Egypt, with its rich history, iconic monuments, and vibrant culture, has long been a source of inspiration for filmmakers. Animated movies, in particular, have found a fertile ground in ancient Egyptian tales, bringing these stories to life with stunning visuals and imaginative storytelling. This article delves into some of the most notable animated movies set in Egypt, exploring their themes, artistic styles, and cultural impact.
The Prince of Egypt: A Masterpiece of Animation
One of the most celebrated animated films set in Egypt is DreamWorks' The Prince of Egypt (1998). This movie is a lovingly crafted, engaging piece of cinema.
Applause to Dreamworks for this beautiful tribute to Exodus. There is probably no greater literary classic than the Bible, and as such it is an obvious choice for Hollywood. But why then are there so few attempts to bring the stories we grew up on to the Big Screen? A very simple reason: In filming a Bible story, producers tread a very thin line.
They know they have to make the story interesting, the graphics new and innovative or the movie will flop. But they cannot tamper too much with the original for fear of upsetting those who hold the story dear to their hearts. Unbelievably, Hollywood has finally managed to tread that thin line in The Prince of Egypt.
At the very beginning of the movie, a beautiful worded statement appears on the screen, and as I cannot possibly say it better, I will reproduce it here: "The motion picture you are about to see is an adaptation of the Exodus story. While artistic and historical license has been taken, we believe that this film is true to the essence, values and integrity of a story that is a cornerstone of faith for millions of people worldwide. The biblical story of Moses can be found in the book of Exodus."
Read also: Representation in Santa Claus
Now that was just a classy thing to do. Yes, they did tamper with the story ever so slightly, but they never did anything to mess up the main storyline. They took some liberties with the character of Zipporah, Miriam, etc., but they never messed with the core elements of the story. Some of their changes are debatable, but not to the point of destroying the main point of the story. As a strong Christian, even I found nothing whatsoever to complain about in their telling of it.
Technical and Artistic Triumphs
Technically, the film is a triumph of computerized animation. The chariot race scene is revolutionary in that the "camera" is able to move around within a moving frame. It is one of the many subtle ways that this animated movie hardly seems animated at all. The parting of the Red Sea was enough to take my breath away, and the Plagues of Egypt sequence was also very, very good.
There was obviously a lot of research that went into the making of The Prince of Egypt. Many of the monuments, frescoes, pieces of furniture, statues, etc. are genuine and can be found in the real life Egypt. Somebody did a lot of studying on Hieroglyphics and Egyptian paintings, as several specific scenes in the movie can attest.
I'd also like to say a few things about the meshing of music with the story. In general, when somebody starts to sing a song, the action stops. Not so in The Prince of Egypt. Indeed, almost the opposite usually occurs. Time compresses within the song, with the action happening at almost double the speed of non-song time. For example, one song covers a span of approximately 40 years, from the time Moses first arrives in Midian to his burning bush experience. In this way, the guys at Dreamworks got the nuts and bolts of the story compressed down in order to give themselves more time to develop characters and other things necessary to make a good movie. I was very impressed at the subtlety of this approach. And the songs themselves are very well done. The soundtrack is a great mix of reverence, ethnic flavor and adventure. Various themes associated with certain events and people wind their way through the music in a better-than-Wagnerian fashion. Moses' mother's lullaby is especially poignant - bravo to the composer. It actually made me cry.
The entire movie is a masterpiece. I'm so glad it made money and did so well. I hope that its great success will allow the people at Dreamworks to make another Biblically based movie, hopefully as good as its predecessor. The Prince of Egypt is not only a great story, it has the advantage of being "true". The tone is very religious, while not being preachy. The burning bush scene is absolutely beautiful. Watch the movie just for that, and enjoy the rest of it as well. The Death of the Firstborn is very dramatic, but not creepy like in The Ten Commandments. I was thoroughly impressed. But above all, the story is interesting, fast-paced and engrossing. The characters are real and their problems are very relatable. There are marvelous moments of comedic relief and moments of terrible mental anguish. This is no dry story from some dusty old book. This is a living, breathing, story. The Prince of Egypt has become one of my very favorite movies and one of the few "cartoons" that continues to be frequently reached for.
Read also: Faith-Based Movies
The focus of the film is the conflict between Ramses and his adopted brother, Moses, set against the backdrop of the epic events in the book of Exodus. The result is a religious tale that treats the oft-ignored human element. Instead of merely relating the tale as it is, the story asks "how would a person *feel* if God appeared to them and told them to do this? How would others react?" The script is light-years beyond any past biblical epic. The animation style owes a small debt to Disney's house style, but goes above and beyond in the details in character design (the Hebrews and Egyptians and Midians are clearly of different ethnic backgrounds, and no character suffers from the doe-eyed Disney Belle syndrome). Computer Generated Imagery blends -- for the first time in an animated film -- seamlessly with traditional cel animation. The film also takes some fairly audacious risks; Moses has a dream sequence in stiffly animated hieroglyphics, completely switching animation styles for about five minutes, which I believe is completely unprecedented in animation.
There are moments when the visual effects made me forget to breathe. If you blink during the parting of the red sea, you'll regret it. There is, I believe I can safely say, not a second of the film that does not offer some sort of visual delight -- from the deep symbolism of the hieroglyphics to the dizzying chariot race in the opening sequence.
The music has been touted by some critics as the film's weak link; such is definitely not the case. Stephen Schwartz' songs combine elements of Broadway-esque show tunes with native Hebrew and Egyptian music. The songs are powerful and moving, sometimes no more than one verse in length, sometimes full-blown seven-minute extravaganzas like "Let My People Go." The one weaker song, surprisingly, is the theme "When You Believe." Even freed from Mariah Carey/Whitney Houston R&B cheese as it is in the movie, it's a watery definition of faith at best. Still, the scene in which it takes place is powerful and the song is beautifully performed. If the film has a weak link, it might be the voice casting, Val Kilmer and Patrick Stewart in particular. The two voices are distinctive of the gentleman who possess them, and thus are distracting in this format. But such is a minor quibble, and should not dissuade anyone from seeing the greatest animated story ever told.
I saw Mulan, Anastasia and Prince of Egypt in a row. I loved Mulan, I loved Anastasia even more, and now... Well, I must say that Prince of Egypt is probably the best of all. I'd even say, the best animation feature ever produced in the USA (aside from Batman : Mask of the Phantasm).
It is a real piece of art, aiming to entertain everybody, not only act as a baby-sitter movie for kids. There aren't even any pets here. Only a great story, moving scenes, credible characters and fantastic music and storyboard.
Read also: Nigerian Film History
This film is heavily focused on the relationship between Moses and his adoptive brother Ramses, which doesnât exist in the original text. Though the film takes liberties with the Biblical story, itâs still a very, very good adaptation of the story. Itâs probably the truest Biblical movie adaptation ever.
This movie had the characters speak in Hebrew. Biblical scholars and theologians from Christianity, Judaism, and Islam were all consulted to help on the film, as were Arab American leaders. In hindsight, I do wish they managed to include matza somewhere in the movie. The whole movie kind of skips over that part, but thatâs more of a pet peeve than a major criticism. Nor does the movie whitewash over some of the gorier parts of the story as many family films tend to do. The film doesnât hide the death or destruction of the original tale.
Thereâs humor, sadness, and bombastic musical numbers, but the latter isnât in there to keep kids entertained. It adds to the story. For me, the musical numbers are probably the best consistently throughout in almost any other (non-musical) film. Part of it has to do with the song being intertwined with verses of âMi Chamocha,â a traditional Hebrew song. The song has the entire crowd, singing, and walking slowly out of the ruins of Egypt and ends with cheering, dancing, and children singing. Itâs absolutely breathtaking. I meanâ¦â The Plaguesâ is justâ¦chilling. Every single time.
It seems that genuinely good musical numbers in childrenâs films are becoming harder and harder to find. So many movies have one song created to be Oscar-bait schlock, while the rest are kind of mediocre or covers of pop hits.
Ofra Haza, who played Yocheved, sang the lullaby in 17 different languages. 17. It is one of the few parts in the film that is not animated traditionally. And the fact that it was used so rarely in the film makes this moment stand out. But what I really appreciate about this movie, is even though its story is at the core of Christianity, the film avoids taking a Christian perspective on it. The film doesnât hold the idea that the story of Exodus belongs to any one group. And the film never mentions Passover by name, but itâs not meant to be a story about how Passover came to be. And though some of my love for the film may come from childhood nostalgia, is that such a terrible thing? Shouldnât a film resonate with you throughout your life? The Prince of Egypt is absolutely timeless. The story has literally been passed down for thousands of years, the music is catchy and complex, there are no pop-culture references or humor that date the film.
The âsetsâ here are inspired by some of the great movie sets of the past, including those in de Milleâs original film and D.W. Griffithâs âIntolerance.â A vast Sphinx gazes out over the desert, and slaves bend to the weight of mighty blocks of stone. The film follows Moses (voice of Val Kilmer) from the day when he is plucked from the Nile by the queen (Helen Mirren) to the day when he returns from the mountain with the Ten Commandments.
What it emphasizes more than earlier versions is how completely the orphan child is taken into the family of the Pharaoh (Patrick Stewart); he is a well-loved adopted son who becomes the playmate and best friend of Rameses (Ralph Fiennes), the Pharaohâs son. As boys, they get in trouble together (one drag race in chariots, which speed excitingly down collapsing scaffolds, results in the destruction of a temple). But something within Moses knows that the Egyptians are not his people. After he happens to meet his real brother and sister, Aaron (Jeff Goldblum) and Miriam (Sandra Bullock), and learns the truth about his heritage, he runs away into the desert.
At an oasis, Moses encounters a former slave girl, whom he had helped to escape from the Pharoahâs empire, and who is the daughter of the Hebrew high priest Jethro (Danny Glover). While staying with them, Moses hears the voice from the Burning Bush: âI am that I am, the God of your fathers.â For Moses, accepting this god means renouncing untold power and riches, and Rameses (now the Pharaoh) is first incredulous, then angered. âI am a Hebrew,â Moses sternly informs him, âand the God of the Hebrews came to me and commands that you let my people go.â When Rameses disagrees (and doubles the slavesâ workload), God unleashes a series of punishments. Fire rains from the sky, locusts descend in clouds, and all the first-born are killed.
The movie is not shy about being entertaining, but it maintains a certain seriousness. In place of the usual twosomes and threesomes of little characters doing comic relief, we get two temple magicians (voices of Steve Martin and Martin Short), and a duet (âPlaying With the Big Boysâ). Moses turns his staff into a snake to impress Rameses, and magicians show how the trick has been done.
One of the reasons I was so enthusiastic, earlier in 1998, about âDark City,â âWhat Dreams May Comeâ and âBabe: Pig In The Cityâ is that they showed me sights I had never imagined before, while most movies were showing me actors talking to one another. âThe Prince of Egyptâ is the same kind of film (as were, on quite a different scale, âA Bug's Lifeâ and âAntzâ). It addresses a different place in the moviegoerâs mind, one where vision, imagination and dream are just barely held in rein by the story.
Animated films, once dismissed as little more than childrenâs entertainment, became increasingly popular among adults and even competed with live-action films for cultural prestige. The medium itself was transformed by the arrival of new technologies that broadened the range of images that animators could create. New companies emerged that challenged Disneyâs decades-long dominance within the field. And one of the key films at the heart of all these changes was a Bible movieâThe Prince of Egypt, a musical adaptation of the story of Mosesâthat was, by far, the most successful movie to be made within the biblical genre since its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s.
At one of the very first meetings between the three co-founders, Katzenberg said he wanted to do things with animation that went beyond the fairy-tale formula perfected at Disney. Live-action films, he said, could be as different as Indiana Jones, Terminator 2 and Lawrence of Arabia, so why couldnât animated films have that kind of diversity too? Spielberg, who had referenced the story of Moses in films like Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), leaned forward and replied, âWell, good, why donât you do The Ten Commandments as our first movie?â Katzenberg immediately agreed, and so did Geffen, who cautioned, âBut if you do it, you canât tell a fairy tale.
Atheist but always astonished by this masterpiece. Let's forget for a while religions and conflicts between humans. Let's focus on the huge amount of creativity and greatness that made this masterpiece. Although DreamWorks have imitated Disney on different levels but the result surprised all those who watched it. In my opinion, the story of this movie is not like what most of people think: conflict between good and bad. It's way beyond that. It's a story of two real brothers who love each other to the core but they were obliged to become enemies due to their differences in beliefs and religion. Don't you think that it's time for people to forget about their differences and become compassionate and empathetic? The music was outstanding, as well as the songs. The soundtracks of this film make the spectator live in old Egypt which is a very genius innovation by the composer. Simply it's one of the best movies in history. It's a combination of greatness and beauty.
Good Artwork, Good StoryThe story of Moses is done here and, although not totally Biblically accurate, this is about as close as it gets in Hollywood. The inaccuracies are minor.The artwork was fabulous when it came out in 1999. It's still very good, but animation has improved so fast in so short a time period that this is nothing special, art-wise, these day. However, it sure was when it was released just seven years ago. It's just beautiful in parts. Some of the prettiest colors I've seen on film have been in animated movies the last decade, and this is a prime example. The parting of the Red Sea in here is awesomely-done by the artists. That scene also sported the best sound in the 99-minute film.The songs in here were nothing special but they didn't detract from the story because they were all short. Regarding the story, I only wish they had gone into detail on the plagues instead of just lumping them all together. They could have had some jaw-dropping scenes with the locusts, etc.All-in-all a fine film and a rarity: a Biblical film that doesn't offend anyone.Why are you sitting there when you could be seeing this film?Quite possibly the most astonishing achievement in animation since Beauty and the Beast (and surpassing same), The Prince of Egypt is a lovingly crafted, engaging piece of cinema. The main characters are well-realized, three-dimensional characters.The Prince of Egypt (1998) | Behind the Scenes
Other Animated Films with Egyptian Themes
While The Prince of Egypt stands out as a monumental achievement, other animated works also explore Egyptian themes, offering diverse perspectives on the land of Pharaohs and gods.
- Bakkar: An Egyptian cartoon series that follows the adventure of the young Nubian, Bakkar, his pet goat Rashida, and Bakkar's friends.
- Sinuhe: A series about a young boy from ancient Egypt with his friends Hapi and Titi Sherri, adventures the rich tapestry of ancient Egyptian life, culture and traditions.
- The Life of the Prophet Moses: The events of series revolves around the life of the Prophet Moses (Peace be upon him).
- Adel and Farag: A Comedy fantasy series set in Ancient Egypt, 4000 years ago! A magical spell coincide with a silly mistake in the Egyptian museum; taking Adel and Farag back in time to start their unique journey in the land of magic.
- Obaid: The story surrounds a young boy called Obaid. He is confronted with a choice to live an easy life in this world or to struggle for reward in the hereafter.
- Laila and the Biocope: The film revolves around a little girl, Laila, and her passion for her grandfather's stories. After being bullied by her schoolmates, Laila escapes to a fictional world through the "Bioscope", where she finds herself surrounded by her favorite characters from "The Grand Night", but she will have to confront a villain "Ommena El Ghoula" to save her story and return home.
- Historical Figures: The series has five parts, each focusing on the life of a historical figure and their achievements, including the leader Salah AL-Din AL-Ayyubi and Queen Nefertiti.
Ancient Egypt: A Timeless Source of Inspiration
Animation frees the imagination from the shackles of gravity and reality, and allows a story to soar as it will. The story of Exodus has its parallels in many religions, always with the same result: God chooses one of his peoples over the others. We like these stories because in the one we subscribe to, we are the chosen people. I have always rather thought God could have spared man a lot of trouble by casting his net more widely, emphasizing universality rather than tribalism, but there you have it.
Egypt is a transcontinental country that spans the northeast corner of Africa and the southwest corner of Asia. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip of Palestine and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. The Gulf of Aqaba in the northeast separates Egypt from Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Cairo is the capital and largest city of Egypt, while Alexandria, the second-largest city, is an important industrial and tourist hub at the Mediterranean coast. The Nile River, the longest river in Africa and a vital source of life for Egypt. The film depicts the river as a glamorous and exotic backdrop for the voyage of the Karnak, the steamer that carries Poirot and the other passengers. The Giza Pyramids, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The film shows the pyramids as a majestic and awe-inspiring sight that impresses Poirot and the other travelers. The Sphinx, an iconic ancient Egyptian monument, is shown in its grandeur against the backdrop of the pyramids. Abu Simbel, a complex of two massive rock-cut temples in southern Egypt, near the border with Sudan. The film portrays Abu Simbel as a stunning and romantic destination, where Linnet and Simon spend their honeymoon night. Philae, an island in Lake Nasser that hosts an ancient temple complex dedicated to the goddess Isis. The film depicts Philae as a serene and beautiful place, where Poirot meets Jacqueline de Bellefort, Linnet's former friend and Simon's ex-fiancée, who has been following them throughout their trip.
| Film Title | Year | Description |
|---|---|---|
| The Prince of Egypt | 1998 | An animated adaptation of the Exodus story, focusing on the relationship between Moses and Ramses. |
| Bakkar | N/A | An Egyptian cartoon series that follows the adventure of the young Nubian, Bakkar, his pet goat Rashida, and Bakkar's friends. |
| Sinuhe | N/A | A series about a young boy from ancient Egypt with his friends Hapi and Titi Sherri, adventures the rich tapestry of ancient Egyptian life, culture and traditions. |
Popular articles:
tags: #Egypt
