Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: The Prince of Egypt (1998) - DreamWorks' fantastic, soaring Biblical animation

8/24/2021

The Prince of Egypt (1998) - DreamWorks' fantastic, soaring Biblical animation

♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best Family Movie of the Year + Best Religious Drama of the Year

Dark and golden sand-colored poster with great depth and detail for Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner and Simon Wells' The Prince of Egypt

Moses' upbringing as the 'false' prince of the slave kingdom of Egypt, his discovery of his actual Hebrew roots, and God's call to emancipation and exodus.

The Prince of Egypt is written by Philip LaZebnik (Asterix and the Vikings (2006, dialog)) and Nicholas Meyer (Time after Time (1979)) and directed by debuting Brenda Chapman (Come Away (2020)), debuting Steve Hickner (Kung Fu Panda: Unstoppable Awesomeness (2016, short)) and Simon Wells (An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991)).

DreamWorks bet big on this their only 2nd feature animation with the unusual, ambitious and risky choice of a religious drama. It is a complex story told in ravaging images, with great songs and seriousness often missing from major American animations. The mix of traditional drawn and colorized animation with CGI is at its early phase here, but The Prince of Egypt is still compelling storytelling and very handsome.

Brenda Chapman: Top 10: Best Disney movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Brave (2012) - Stunningly animated, vivid Scottish family fairytale

1998 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 70 mil. $

Box office: 218.6 mil. $

= Box office success (returned 3.12 times its cost)

[The Prince of Egypt premiered 16 December (USA, France, Belgium, Switzerland) and runs 99 minutes. Former Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg had dreamt of an animated version of The Ten Commandments (1956) and was encouraged by Steven Spielberg to pursue it. Katzenberg brought in Biblical scholars, Christian, Jewish and Muslim theologians and Arab American leaders to help the film in its accuracy as well as sending a production team to Egypt for research. Production took place in California. The film opened #2, behind fellow new release You've Got Mail, to a 14.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 4 weeks in the top 5 (#4-#4-#5-#5) and a #3 week again much later during Easter and grossed 101.4 mil. $ (46.4 % of the total gross). The film was banned in Islamic fundamentalist countries the Maldives, Malaysia, Egypt and Indonesia for depicting an Islamic prophet (Moses). It was nominated for 2 Oscars, winning for Best Song (When You Believe by Stephen Schwartz) and losing Best Score, Musical or Comedy (Stephen Schwartz) to Stephen Warbeck for Shakespeare in Love. It was also nominated for 2 Golden Globes, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Joseph: King of Dreams (2000, video) was a DreamWorks prequel without the original directors or cast. Chapman returned with Brave (2012); Hickner with Father of the Pride (2004, TV-series) and theatrically with Bee Movie (2007) and Wells with The Time Machine (2002). Val Kilmer (Thunderheart (1992)), who voices Moses and God, returned in At First Sight (1998). The Prince of Egypt is certified fresh at 80 % with a 7.10/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

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Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

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Wolfgang Petersen has died

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Philip Baker Hall has died

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Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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8/24/2021

The Prince of Egypt (1998) - DreamWorks' fantastic, soaring Biblical animation

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