."

AtroxSepsis opined: "Too much time in your hands..."

Collistoralo added: "This man does know that transcripts and subtitles exist right?"

However, others enjoyed the artwork, including LocalOccupanther who commented: "This is the dumbest thing that only a smart person could come up with. I love it. I have no idea why you'd do this but I'm impressed.

"Completely unnecessary but so glad you did it. Also so great cause it started with him having to write the entire movie himself first."

CptNegro1stofhisname gushed: "This is art. Every bit of this creation journey was a journey with and within himself. Even the documentation of the project is art. Absolutely Outstanding. Thank you for sharing OP."

Pauciradiatus agreed, asking: "Why do people think there has to be a solid reason for everything? Why can't people just have fun and overcome a challenge in their downtime just for the creativity and satisfaction?

"What's the difference between this and playing solitaire? Or watching TV? Or practically any other hobby?"

Ultramagnus69r revealed: "Honestly, it's taking a passion (his CNC work,) a thoughtful project (pointless to some but mindful to him,) and a will. Look at all the issues that arose and the ingenuity to solve a problem that no one has had or needed to solve. I really like the idea of turning the CNC router in to an ink drawn printer."

Newsweek contacted Sunday.nobody for comment.