Review of The Prince of Egypt (1998) by Gavin C — 15 Jan 2012

After the Amblimation got shut down in 1997 due to the lukewarm reception of Balto, a new animation company was made and was joined by the great Steven Spielberg along with Jeffrey Katzenberg (who quited his job for the Disney company after the release of The Lion King) known as Dreamworks Animation. After making their very first CGI animated film, "Antz", they released their very first traditional animated feature, "The Prince of Egypt" before making recent franchises such as Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, and How To Train Your Dragon.

Almost based on the Ten Commandments, it takes place in Egypt, eons of years ago where Pharao Seti commands all male Hebrew babies to be drowned. A desperate mother places her son in a basket and lets the Hebrew god guide it along its way on the river. The basket is found by the Queen, and Moses is brought up as a brother to the heir of the throne, Ramses. Years later, the brothers, who grew up happily and wealthy, are split by Moses' recognition of his true heritage and the suppressing system his brother is about to inherit, willing to carry it on. Fleeing from the city in despair, Moses finds himself being called by God. He is given the task of being the messenger in order to free the Hebrews and to lead them into a country where milk and honey flow.

While Disney films only focused on fairy tales, myths and legends, this is the first non-Disney animated feature to take place in Egypt while telling a religious story about Moses, but not only that. It's Dreamworks Animation's astounding achievement since this is their first debut in the animation genre.

The story is heartwarming that mixes drama, love, and faith so perfectly. It's almost based on the Ten Commandments, but compared to the 1956 epic, it doesn't have to be. While Disney's films have darker tones, this movie has the same along with mature tones as well. The animation, like all of Disney's films, is an example of pure beauty with astounding visuals including the look of Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, the river of blood, a whale in the Red Sea, and the Burning Bush (even the character animation is pretty good).

The voice acting is excellent. It has a killer cast including Val Kilmer, Michelle Pfieffer, Ralph Fiennes, Patrick Stewart, Helen Mirren, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Goldblum, Danny Glover, Steve Martin, and Martin Short. Their performances are great and portrayed the characters beautifully. The music from Hans Zimmer is beautiful and the songs written by Stephen Schwartz are compelling (which means very convincing) in a Disney-esque style. "When You Believe", "Deliver Us", "Look Through Heaven's Eyes", "Playing With The Big Boys Now", and the rest were great. Even the songs in both the ending credits and music videos were pretty damn good.

The Prince of Egypt became the start of Dreamworks Animation's attempt to make three more traditional animated films (1998-2003) before making successful computer animated flicks (1998-present) and will always be recommended to the animation industry as a masterpiece since the landmark of Disney. A perfect thumbs up from me.

10/10.