Hasitha Fernando on the story behind DreamWorks Animation’s crowning glory The Prince of Egypt as it turns 25…
The Prince of Egypt was DreamWorks Animation’s second animated feature film, which saw the adaptation of the first fourteen chapters of the Book of Exodus, which detail Moses’ journey from a mere Egyptian prince to his rise as the chosen Prophet of the Lord. It is an epic tale of devotion, love, belief and family that have been retold over the years, on multiple media platforms – print, radio, television and film – and now on its 25th anniversary we look back at the genre defining animated adaptation of the Biblical tale and take a peek at what went on behind-the-scenes…
The foundations were laid many years prior
The beginnings of The Prince of Egypt can be chartered back to the days when DreamWorks SKG’s Jeffrey Katzenberg was still working in the capacity of Walt Disney Studios’ chairman. Katzenberg was keenly interested in producing an animated feature adaptation of Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments during this time period. However, his notions and hopes were scuttled unceremoniously by then Disney CEO Michael Eisner, who didn’t want the Disney brand to be associated with any project with overtly religious overtones.
Katzenberg wasn’t too happy with this decision, and this was one of many reasons that prompted the creative to part ways with Disney to form his own thing. The idea for the movie was brought back into the fore during the formation of DreamWorks in 1994, when one of Katzenberg’s partners, Amblin Entertainment founder Steven Spielberg turned to him and said, “You ought to do The Ten Commandments.”
A dream come true for an aspiring animation filmmaker
Animation director Brenda Chapman had been working on Disney projects, in various capacities, since 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit. And in many instances, it was Katzenberg himself that oversaw her contributions to these projects which included such hit films as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King.
Suffice to say, Katzenberg recognized Chapman’s potential and wanted her to take the lead in the very first animated feature film that DreamWorks was producing. And thus, Chapman took on the challenge, eventually becoming the first woman to direct an animated feature for a major studio – DreamWorks Animation. A few years down the line, the filmmaker would go on to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2012 for co-directing Disney and Pixar’s Brave.
The narrative was heavily storyboarded beforehand
The creative process of writing The Prince of Egypt was a perpetually evolving one, despite the availability of the source material i.e. the Holy Bible. Story supervisors Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook led a team of fourteen writers and storyboard artists to sketch out the entire film – sequence by sequence. Once these storyboards received approval they were edited into a “story reel” or animatic to give Chapman and her co-directors Steve Hickner and Simon Wells a feel of the scope of their project and assist the various animation departments on what needed to be done.
Because DreamWorks was concerned about theological accuracy, Katzenberg decided to reel in Biblical scholars, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim theologians, and Arab American leaders to help the effort be more accurate and faithful to the original story. After previewing the developing film, all who participated agreed that the studio listened and responded to their contributions, appreciating DreamWorks for reaching out to them.
Animation & design was a painstaking process
It was truly the end of a proverbial era, as traditional hand drawn animation gave way to a more CGI driven landscape. And it was in this particularly tumultuous backdrop that The Prince of Egypt commenced production under Chapman, Hickner and Wells’ watchful eyes. Whilst some digital technology was utilized during the making of the feature – as with the awe-inspiring parting of the Red Sea – most of the film, including the stunning backgrounds were painstakingly hand painted and rendered.
To achieve a sense of authenticity multiple research trips were made to Egypt by the filmmakers and artists before work began. While art directors Kathy Altieri, Richard Chavez and production designer Darek Gogol focused on capturing the scale and architectural style of Ancient Egypt that was representative of its time, character designers Carter Goodrich, Carlos Grangel and Nico Marlet worked on the overall look of the characters. For example, the Hebrews and their environs had a more organic look while the Egyptians had more angular, sharp features.
The Prince of Egypt was going to be something totally different
Although Antz was technically DreamWorks Animation’s first effort it was clear that The Prince of Egypt was the real game changer. Wrangling with darker themes and more mature subject matter, the movie was a far cry from Disney’s family friendly pastiche. But from the get-go Katzenberg & co. were striving for something different and edgy to put their own stamp on.
In an interview with A. frame Simon Wells recalled the intimidating directive issued by Katzenberg for The Prince of Egypt, “The film should look as if it were drawn by French illustrator Gustave Doré, painted by famed impressionist Claude Monet, and directed by David Lean,” that’s what he told us. “The directive from Jeffrey was that he didn’t want to do Disney,” co-director Steve Hickner added. “So, the idea was to carve our own edge.” And the team went out and achieved just that.
The voice cast talent was out of this world
An oft talked about aspect that catapulted The Prince of Egypt to the realm of animation greatness, was its insanely talented voice cast. To pull off putting together a dazzlingly gifted ensemble cast for a live-action feature is hard enough, but to achieve the same for an animated movie at that point in time, was unheard of. But that’s exactly what DreamWorks Animation went out and achieved.
The motley crew consisted of Sandra Bullock, Michelle Pfeiffer, Patrick Stewart, Jeff Goldblum, Danny Glover, Martin Short, Steve Martin and Helen Mirren. But the two voice acting performances that stole the show undoubtedly belonged to Val Kilmer and Ralph Fiennes, who played Moses and Ramses respectively. “Val blew us away,” Chapman said during a behind-the-scenes tête-à-tête. “His voice quality was so beautiful, and he just really connected. It was incredible what they all brought to it.”
When it came to finding the voice of God, Academy award winning sound editor Lon Bender worked closely with music composer Hans Zimmer to get an idea as to what they were looking for. “We did a lot of research into the voices that had been used for past Hollywood movies as well as for radio shows, and we were trying to create something that had never been previously heard not only from a casting standpoint but from a voice manipulation standpoint as well,” said Bender. In the end, the duo decided that Val should provide the voice of God, in order to indicate the Almighty was communicating with Moses through the voice he’d otherwise perceive in his mind.
Hans Zimmer’s musical score was one for the ages
Throughout the past few decades, maestro Hans Zimmer has conjured some of the most memorable musical scores of all time by collaborating with the greatest contemporary filmmakers in modern cinema. Capturing public attention with 1988’s Rain Man he made next made waves with Tony Scott’s 1993 cult-classic True Romance, but it was with 1994’s Disney animated masterpiece The Lion King he truly made his mark, winning every mainstream award for his unforgettable music that year.
For The Prince of Egypt Zimmer wanted to achieve a sound that was distinct and evocative of the cultures featured in the movie. And for that he hired Israeli singer Ofra Haza to lend her vocal talents to pivotal songs like “Deliver Us” and “Goodbye Brother”. Musical theatre lyricist Stephen Schwartz wrote all the tracks with Zimmer assisting with the score. Three separate soundtrack albums were released in tandem for The Prince of Egypt, with each geared towards a different target audience. While two accompanying records, functioned as film tributes, the official The Prince of Egypt soundtrack contained the actual songs from the movie.
A box-office smash, a critically acclaimed hit & a legacy to be proud of
A lot was on the line for the fledgling animated studio DreamWorks Animation when The Prince of Egypt debuted. With a $60 million price tag and heavy talent involved, critics and audiences were both curious as to what Katzenberg & co. have cooked up with their second feature. Fortunately for all involved the movie turned out to be a massive hit, raking in $218.6 million at the worldwide box office.
That’s not all however, as the animated feature became a major hit with film critics as well. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praised the film in his review saying that “The Prince of Egypt is one of the best-looking animated films ever made. It employs computer-generated animation as an aid to traditional techniques, rather than as a substitute for them, and we sense the touch of human artists in the vision behind the Egyptian monuments, the lonely desert vistas, the thrill of the chariot race, the personalities of the characters. This is a film that shows animation growing up and embracing more complex themes, instead of chaining itself in the category of children’s entertainment”.
The Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston duet “When You Believe” got lucky during awards season the following year too, nabbing the Academy Award for Best Original Song, whilst earning the Best Original Score nomination for Zimmer and Schwartz’s fantastic soundtrack. The Prince of Egypt also experienced a surge in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when Cynthia Erivo and Shoshana Bean, accompanied on piano by Schwartz performed a stunning rendition of “When You Believe” during the virtual Saturday Night Seder in response to the shutdown of Broadway and the suspension of the musical adaptation’s performances on West End.
Retrospectively, the movie has been embraced by many media outlets and film critics as a modern-day animated classic that stands on its own and showcased the insane talent behind DreamWorks Animation. To this day The Prince of Egypt stands as a testament to that rare achievement in animation where story, voice cast, characters, cinematography and musical score come together in seamless fashion to breathe life to a tale that transcends life and time.
What are your thoughts and recollections of The Prince of Egypt? Let us know on our socials @FlickeringMyth…
Hasitha Fernando is a part-time medical practitioner and full-time cinephile. Follow him on Twitter via @DoctorCinephile for regular updates on the world of entertainment.
