The Prince of Egypt


The Prince of Egypt is a 1998 American animated musical drama film directed by Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, and Simon Wells, and written by Philip LaZebnik. It is the first traditionally animated film from DreamWorks Animation, and the first to be animated entirely in-house at DWA Glendale after Amblimation was closed in 1997. The film is an adaptation of the Book of Exodus and follows the life of Moses from being a prince of Egypt to a prophet chosen by God to carry out his ultimate destiny of leading the Hebrews out of Egypt. It features songs written by Stephen Schwartz and a score composed by Hans Zimmer. The film stars the voices of Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Goldblum, Danny Glover, Patrick Stewart, Helen Mirren, Steve Martin, and Martin Short.
DreamWorks co-founder and CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg had frequently suggested an animated adaptation of the 1956 film The Ten Commandments while working for The Walt Disney Company, and he decided to put the idea into production after leaving Disney and co-founding DreamWorks Pictures in 1994. To make the project, DreamWorks employed artists who had worked for Walt Disney Feature Animation and Amblimation, totaling a crew of 350 people from 34 countries. The film has a blend of traditional animation and computer-generated imagery, created using software from Toon Boom Technologies and Silicon Graphics.
The Prince of Egypt premiered at Royce Hall in Los Angeles on December 16, 1998, and was released in theaters on December 18, followed by a release on home video on September 14, 1999. Reviews were generally positive; critics particularly praised the visuals, songs, score, and voice acting. The film grossed $218 million worldwide in theaters, which made it the most successful non-Disney animated feature at the time. The film's success led to the direct-to-video prequel Joseph: King of Dreams, and a stage musical adaptation which opened in London's West End in 2020.
The song "When You Believe" became a commercially successful single in a pop version performed by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. The song won Best Original Song at the 71st Academy Awards, making The Prince of Egypt the first animated film independently outside of Disney and Pixar films, as well as the first DreamWorks Animation film, to receive Academy Awards, succeeded by Shrek and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. The film also won the inaugural Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Animated Feature, in a tie with Disney and Pixar's A Bug's Life. In the decades since its release, The Prince of Egypt has been widely acclaimed and regarded as one of DreamWorks's best films and one of the greatest animated films of all time.

Plot

In Ancient Egypt, the enslaved Hebrew people pray to God for deliverance. Pharaoh Seti, fearing that the growing numbers of Hebrews could lead to rebellion, orders a mass infanticide of all newborn Hebrew boys. Yocheved and her children, Miriam and Aaron, rush to the Nile River, where she places her newborn son in a basket on the water, bidding him farewell with a final lullaby. Miriam follows the basket as it floats to Seti's palace and witnesses her brother safely adopted by Seti's wife, Queen Tuya, who names him Moses. Before leaving, Miriam prays that Moses will return to free the Hebrews.
Years later, Moses and his adoptive brother Rameses, heir to the throne of Egypt, are scolded by Seti for accidentally destroying a temple. After Moses suggests that Rameses be given the opportunity to prove his responsibility, Seti names Rameses prince regent. High priests Hotep and Huy offer Rameses a beautiful but rebellious young Midianite woman, Tzipporah. Moses humiliates Tzipporah by letting her fall into a pond after she refuses to submit, appeasing the crowd but disappointing Tuya. Rameses gives Tzipporah to Moses and appoints him Royal Chief Architect.
Later that night, Moses follows Tzipporah as she escapes from the palace, choosing not to stop her. He runs into the now-adult Miriam and Aaron, whom he does not recognize. He disbelieves their claims and almost has them arrested until Miriam sings their mother's lullaby, triggering Moses's memory. He flees in denial, but learns the truth of Seti's genocide from a nightmare, then from Seti himself, who disturbs Moses by claiming the Hebrews were "only slaves". The next day, Moses tries to stop an Egyptian slave driver from flogging an elderly Hebrew slave, accidentally pushing the slave driver to his death. Horrified and ashamed, Moses flees into the desert in exile, despite Rameses's pleas that he stay.
Arriving at an oasis, Moses defends three girls from brigands, only to realize their older sister is Tzipporah. Moses is welcomed by Jethro, Tzipporah's father and the high priest of Midian, who helps Moses gain a more positive outlook on life. Moses becomes a shepherd, falls in love with Tzipporah, marries her, and grows adjusted to life in Midian. Moses discovers a burning bush, through which God tells him to return to Egypt and free the Hebrews. God bestows Moses's shepherding staff with his power and promises that he will tell Moses what to say. When Moses tells Tzipporah of his task, she decides to join him.
Arriving in Egypt, Moses is happily greeted by Rameses, who is now Pharaoh with a wife and son. Moses demands the Hebrews' release and transforms his staff into a snake to demonstrate God's power. Hotep and Huy deceptively recreate this transformation, only to have their snakes eaten by Moses's. Not wanting to have his actions cause the empire's collapse and feeling betrayed by Moses, Rameses denies Moses's demand and doubles the Hebrews' workload.
The Hebrews, including Aaron, blame Moses for their increased workload, discouraging Moses, but Miriam inspires Moses to persevere. Moses casts the first of the Ten Plagues of Egypt by changing the waters of the Nile into blood, but Rameses remains unmoved. God inflicts eight more plagues onto Egypt: frogs, lice, flies, livestock pestilence, boils, hailfire, locusts, and prolonged darkness, but still Rameses refuses to relent, vowing never to release the Hebrews. Disheartened, Moses prepares the Hebrews for the tenth plague, instructing them to sacrifice a lamb and mark their doorposts with its blood. That night, the final plague kills all the firstborn sons of Egypt, including Rameses's young son, while passing over the Hebrews' marked homes. Grief-stricken, Rameses permits the Hebrews to leave. After leaving the palace, Moses collapses in anguish and remorse.
The following morning, Moses, Miriam, Aaron and Tzipporah lead the Hebrews out of Egypt. Once at the Red Sea, a vengeful Rameses pursues them with his army, intent on killing them. However, a pillar of fire blocks the army's way, while Moses uses his staff to part the sea. The Hebrews cross the open sea bottom; the fire vanishes and the army gives chase, but the sea closes over and drowns the Egyptian soldiers, sparing Rameses alone. Moses mournfully bids Rameses farewell and leads the Hebrews to Mount Sinai, where he receives the Ten Commandments.

Voice cast

  • Val Kilmer as Moses, a Hebrew who was adopted and raised as a prince by the Egyptian royal family
  • * Kilmer also provides the uncredited voice of God
  • * Amick Byram provides Moses's singing voice
  • Ralph Fiennes as Rameses, Moses's adoptive brother and eventual successor to Seti
  • Michelle Pfeiffer as Tzipporah, Jethro's oldest daughter and Moses's wife
  • Sandra Bullock as Miriam, Aaron's sister and Moses's biological sister
  • * Sally Dworsky provides Miriam's singing voice
  • * Eden Riegel provides the voice of a younger Miriam
  • Jeff Goldblum as Aaron, Miriam's brother and Moses's biological brother
  • Danny Glover as Jethro, Tzipporah's father and Midian's high priest
  • * Brian Stokes Mitchell provides Jethro's singing voice
  • Patrick Stewart as Pharaoh Seti, Rameses's father and Moses's adoptive father, the Pharaoh at the beginning of the film
  • Helen Mirren as Queen Tuya, Seti's wife, Rameses's mother, and Moses's adoptive mother
  • * Linda Dee Shayne provides Tuya's singing voice
  • Steve Martin as Hotep, one of the high priests who serves as an advisor to Seti, and later Rameses. He is short and fat
  • Martin Short as Huy, Hotep's fellow high priest. He is tall and thin.
  • Ofra Haza as Yocheved, Miriam and Aaron's mother and Moses's biological mother. She sang her character's number, "Deliver Us", in English and 17 other languages for the film's dubbing.
  • Bobby Motown as Amun, Rameses's son
  • Francesca Marie Smith as Ephorah, Jethro's second daughter
  • Stephanie Sawyer as Ajolidoforah, Jethro's third daughter
  • Aria Curzon as Jethrodiadah, Jethro's youngest daughter
  • James Avery as Overseer
Director Brenda Chapman briefly voices Miriam when she sings the lullaby to Moses. The vocals had been recorded for a scratch audio track, which was intended to be replaced later by Dworsky. The track turned out so well that it remained in the film.

Production

Development

Former Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg had always wanted to produce a film adaptation of the life of Moses. Katzenberg once stated, "It was the project I was pushing for us to make, because it's so different for an animated feature. This is an idea I had to do while I was still working for Disney." In April 1994, Disney Studios president Frank Wells was killed in a helicopter crash. Katzenberg had assumed that Michael Eisner would appoint him as Wells's successor, but he refused.. In August 1994, Eisner called Katzenberg into his office and handed him a four-page memorandum about impending staffing changes, which included Katzenberg's immediate resignation. Katzenberg resigned on August 23, though he remained at Disney until September 1994.
The idea for The Prince of Egypt was discussed at the formation of DreamWorks Pictures on October 12, 1994, when Katzenberg's partners, Amblin Entertainment founder Steven Spielberg, and music producer David Geffen, were meeting in Spielberg's living room. Katzenberg had wanted to tackle "bigger-than-life stories", like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Terminator and Lawrence of Arabia. Katzenberg recalls that Spielberg looked at him during the meeting and said, "You ought to do The Ten Commandments".
The Prince of Egypt was "written" throughout the story process. Beginning with a starting outline, story supervisors Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook led a team of fourteen storyboard artists and writers as they sketched out the entire film—sequence by sequence. Once the storyboards were approved, they were put into the Avid Media Composer digital editing system by editor Nick Fletcher to create a "story reel" or animatic. The story reel allowed the filmmakers to view and edit the entire film in continuity before production began, and also helped the layout and animation departments understand what is happening in each sequence of the film.
After casting of the voice talent concluded, dialogue recording sessions began. For the film, the actors recorded individually in a studio under guidance by one of the three directors. The voice tracks were to become the primary aspect as to which the animators built their performances. Because DreamWorks was concerned about theological accuracy, Katzenberg decided to call in Biblical scholars, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim theologians, and Arab American leaders to help his film be more accurate and faithful to the original story. After previewing the developing film, all these leaders noted that the studio executives listened and responded to their ideas, and praised the studio for reaching out for comment from outside sources.