The Prince of Egypt stands as a unique achievement in animated cinema. It is a film that combines artistic vision with a compelling narrative rooted in the Book of Exodus.
The Genesis of a DreamWorks Classic
The story begins with Jeffrey Katzenberg, who, after leaving Disney in 1994, founded DreamWorks with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen. Spielberg suggested that Katzenberg pursue his long-held ambition of creating an animated version of The Ten Commandments as DreamWorks' debut feature.
From the beginning, Katzenberg emphasized the importance of research, arranging for the DreamWorks team to embark on a two-week trip across Egypt and the Sinai. This experience infused the production with authenticity and inspired the artists through direct engagement with the story's setting.
Brenda Chapman's appointment as one of the film's three co-directors marked a significant milestone. Chapman became the first woman to co-direct an animated film from a major studio. The newly-assembled DreamWorks team started production in February 1995. By the end of summer in 1998, they had moved into a new studio complex in Glendale.
Katzenberg also consulted Biblical scholars, theologians, and Arab American leaders to ensure the film remained faithful to its source material. These experts included Dr. David Polz, Everett Fox, Dr. Burton Visotsky, Rabbi Stephen Robbins, and Shoshana Gershenson. Their insights ensured that the film resonated with audiences of various faiths.
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Crafting Believable Characters
The character designers, Carter Goodrich, Carlos Grangel, and Nicolas Marlet, faced the daunting task of reimagining iconic figures. They aimed for realism, deviating from the usual "golden ratio" in character faces to give them a distinct look. They also distinguished the angular faces of the Egyptians from the rounder faces of the Hebrews and Nubians, a theme mirrored in the architecture and environments.
The Voice of God
Creating the voice of God was one of the biggest challenges of the film. Lon Bender collaborated with Hans Zimmer to craft a unique and awe-inspiring voice. The team researched previous depictions of God in Hollywood and radio to create something entirely new. The filmmakers are also careful never to let us forget that Moses is human, “just one man” as Tzipporah says; he expresses a lot of doubts about his ability to free the Hebrews from pharaoh’s tyranny and has to be half-bullied into it by God, but he finds emotional support in Tzipporah, who by this time is his wife.
Val Kilmer voiced God, with the rest of the cast whispering the lines beneath his, adding depth and resonance to the divine presence.
A Star-Studded Cast
The film boasts an impressive cast, including Helen Mirren, Sandra Bullock, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Jeff Goldblum. In the central role, Leonardo DiCaprio was apparently considered, but Katzenberg chose Val Kilmer early on.
The actors themselves found voice-acting both freeing and constraining. Kilmer and Fiennes expressed regret that they could not record together, as they believed it would have strengthened their portrayals of the complex relationship between Moses and Rameses.
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Notably, the cast was predominantly white, a criticism similar to that leveled against The Lion King. With the exception of Danny Glover, there were no black, Arab, or Egyptian actors in the core cast.
Moses: From Prince to Prophet
Moses undergoes a profound transformation throughout the film. Born a Hebrew slave, he is raised as an Egyptian prince. His journey begins with a pivotal moment when he discovers his true heritage. After discovering a mural confirming the horrible reality of the Hebrew slaughter, Seti’s total disregard for their lives is the final straw - suddenly, Moses doesn’t recognise this man he’s called “father” and backs away in horror.
One of the most compelling elements of Moses’s portrayal here is his dynamic, complicated relationship with his brother, something which previous adaptations of the Exodus story had never really explored. The pain and internal conflict he goes through in deciding what to do is evident, especially in his last scene with Queen Tuya, who has been a mother to him for so many years.
After Moses returns to Egypt after so many years, he finds not Seti on the throne, but his own brother Rameses! The two of them are amazed to see each other again and it’s yet another of the film’s high points, as the animators expertly cycle through the many complex emotions they’re both feeling.
James Earl Jones: A Pioneer in Acting
James Earl Jones (January 17, 1931 - September 9, 2024) was an American actor. A pioneer for black actors in the entertainment industry, Jones is known for his extensive and acclaimed roles on stage and screen. Born in Arkabutla, Mississippi during the Jim Crow era (the period of racial segregation in the Southern United States), Jones overcame a childhood stutter.
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For his roles on Broadway, Jones won two Tony Awards for Best Actor in a Play for playing a boxer in the Howard Sackler play The Great White Hope (1968) and a working class father in August Wilson's Fences (1987). He was also nominated for other Tonys for his roles as part of an elderly couple in On Golden Pond (2005) and as a former president in The Best Man (2012).
Jones's father, Robert Earl Jones, was also a stage and screen actor. Jones attended the University of Michigan, joined the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, and served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War before pursuing a career in acting.
Voice Acting Career
Jones began his acting career at the Ramsdell Theatre in Manistee, Michigan. During the early to mid 1960s, Jones acted in various works of William Shakespeare. In 1977, Jones made his debut in his iconic voiceover role as Darth Vader in George Lucas's space opera blockbuster film Star Wars: A New Hope, which he would reprise for the sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). In 1985, Jones lent his bass voice as Pharaoh in the first episode of Hanna-Barbera's The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible. He also lent his distinctive bass voice to the role of Mufasa in the 1994 Disney animated film The Lion King.
In 1998, Jones starred in the widely acclaimed syndicated program An American Moment. He also voiced the CNN tagline, "This is CNN", as a part of the network's tenth anniversary in 1990. He lent his voice to the opening for NBC's coverage of the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics. Jones narrated all 27 books of the New Testament in the audiobook James Earl Jones Reads the New Testament.
Alternate Character Designs
There were elements of this in the film itself, as the backing chorus of "The Plagues" are from His perspective. Originally, there was a servant who would serve as a major character where Moses and Rameses would talk to their staff in the same way the characters in Downton Abbey would. The character was scrapped to focus more on the relationship between Moses and Rameses, though does appear in a few brief scenes and is humorously referred to by the film's staff as “You There”. A scene with a talking camel was scrapped and Rameses was originally supposed to have two evil cats. Granted, these and the camel would have run counter-current to the mood of the film as a whole. Curiously, the camel did eventually show up in the form of a piece of merchandise for the film, as a little beanbag doll. Bizarrely, there is some historical evidence since Ramses II was an avid cat person - he had hundreds imported from other countries to Egypt and had a lion as a personal pet who fought alongside him at Kadesh. Moses also originally had two dogs as his side-kicks. Though they were later scrapped from the film as a whole, you still see them two times, first when Moses finds them and one of the servants tied up in his room, and again during "All I Ever Wanted." Ironically, the dog and cat ideas would be used in the Mock Buster "Moses: Egypt's Great Prince".
At one point, Miriam was going to be the Hebrew slave beaten by the taskmaster whom Moses accidentally kills, to give Moses a more personal reason for defending her. But the filmmakers realised that it detracted from the significance of Moses's action if he were only motivated by family ties instead of feeling a connection to his whole people, so an anonymous Hebrew took Miriam’s place. (According to the director's commentary, this was the only proposed change to the source that the film's religious advisors were unanimous in denouncing.)
Originally, the "Playing With The Big Boys" segment was going to be like a Las Vegas magic show, complete with showgirls and animals. When it was decided to make it darker, though, they changed the orchestrations but kept the lyrics the same.
Many other actors were considered for roles in the film: Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Dennis Quaid and Mark Wahlberg for Moses. James Earl Jones, Keith David, Vernon Wells and Mel Brooks for Jethro. Jeremy Irons and Ian McKellen for Seti. Michael J. Fox, Dave Foley and Scott Bakula for Aaron. Ellen DeGeneres, Juliette Binoche and Mary McDonnell for Miriam. Jennifer Aniston for Tzipporah. Richard Schliff and Cheech Marin for Hotep. Tom Waits and Tommy Chong for Huy. Robert De Niro and Gary Oldman for Rameses. Carol Burnett for Tuya.
Films based on other Bible stories were considered, including David and Goliath, but ended up being scrapped, possibly due to them requiring a lot of expensive and detailed research to adapt, as well as them not lending themselves to proper or even ethical merchandising opportunities like other Dreamworks franchises due to the religious sensibilities involved.
The Prince of Egypt remains a testament to the power of animation, voice acting, and character design in bringing timeless stories to life.
The Making of The Prince Of Egypt
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