The Prince of Egypt

For the musical, see The Prince of Egypt (musical). For the soundtrack, see The Prince of Egypt (soundtrack).

The Prince of Egypt
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Written byPhilip LaZebnik[1]
Based onBook of Exodus
Produced by
Starring
Edited byNick Fletcher
Music byHans Zimmer
Production
companies
Distributed byDreamWorks Pictures[2]
Release dates
  • December 16, 1998 (1998-12-16) (Royce Hall)[4]
  • December 18, 1998 (1998-12-18) (United States)[5]
Running time
99 minutes[6]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$60 million[7]
Box office$218.6 million[8]

The Prince of Egypt is a 1998 American animated musical drama film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. The second feature film from DreamWorks and the first to be traditionally animated, it is an adaptation of the Book of Exodus and follows the life of Moses from being a prince of Egypt to a prophet chosen by God to carry out his ultimate destiny of leading the Hebrews out of Egypt. The film was directed by Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, and Simon Wells (in Chapman and Hickner's feature directorial debuts), and produced by Jeffrey Katzenberg, Penney Finkelman Cox, and Sandra Rabins, from a screenplay written by Philip LaZebnik. It features songs written by Stephen Schwartz and a score composed by Hans Zimmer. The film stars the voices of Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Goldblum, Danny Glover, Patrick Stewart, Helen Mirren, Steve Martin, and Martin Short.

Katzenberg had frequently suggested an animated adaptation of the 1956 film The Ten Commandments while working for The Walt Disney Company, and he decided to put the idea into production after leaving Disney and co-founding DreamWorks Pictures in 1994. To make the project, DreamWorks employed artists who had worked for Walt Disney Feature Animation and Amblimation, totaling a crew of 350 people from 34 countries. 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 premiered at Royce Hall in Los Angeles on December 16, 1998, and was released in theaters on December 18, followed by a release on home video on September 14, 1999. Reviews were generally positive; critics particularly praised the visuals, songs, score, and voice acting. The film grossed $218 million 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 a stage musical adaptation which opened in London's West End in 2020.[9][10]

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 71st Academy Awards, making it the first animated film independently outside of Disney and Pixar films, as well as the first DreamWorks Animation film to receive Academy Awards, succeeded by Shrek (2001) and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005). The film also won the inaugural Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Animated Feature, in a tie with Disney and Pixar's A Bug's Life.[11]

In the decades since its release, The Prince of Egypt has been widely acclaimed and regarded as one of DreamWorks' best films, and one of the greatest animated films of all time.[12][13][14][15]

  1. ^ Williams, Stacey (February 27, 2020). "Stephen Schwartz on The Prince of Egypt: 'We didn't want to do a Bible pageant'". Daily Mirror. Archived from the original on December 1, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Lovell, Glenn (December 10, 1998). "Review: 'The Prince of Egypt'". Variety. Archived from the original on November 19, 2021. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  3. ^ "The Prince of Egypt (1998)". The Numbers. Archived from the original on August 26, 2018. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference premiere was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "DreamWorks debuts "Prince of Egypt" albums". Animation World Network. October 30, 1998. Archived from the original on September 17, 2023. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  6. ^ "The Prince of Egypt (U)". British Board of Film Classification. November 26, 1998. Archived from the original on June 2, 2020. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  7. ^ "The Prince of Egypt (1998) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Archived from the original on September 27, 2023. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
  8. ^ "Prince of Egypt (1998)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on September 1, 2022. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  9. ^ Norm Lewis & Aaron Lazar Will be Joined by All-Star Cast in Concert Reading of Stephen Schwartz's THE PRINCE OF EGYPT Archived June 27, 2015, at the Wayback Machine Broadway World, Retrieved July 27, 2015
  10. ^ THE PRINCE OF EGYPT Will Take World Premiere Bow in San Francisco, then Play Denmark Archived February 14, 2017, at the Wayback Machine Broadway World, Retrieved February 14, 2017
  11. ^ "The BFCA Critics' Choice Awards :: 1998". Broadcast Film Critics Association. Archived from the original on December 12, 2008.
  12. ^ Toomer, Jessica (March 9, 2019). "It's Time We Recognize The Prince of Egypt as the Greatest Animated Movie of All Time". SyFy. Archived from the original on May 25, 2020. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  13. ^ Ramos, Alexandra (March 22, 2021). "Why The Prince Of Egypt Remains One Of The Best DreamWorks Movies To Date". CinemaBlend. Archived from the original on April 9, 2023. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  14. ^ Kranc, Lauren; Rosenberg, Josh (July 18, 2022). "The 30 Best Animated Films of All Time". Esquire. Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  15. ^ "The 50 Best Animated Movies". Empire. September 14, 2021. Archived from the original on September 17, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2023.