The Prince of EgyptFrom Wikipedia,

The Prince of Egypt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the film. For the soundtrack, see The Prince of Egypt (soundtrack).
The Prince of Egypt
Prince of egypt ver2.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Simon Wells
Brenda Chapman
Steve Hickner
Produced by
Penney Finkelman Cox
Sandra Rabins
Jeffrey Katzenberg (executive producer)
Screenplay by
Philip LaZebnik
Nicholas Meyer
Based on The Book of Exodus
Starring
Val Kilmer
Ralph Fiennes
Michelle Pfeiffer
Sandra Bullock
Jeff Goldblum
Patrick Stewart
Helen Mirren
Danny Glover
Steve Martin
Martin Short
Music by Hans Zimmer (Score)
Stephen Schwartz (Songs)
Edited by Nick Fletcher
Production
company
DreamWorks Animation
Distributed by DreamWorks Pictures1
(Amblin Partners)
Release dates
December 16, 1998 (premiere)[1]
December 18, 1998 (United States)[2]
Running time
98 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Hebrew
Budget $70 million[3]
Box office $218.6 million[3]
The Prince of Egypt is a 1998 American animated epic musical biblical film and the first traditionally animated film produced and released by DreamWorks Pictures. The film is an adaptation of the Book of Exodus and follows the life of Moses from being a prince of Egypt to his ultimate destiny to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. The film was directed by Brenda Chapman, Simon Wells and Steve Hickner. The film featured songs written by Stephen Schwartz and a score composed by Hans Zimmer. The voice cast featured a number of major Hollywood actors in the speaking roles, while professional singers replaced them for the songs, except for Michelle Pfeiffer, Ralph Fiennes, Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Ofra Haza (who also sang her character's number, "Deliver Us", in seventeen other languages for the film's dubbing[4]), who sang their own parts.

Jeffrey Katzenberg had frequently suggested an animated adaption of the 1956 film The Ten Commandments while working for The Walt Disney Company, and he decided to put the idea into production after founding DreamWorks in 1995. To make this inaugural project, DreamWorks Animation employed artists who had worked for Walt Disney Feature Animation and the recently disbanded Amblimation, totalling a crew of 350 people from 34 different nations. The film has a blend of traditional animation and computer-generated imagery, created using software from Toon Boom Animation and Silicon Graphics.

The Prince of Egypt was released in theaters on December 18, 1998, and on home video on September 14, 1999. Reviews were positive, with critics praising the animation, music and voice work. The film went on to gross $218,613,188 worldwide in theaters, which made it the most successful non-Disney animated feature at the time. The film's success led to the direct-to-video prequel Joseph: King of Dreams (2000) and the development of a stage adaptation.[5] The song "When You Believe" became a commercially successful single in a pop version performed by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, and went on to win Best Original Song at the 1999 Academy Awards.

Contents [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
3.1 Development
3.2 Design and animation
3.3 Creating the voice of God
3.4 Music
3.4.1 Musical numbers
4 Release and reception
4.1 Box office performance
4.2 Critical reception
4.3 Banning
4.4 Awards
5 Home media
5.1 Prequel
6 Notes
7 References
8 External links
Plot[edit]
In Ancient Egypt, the descendants of Jacob are being oppressed by the new Pharaoh, Pharaoh Seti I (Patrick Stewart) as they pray for the promised land. Later, Seti notices that the Hebrew population is growing faster than the Egyptians. Fearing that an alarming increase could lead to rebellion, he commands his entire people to kill all of the newborn Hebrew boys, but to spare the girls.

Meanwhile, in the city of Goshen, where the slaves live, one of the women, Yocheved (Ofra Haza), a Hebrew mother, and her two children, Miriam and Aaron, watch in horror as the newborn Hebrew boys are taken and ruthlessly killed as ordered by Seti. She, too, had born a son, who was hidden for three months. Fearing for her own newborn son's safety, Yocheved places him in a basket afloat on the Nile River, not before bidding him farewell with a final but powerful lullaby. Miriam follows the basket to the Pharaoh's palace and witnesses her baby brother safely adopted by Queen Tuya (Helen Mirren), who names him Moses.

Years later, Moses (Val Kilmer) and his brother Rameses II (Ralph Fiennes) are scolded by their father for accidentally destroying a temple during one of their youthful misadventures, though Moses tries to take the blame. That evening at a palace banquet, Seti, who wants to give Rameses the opportunity to prove that he is responsible, names him Prince Regent and gives him authority over Egypt's temples. As a tribute, the high priests Hotep (Steve Martin) and Huy (Martin Short) offer him the captive Tzipporah (Michelle Pfeiffer), and Rameses gives her to Moses. Rameses then appoints him R