The Prince of Egypt (1998)

Directors:

Brenda Chapman
Steve Hickner

Writers:

Philip LaZebnik (screenplay)
Nicholas Meyer (additional screenplay material)

Release Date:

18 December 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Drama | Family | Musical

Tagline:

Two brothers united by friendship divided by destiny

Plot:

An Egyptian prince learns of his identity as a Hebrew and, later his destiny to become the chosen deliverer of his people.

Plot Keywords:

Moses | Hebrew | Ancient Egypt | Pharaoh | Religion

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 5 wins & 19 nominations

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Val Kilmer	...	Moses (voice)
Ralph Fiennes	...	Rameses (voice)
Michelle Pfeiffer	...	Tzipporah (voice)
Sandra Bullock	...	Miriam (voice)
Jeff Goldblum	...	Aaron (voice)
Danny Glover	...	Jethro (voice)
Patrick Stewart	...	Seti (voice)
Helen Mirren	...	The Queen (voice)
Steve Martin	...	Hotep (voice)
Martin Short	...	Huy (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
James Avery	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Aria Noelle Curzon	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Ofra Haza	...	Yocheved (voice)
Bobby Motown	...	Rameses Son (voice)
Eden Riegel	...	Young Miriam (voice)
Shira Roth	...	Hebrew Child (singing voice)
Stephanie Sawyer	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Francesca Smith	...	Additional Voices (voice)

Also Known As:

El príncipe de Egipto (Argentina) (Peru) (Spain) [es]
Le prince d'Égypte (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Prinsen av Egypten (Finland: Swedish title) (Sweden) [sv]
Принц Египта (Russia) [ru]
Der Prinz von Ägypten (Germany) [de]
Egyiptom hercege (Hungary) [hu]
Egyptin prinssi (Finland) [fi]
Il principe d'Egitto (Italy) [it]
Misir prensi (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
O Príncipe do Egipto (Portugal) [pt]
O Príncipe do Egito (Brazil) [pt]
O prigipas tis Aigyptou (Greece) [el]
Prinsen av Egypt (Norway) [no]
Printul Egiptului (Romania) [ro]

MPAA:

Rated PG for intense depiction of thematic elements.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Hebrew

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS

Certification:

Iceland:L | Philippines:G | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Brazil:Livre | Chile:TE | Finland:K-8/5 | France:U | Germany:6 | Italy:T | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:G | Norway:7 | Peru:PT | Portugal:M/6 | Singapore:G | South Korea:All | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:PG | USA:PG | Egypt:(Banned) | Malaysia:(Banned)

Company:

DreamWorks SKG

Trivia:

Ralph Fiennes (the voice of Rameses) was considered for the title role of The Saint, which went to Val Kilmer (the voice of Moses/God).

Goofs:

Continuity: When the plagues destroy Egypt, not a lot of monuments are shown being toppled. However, in the song When You Believe, when the Hebrews are walking through the ruins of Egypt, there is far more damage and destruction of Egypt that what was seen in the Plagues.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Overseers: [chanting] Mud... Sand... Water... Straw. Faster! Mud... and lift... sand... and pull... water... and raise up! Straw... Faster!
Hebrews: [singing] With the sting of the whip on my shoulder, with the salt of my sweat on my brow... Elohim, God on high, can you hear your people cry? Help us now, this dark hour... Deliver us, hear our call, deliver us, Lord of all! Remember us, here in this burning sand! Deliver us, there's a land you promised us! Deliver us to the promised land!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "It Takes Two: (#3.4)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Through Heaven's Eyes

Good Artwork, Good Story

The 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.