‘The Prince of Egypt’: Faith, Brotherhood, and Tragedy
On December 16th, 1998, DreamWorks Animation and Universal Pictures released their animated retelling of the biblical Book of Exodus, The Prince of Egypt.
The film was released during what is known as the Renaissance Era of Animation (1986–2004). With Disney at the forefront of the animation industry, DreamWorks decided to cash in on the success with The Prince of Egypt and other films such as The Road to El Dorado (2000), Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002), and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003).
The Prince of Egypt was a great success upon its release. With a studio budget of $60 million, the film grossed over $218 million in the worldwide box office, making it the most successful non-Disney animated feature film at the time. As of 2023, it remains as one of the most beloved 2D animated films by DreamWorks.
The Prince of Egypt is not just a retelling of the Book of Exodus. It is a tragic tale about a man who escaped certain death, learned the truth of his past, and faced a choice between the freedom of his enslaved community or maintaining a relationship with the only brother he had ever known.
Let’s take a deep dive into the beautifully complex story of The Prince of Egypt!
WARNING! This articles contains major spoilers! If you have not seen The Prince of Egypt and do not want to be spoiled, DO NOT READ PAST THIS POINT!
The Story
Before the story begins, there is a brief message about the film being inspired by the Book of Exodus. Despite it being rooted in Christianity, the message states that it is a film that is meant to touch the hearts of many, regardless of religious faith or lack thereof.
After the title card, the film opens with an intense musical performance of ‘Deliver Us’. This opening number shows the enslaved Hebrews building pyramids and temples while being worked to the bone. They call out to God, or Elohim, to deliver them to their Promised Land and bring them out of slavery. Meanwhile, in the city, Egyptian guards are ransacking the ghetto, slaughtering their infant children. Pharaoh ordered this due to his fear of the growing Hebrew population.
In the background, Moses’s mother Yocheved (Ofra Haza) hides with her three children, Miriam (Sandra Bullock), Aaron (Jeff Goldblum), and Moses (Val Kilmer). Yocheved decides to save her infant son, Moses from certain death by sending him down the river in a basket. Before releasing him, Yocheved sings a lullaby to sooth Moses. In her song, she asks Moses to remember her song so that she will always be with him. In the second part of her lullaby, she asks the river to protect Moses on his journey and to take him somewhere safe.
Miriam runs off to keep an eye on the basket. She grows increasingly worried as the basket is knocked around by boats and animals. But it eventually makes it to the steps of the royal palace where Pharaoh’s wife, Tuya (Helen Mirren), finds him and takes him in. The song ends with the enslaved Hebrews once again pleading with God to send a savior to set them free and take them to the Promised Land.
Many years later, Moses and his brother Rameses (Ralph Fiennes) have grown into young men and they often spend their time goofing off in the city, which often leads to distruction of property. Rameses, being the oldest brother, is expected to take the thrown in place of Pharaoh Seti (Patrick Stewart). After chariot racing through the city, Seti scolds them accuses them of tearing down the empire that he is trying to build. Moses knows he is at fault for influencing Rameses into participating in his destructive game, so he steps forward to take the blame. But Seti turns his attention right back to Rameses and warns him that one weak link can bring down an entire dynasty. Rameses ends up taking this statement to heart when he becomes pharaoh.
After Rameses storms off, Moses speaks to Seti about being so hard on Rameses. But Seti essentially tells Moses to not concern himself with it because he will never have to bear the weight of the crown. Seti dismisses Moses, saying that he will see his sons again at a banquet later that night.
Moses finds Rameses in a special hidden area of the palace where they feel that they can talk about anything. During the conversation, Rameses rants about how Seti accused him of bringing down the dynasty. Moses teases Rameses by foreshadowing the events of the rest of the movie. All the while, he fills a bag with fruit juice and drops it on Hotep (Steve Martin) an Huy (Martin Short), who are the Pharaoh’s head priests. Moses hides after dropping the bag and they only see Rameses up above. Moses goads Rameses on even more by handing him the whole bowl of juice and Rameses dumps it.
Moses and Rameses realize that they are late for the banquet and, unfortunately, everyone notices them arriving fashionably late. Tuya quietly informs them that Rameses has just been named Prince Regent and is responsible for overseeing all of the temples. As tribute for his new position, Hotep and Huy present Zipporah (Michelle Pfeiffer), a woman from Midian who was somehow kidnapped and brought to Egypt. Zipporah is, understandably, very unhappy about her situation and even almost bites Rameses. When Rameses decides to give her to Moses, she retaliates with, “I won’t be given to anyone! Especially not an arrogant pampered palace brat!”
As Zippora struggles to get free, Moses humiliates her by making her fall in a pool in the middle of the ballroom. Everyone in attendance laughs at the spectacle except for Tuya, who is visibly ashamed of Moses’ behavior. Fans speculate that Tuya received similar treatment when she became Seti’s wife. But this theory has yet to be proven correct. Zippora is taken to Moses’ chambers. As she is taken away, Rameses names Moses royal chief architect and gives him a blue and gold ring. This ring will serve to be a symbol of Moses’ bond with Rameses.
Upon seeing Tuya’s disappointment, Moses feel bad about what he did and goes to apologize to Zippora. But he finds that the guard and the dogs have been tied up and she escaped through the window.
Moses spots Zippora and helps her escape by distracting the guards. As Zippora makes her way out of the city, Moses comes across his adult siblings, Miriam and Aaron. Miram is excited to see Moses and recognizes him immediately. But Moses does not know who they are. Miriam desperately tries to jog Moses’ memory, but it only insults Moses. All the while, Aaron is trying to stop Miriam by making excuses for her and physically pulling her away. In one last desperate attempt, Miriam informs Moses about how Yocheved sent him across the river to protect them. When Moses asks who he was being protected from, Miriam angrily answers, “Ask the man that you call father!”
In a fit of rage, Moses physically assaults Miriam. As she kneels on the ground, Miriam sings Yocheved’s lullaby, which Moses recognizes immediately. Up until this point, he had been unconsciously humming the song to himself without fully knowing where it came from. Moses panics and runs back home. In the second song of the film, ‘All I Ever Wanted’, Moses reflects on his privileged life as a prince of Egypt. The lyrics only speak about his material belongings and the power he holds as royalty. He tries to convince himself that there is nothing else he could want in his current life. But as the melody slows, his vocals fall offbeat as he truly asks himself, “Surely, this is all I ever wanted?”
All his life, Moses had no idea about where he truly came from. Tuya never told him of how he was found in the river and adopted into the family and it is likely that Rameses and Seti did not know he was of Hebrew origin. Even though ‘All I Ever Wanted’ is just a little over a minute long, it carries a lot of weight as Moses realizes that there is a key part of himself that he is missing.
Moses falls asleep in the middle of the hall and has a dream about Seti’s genocide on the Hebrew slaves. This portion of the film has a different style of animation that is akin to Egyptian hieroglyphics. Moses witnesses everything that the audience saw at the very beginning, including Yocheved sending a baby Moses off in a basket. At the end of the dream, the guards find him and chase him off of a cliff with other screaming babies and into a bit of hungry alligators.
The film’s original animation returns as Moses wakes up in a cold sweat. He runs to a dark room that contains several hieroglyphics. He is horrified when he finds the section that appeared in his dream. Out of the background, Seti appears and tries comforting Moses. He tells Moses that he feared that the growing Hebrew population would rise against the Egyptian population and sacrifices had to be made. Moses is upset at Seti’s choice of words. In a last ditch effort to comfort him, Seti says, “Oh, Moses. They were only slaves.” Moses is silent, but it is very clear that he now sees Seti as a monster as he backs away from him.
Later, Moses is sitting at the staircase near the river where Tuya found him as a child. At this point, Moses has come to realize that everything he thought he knew about his existence was a lie. He knows his true background as a Hebrew and that Seti was responsible for a mass genocide that Yocheved saved Moses from. Tuya finds him outside and comforts him by telling him that the river brought Moses to them for a reason.
Moses asks why his family chose him and Tuya replies that it was the gods that chose him. In her short reprise of ‘All I Ever Wanted’, Tuya tells him, “When the gods send you a blessing, you don’t ask why it was sent.” Even though Tuya was referring to the polytheistic Egyptian religion, this sentiment would ring true later in Moses’ journey. This scene implies that Tuya was likely the only one who knew Moses was a Hebrew.
At the construction site, Rameses and his men are discussing plans for a new temple. As Moses goes to meet Rameses at the sight, he gets his first close look at the harsh working conditions that the enslaved Hebrews are subject to. While he is talking with Rameses, Moses hears a whip cracking in the distance. He looks up to see that an old man has collapsed and he is being whipped by a guard. Off to the side, Miriam and Aaron are helplessly watching it unfold. As the whipping continues, Moses runs up the platform to help. But in doing so, he accidentally pushes the guard off of the ledge and kills him. Realizing what he’s just done, Moses runs away and flees town.
Rameses follows after his distressed brother as he tries to convince Moses to calm down and go back home. Not only is Moses disgusted with himself for killing someone, but he is angry and confused by the fact that his own people have been enslaved all of his life while he lived lavishly in the palace.
Here, Ramases says, “I am Egypt! The morning and the evening star! If I say day is night, it will be written! And you will be what I say you are! I say you are innocent!” As he is about to become the next Pharaoh, he believes himself to be a god among the common people. This directly parallels with Moses’ later interaction with Elohim when he tells Moses that he will be the savior of his people. Before Moses leaves Egypt, he tells Rameses that he’s not who he thinks he is. When Ramases asks what Moses means, Moses replies, “Go ask the man I once called father.” With Rameses shouting for his brother in the distance, Moses runs off into the desert.
There is a brief montage of Moses walking through the desert for an unknown amount of time. What was known as Midian is now Amman, Jordan. Based on research, modern maps, and a small bit of context from Exodus 2, it can be estimated that Moses walked between 300–400 miles from his home in Thebes, Egypt to Midian. During his grueling journey, he becomes frustrated by the heat and tears off his lavish clothing, wig, and jewelry, but keeps the ring that Rameses gave him.
After a sandstorm washes over Moses, he is found by a wandering camel that he manages to hang onto. The camel drags him the rest of the way to Midian, where three young girls are being harassed by thieves. Moses helps them by setting the thieves’ camels loose. He then falls into a nearby well from heat exhaustion. Zippora sees the commotion as her sisters are trying to rescue Moses. She doesn’t know it’s Moses until she helps pull him up. She realizes who she just rescues and decides to get payback for her humiliation at the palace by dropping him back in the well.
Moses is taken to the village where he is bathed and meets the high priest of Midian and Zipporah’s father, Jethro (Danny Glover). Jethro welcomes Moses with open arms and invites him to have a ceremonial dinner with him and his village. At the feast, Jethro gives thanks for the meal and gives thanks to Moses for rescuing Zipporah and her siblings. But Moses does not believe he is a man worth honoring due to his previous life.
In a montage, Jethro sings ‘Through Heaven’s Eyes’, which contains several metaphors about realizing one’s purpose in the bigger picture of life. Throughout this musical montage, Moses adapts to his new life in Midian. He lives modestly as he becomes a shepherd and regularly eats with the people at their ceremonial feasts. But it takes him a while to work up the courage to truly participate in their celebrations. Along the way, Moses and Zipporah fall in love and the song ends with them getting married.
After kissing Zipporah goodbye, Moses goes off to his morning duties to herd the sheep. He ends up having to chase an escaped baby lamb and he finds a cave with something glowing inside. He goes into the cave to see a burning bush. He goes to touch it and finds that it doesn’t burn him. Suddenly, the bush speaks, telling him to remove his shoes because the ground he stands on is sacred. The voice is God, or Elohim, (Val Kilmer) and he tells Moses that he’s heard the cries of his enslaved Hebrew people. He tells Moses that he is going to send Moses to set his people free. Moses is scared and reluctant, telling Elohim that the Hebrews likely wouldn’t listen to him because of who he used to be. But Elohim commands Moses and shows him the beauty of his power that the audience does not get to see.
By the end of it, Moses is moved to tears by what he has experienced. After he goes back to find the lamb, he runs home to tell Zipporah what happened. She is amazed by Moses’ story, but worried that he may not succeed. Moses reminds her that the people of Midian are free and have a chance at a future, and that is the future that he wants for his people. Zipporah decides to go with him to Egypt.
Back in Egypt, the situation has not gotten better for the enslaved Hebrews. According to the Bible, Moses had fled Egypt for seven years. In that time, Seti and Tuya have passed away and Rameses became pharaoh along with having a son. Moses and Rameses’ reunion is joyous at first, as they simply missed each other as brothers. Now that Moses has returned, Rameses wishes to clear Moses of any crimes committed against the Egyptian polytheistic religion and he renames Moses as the Prince of Egypt. But Moses is sad to tell Rameses that Elohim commands that the Hebrews be set free.
Rameses is put off by this sudden declaration. With his shepherd’s staff, Moses demonstrates the power of Elohim by turning his staff into a cobra. In turn, Rameses commands Hotep and Huy to demonstrate the power of the Egyptian gods. In their musical number, ‘Playing With The Big Boys’, Hotep and Huy list off twenty of the main Egyptian gods: Mut, Nuit, Khnum, Ptah, Nephthys, Nekhbet, Sobek, Sekhmet, Sekar, Selket, Resheph, Wadjet, Anubis, Anuket, Shezmu, Meskhenet, Hemsut, Tefnut, Heqet, and Ma’at.
‘Playing With The Big Boys’ is a villain song, where Hotep and Huy mock Moses’ belief in Elohim’s power. They turn their own staffs into snakes and, by the end of the song, Moses’ staff eats their snakes before returning to Moses.
Rameses calls Moses to a private room to speak alone. This conversation shows the stark contrast between Moses and Rameses’ view on the Kingdom of Thebes. In the background, Rameses has built statue of himself that is bigger than Seti’s. He also tells Moses that he aspires to build a better empire that is greater than their father’s. But Moses only sees that his people are suffering at his brother’s hands. He takes off the blue and gold ring Rameses gave him all those years ago, officially severing the ties of their sibling bond.
Rameses understands now that Moses is no longer the brother he once knew. Moses has fully realized himself and is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure the freedom of his people. This realization angers Rameses and he tells Moses that he refuses to be the weak link that Seti accused him of being years prior. Rameses retaliates by doubling the work load of his slaves.
Moses and Zipporah leave the palace and the Hebrew people are angry at him for angering Rameses. His brother, Aaron, even joins in on mocking Moses for bothering to come back. Many of them have lost their faith in the silent god they believed in for so long. But Moses’ sister, Miriam, stands at Moses’ side and reminds them that Elohim has not abandoned them because he send Moses as their savior.
With his newly found courage and his people by his side, Moses and his people find Rameses and his son leisurely sailing through the Nile river. Once again, Moses demands for Rameses to let his people go. When Ramases refuses, he displays another one of Elohim’s wonders by placing his staff in the river and turning the water into blood. Hotep and Huy attempt to display the power of their gods by taking a red powder and turning a bowl of clear water into a similar reddish hue.
Once again, the Hebrew people are starting to lose hope in convincing Rameses to set them free. Aaron states that Ramases has complete control over their lives. Moses tells him and his people that while it’s true that Rameses has the power to take their children, their homes, and even their lives, he can’t take away their faith.
‘The 10 Plagues’ is a song with several layers. During a montage, Elohim casts the other eight of his ten plagues, the first being Moses turning the Nile river into blood and the tenth coming later. The choir acts as Elohim’s voice as he casts each plague. Moses sings his own reprise of ‘All I Ever Wanted’, but the lyrics are directed toward Rameses. He reminisces about the good times they had together when they were brothers. But Rameses stubbornness was prolonging the suffering of the innocent Egyptian citizens. Ramses sings his own reprise of ‘All I Ever Wanted’ with the lyrics directed at Moses. Rameses believes that Moses has only come to hate him and he is willing to remain stubborn at the cost of his subject’s lives in order to prove himself as a worthy pharaoh.
It has been a week since Elohim inflicted his wrath onto Egypt and the kingdom has truly begun to crumble. Moses goes to the palace and finds Rameses in his hiding place where they would often talk. Rameses is implied to be a little drunk, as he is seen drinking from a ceramic wine glass that he throws as Moses. Moses attempts to gently plead with Rameses to put an end to Egypt’s misery. But Rameses gives Moses the silent treatment. Moses begins to reminisce about the trouble the two would get into together when they were younger. Rameses responds and tells Moses that he was always getting them into trouble, but Moses was always there to get Rameses out of trouble again.
Right as it seems like they are about to reconnect, Rameses son, Amun (Bobby Motown) interrupts. He sees Moses and asks Rameses if he was the man that destroyed Egypt. This reminder angers Rameses. Moses warns Rameses that something bigger and much worse is coming. In his anger, Rameses states that he should have wiped out the Hebrew population a long time ago and plans to finish what Seti started.
In his passionately angry speech, Rameses recites an improvised excerpt from Exodus 11:6 that reads, “And there will be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more.” In reciting what is essentially Elohim’s own words, Rameses inadvertently brings on his own demise that will cost him his son’s life.
That night, Moses tells his people that Elohim has instructed them to slaughter a lamb and paint its blood above their doors so the plague does not enter. As the city sleeps, Elohim unleashes his tenth plague as the angel of death quietly swoops down and takes the lives of all of the firstborn Egyptian children. Early the next morning, the people of Egypt wail and the animation is covered in a black and white filter. Rameses carries his dead son to his resting place and tells Moses that he and his people are free to leave. Moses attempts to comfort Rameses, but it’s of no use.
As the city cries, Moses leaves the palace and cries with them from a distance. Here, there is a clear internal struggle with what Moses did to ensure his people’s freedom. Even though he and his people succeeded, it came at the cost of innocent live, including his only nephew. The scene slowly regains color as he returns to his wife, siblings, and Hebrew people.
Miriam sings ‘When You Believe’, which is a reflection of the struggles of the Hebrew community as they waited for their god to send aid. But they persevered in their faith and now they are free as a result. The song includes a scripture sung in Hebrew by the children. According to songwriter Stephan Schwartz, this bridge is meant to be a build to the triumphant final verse as Moses and his people relish in their bittersweet victory. The scripture translates to, “I will sing to the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously / Who is like You in the heavens, O Lord? / Who is like You, glorious in holiness? / In Your mercy, You lead the children You have redeemed / In Your Love, You lead the people You redeemed / I will sing, I will sing, I will sing” (Exodus 15:1–8). This verse is meant to be a condensed version of a song called ‘Shirat HaYam’.
By the end of this musical number, Moses and his people have reached the Red Sea. But just as they are about to take a brief break, they see Rameses and his army coming over the horizon to kill them. In their panic, the Hebrew people try to run away, despite being blocked by the massive ocean. Suddenly, Elohim sends down a fiery tornado to block Rameses’ path. Moses takes his staff and slams it into the ocean, making a path through the Red Sea.
All seems well as they cross over to the shore. But as they are about to make it, the fiery tornado disappears and Ramses and his army chases after the Hebrew people. In the nick of time, the sea walls begin to fall. Moses and the Hebrew people make it to shore. Rameses is left stranded back on the shores of Egypt and his army has drowned. After a brief silence, Moses and his people realize that they have officially left the borders of Egypt and celebrate.
As he and his people head to the Promised Land, Moses looks over the horizon one last time as he prepares to leave the home he had known for so long. Rameses is seen on the Egyptian shore, crying Moses’ name with a mix of anger and agony. After losing Seti, Tuya, and Amun, Moses was the only true family Rameses had left. But due to the misdeeds of him and the pharaohs before him, Rameses was left alone with a broken kingdom and no one to turn to. From the other end of the ocean, Moses says goodbye to his brother and joins his new community.
As the ‘Epilogue’ plays, Moses walks over Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments in hand. The films ends with him looking over the vast camp that the Hebrew people have established during his absence.
The Characters
Every character of the film is based on a Biblical figure from the Book of Exodus.
Moses is the main character of the story. After being sent off through the Nile in a basket to save him from death, he was adopted into the royal Egyptian family. But after he learns of the genocide committed by his father and his true identity as a Hebrew, he sets out on a journey of self discovery that prompts Elohim to choose him to be the savior of his people.
Rameses is Moses’ older brother. As brothers, he and Moses had a very close bond. But he would eventually be burdened with the responsibility of becoming pharaoh and battles with Moses over the freedom of the Hebrew people. On the surface, Rameses is simply a young man who grows up to be a stubborn king. But his father, Seti, would accuse him of being a weak link in the dynasty, which led to his toxic behavior later in life. Additionally, he lashes out at Moses because he desperately wants to reconnect with the fun troublemaking brother he knew and loved.
Seti is Moses’ adopted father. Moses’ biological father is unknown in the film. But in Biblical texts, Moses’ father was a man named Amram. Seti was the pharaoh responsible for the genocide of the Hebrew children at the beginning of the film. He did it out of fear of the Hebrew people growing in numbers and rising against him.
Tuya is Moses’ adopted mother. She is not officially named in the film, but is referred to as Queen Tuya in Biblical texts. She finds Moses in the Nile as a baby and takes him in as her own. Her roll is very minor, but she is the one who gives Moses advise on being chosen by God for a certain purpose. In this advise, she was referring to the Egyptian gods she worshipped. But it rang true when Moses was met with the Hebrew god.
Miriam is Moses’ biological sister. She is the one who reveals the truth about Moses’ past and acts as his main emotional support as he sets out to free her and the rest of their people.
Aaron is Moses’ biological brother. He plays a very minor roll, but is depicted as cautious around the Egyptians and reprimands Moses for returning after seemingly abandoning the Hebrew community for seven years. But, like the rest of his people, he has a change of heart in the end as he tastes freedom for the first time.
Hotep and Huy serve two purposes. The first purpose is comic relief. The second purpose is to represent the contrast between the monotheistic Christian religion and the polytheistic Egyptian religion. The miracles of Elohim were represented as genuinely powerful, but also dangerous. Meanwhile, Hotep and Huy were simply magicians and experts at illusion for a polytheistic religion that was being abused in the name of power. Their characters are based off of the Biblical characters, Jannes and Jambres, who were the pharaoh’s sorcerer-priests.
Zippora is Moses’ wife. She and Moses have a very bitter introduction when she was taken from her home in Midian and presented as a prize in front of Moses and Rameses. But when Moses leaves Egypt in search for a better life, she grows closer to him and they eventually get married. She also sticks by him on his mission to set the Hebrew people free.
Jethro is Zippora’s father. and Moses’ father-in-law. He is very eccentric and welcomes Moses with open arms. He takes pity on Moses and teaches the young man that he has more purpose than he may realize.
Yocheved is the biological mother of Moses, Miriam, and Aaron. Her screen time is very brief, as she only appears at the beginning of the film. In order to save an infant Moses from being killed by the Egyptian guards, she places him in a floating basket on the Nile river. Before she releases him, she sings him a lullaby that Moses remembers well into adulthood.
Amun is Rameses’ young son. In the film, he does not have an official name. But historically, his full name is Amun-her-khepeshef. His roll in the film is very small. But he serves to be of great importance for Rameses. At some point during the film, we no longer see Seti and Tuya. It is assumed that Rameses is or was married, but we never see hints of a wife. Amun and Rameses seem to have a close father-son bond when they are on-screen together. But as a result of Elohim’s final plague, Amun is killed by the Angel of Death, taking away the last good thing that Rameses had.
Biblically, he passed away when he was only around 7 years old. But historically, he was a real figure in ancient history along with his father, Rameses II, and his mother, Nefertari. Historians estimate that Amun may have actually died in his mid-teens at 15 years old.
The Soundtrack
The official film score was composed by Hans Zimmer and Stephen Schwartz. Both composers are widely known in the theatrical music industry for their jaw-dropping and unforgettable work.
The film consists of six original songs: ‘Deliver Us’, ‘All I Ever Wanted’, ‘Through Heaven’s Eyes’, ‘Playing With The Big Boys’, ‘The Plagues’, and ‘When You Believe’. Additionally, there are three bonus R&B tracks: ‘When You Believe’ by Mariah Carrie and Whitney Houston, ‘River Lullaby’ by Amy Grant, and ‘I Will Get There’ by Boyz II Men.
Each song is unique in its own way, as they aid in moving the story along. ‘Deliver Us’ introduces us to the world and the story’s conflict. ‘All I Ever Wanted’ reflects on Moses’ conflicting emotions about his life in the palace and what he does and does not know about himself. ‘Through Heaven’s Eyes’ shows Moses’ physical, mental, and emotional growth away from Egypt. ‘Playing With The Big Boys’ is the Egyptian royalty’s mockery of Moses’ message from Elohim. ‘The Plagues’ reflects Elohim’s wrath upon the Egyptians while Moses and Rameses deal with their own battle regarding their brotherly relationship. ‘When You Believe’ is a triumphant song for when the enslaved Hebrews are finally able to leave.
The full official soundtrack is available to listen to on YouTube in the link below.
Final Thoughts
The Prince of Egypt is a solid 10/10 movie and is one that I will always recommend to anyone who asks. Despite its religious themes, this film is meant to be enjoyed by anyone who appreciates great storytelling, animation, music, and characters, regardless of religious beliefs or lack thereof.
The Bible is often very vague when it comes to portraying detailed events and emotions. Because many of the stories in scripture are heavily based on short tales with moral lessons, it is rare to see instances in the text that portrays a more complicated story rather than what is on the surface. But The Prince of Egypt managed to fill in those blanks by turning it into a complex story about tragedy, forgiveness, family, and the ups and downs of monotheistic and polytheistic faiths.
What do you think of The Prince of Egypt? Do you think it does a good job with its messages and themes? Are there other films from the Renaissance Era of Animation that you want me to review? Leave a comment to let me know your thoughts and thank you for reading!
