What happens when a Hollywood entertainment company decides to do a film with a biblical theme?
The Prince of Egypt - The Making Of (Part 1 of 3)
Many Hollywood directors insist the key to a successful film is a good story.
Biblical Accuracy vs. Hollywood Entertainment
If you’re expecting a scene-by-scene visual rendering of the biblical account of Exodus, remember that the studio is a Hollywood entertainment company, not a religious broadcaster. The film’s introduction states it is “true to the essence, values and integrity” of the story. So although DreamWorks SKG carefully secured the views of many theologians and religious leaders-including those of NRB president Brandt Gustavson and members Ted Baehr, James Dobson, Billy Graham, D.
Before you write a letter of disappointment to the creative people at DreamWorks, consider again the film’s introductory mission statement of keeping intact the essence, values and integrity of the Exodus. It is not intended to be a literal interpretation, but entertainment with a positive message. And despite the many textual inconsistencies, the film’s central theme is clear. In the words of DreamWorks principal Jeffrey Katzenberg.
A partial list of divergences: Moses is not reunited with his mother as an infant, he speaks flawlessly and therefore does not need Aaron’s eloquence, he kills the Egyptian by accident rather than murdering him, Aaron is reluctant to support Moses and discourages him from speaking to Pharaoh, the particular responsibilities of the Hebrews during the Passover are largely… passed over. Other discrepancies exist, enough to possibly spur a broadcast contest of guess the number of fictionalizations. [Read the true story of Moses.
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Key Divergences from the Biblical Account
- Moses is not reunited with his mother as an infant.
- He speaks flawlessly, negating the need for Aaron's eloquence.
- The killing of the Egyptian is accidental, not intentional.
- Aaron is portrayed as reluctant and discouraging.
- Specific Passover responsibilities are largely omitted.
The Burning Bush Scene
This experience for Moses is witnessing God speaking through a burning bush. Director Steve Hickner says, “The proudest moment for me was that we actually got the burning bush scene to work. You have to believe it works in order for the rest of the film to work. Will audiences believe the scene? More importantly, will they realize that they, too, can have a relationship with their Lord? When asked what he wants his children to take away from the film, production designer Darek Gogol responds, “I pray they’re going to get it and find the values in the film. Watch it and then talk about it.
The Prince of Egypt: Live From the West End
One of Universal/DreamWorks’ best and most underrated animated films, The Prince of Egypt, finally got the stage adaptation it always called for opening in London in February of 2020 - and then Covid hit. Closing after a month due to all of the West End shutting down, the show reopened for six months in 2021.
To be fair, I’m a massive fan of the animated film that it’s based on. It’s a beautifully rendered and directed piece of animation, with gorgeous songs and visuals. The adaptation is by Philip LaZebnik, who worked on the original film, so that’s a plus. He wisely omits some of the goofier elements, like the comedic mystical duo of Hotep and Huy. The set design does seem small for the story’s epic scope, but London stages are usually a bit smaller than American stages, so that’s to be expected.
The performers are strong, with Luke Brady as Moses and Liam Tamne as Rameses. The choreography is a mixed bag, so I’ll start with the good. Often, the ensemble is used to recreate blowing sand, a river of water, the burning bush, or a sea of blood. This is all incredibly inventive and must have looked stunning in person.
Again with the choreography, however, aside from the times that the dancers are used to recreate natural surroundings, the standard ensemble dancing is just that… standard. Similarly, some of the costumes felt anachronistic and not of the period. While the adaptation is pretty close to the original film, there’s something missing in the characters’ connection to each other and the audience.
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I never felt the bond between the brothers, so their eventual estrangement doesn’t have much impact. The songs from the original film are still memorable, but a few of the newly added songs by Stephen Schwartz don’t resonate as much. For fans of live theater and the original film, The Prince of Egypt: Live From the West End is still a treat. Seeing productions that have long since closed is a fantastic way to watch and appreciate a piece of theatrical history.
Critical Acclaim and Viewer Reactions
The Prince Of Egypt is an extremely powerful movie. Amazing visual, score, story, music, characters, and everything else. You need to watch this movie. You will not regret it.
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.
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. You will love this one.
Read also: "The Prince of Egypt" Streaming Guide
Artistic and Technical Achievements
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.
One of the reasons I was so enthusiastic, earlier in 1998, about “Dark City,” “What Dreams May Come” and “Babe: Pig In The City” is that they showed me sights I had never imagined before, while most movies were showing me actors talking to one another. (Those who found “Dreams” cornball were correct, but they missed the point.) “The Prince of Egypt” is the same kind of film (as were, on quite a different scale, “A Bug's Life” and “Antz“). It addresses a different place in the moviegoer’s mind, one where vision, imagination and dream are just barely held in rein by the story.
Music and Storytelling
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.
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.
Final Thoughts
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.
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