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The Prince of Egypt was supposed to be a giant leap forward in the medium of animation. Pushing away from Disney's family friendly tone and musical numbers, The Prince of Egypt was made with an older audience in mind while also pushing the boundaries of what we thought an animated feature film could look like. Unfortunately for Dreamworks, the movie did not do well at the box office. But in turn it did push the animation industry, Disney included, in new directions with what the Prince of Egypt was able to achieve on screen.
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0:00
I do not know this god
0:02
Neither will I let your people go. Ramesses, please, you must listen
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I will not be the weak link. In 1994, an embittered Jeffrey Katzenberg resigned from the Walt Disney Company
0:14
after being passed up for a promotion. Planning to spite his former colleagues, Katzenberg co-founded a rival animation studio
0:21
and began producing what he hoped would be the future of animation
0:26
That project ended up being 1998's The Prince of Egypt, and it was a wild success by every metric, except the only one that mattered
0:34
When Jeffrey Katzenberg co-founded DreamWorks Animation, alongside David Geffen and Steven Spielberg
0:39
the goal was not to copy Disney. In fact, the goal was to upstage them
0:44
At the time, this seemed like a futile effort. Disney had comfortably monopolized the market for animated feature films
0:51
and trying to face them head-on was tantamount to corporate self-destruction. Still, Katzenberg and his peers were adamant
0:57
They saw Disney's resistance to more somber, serious storytelling as a critical missed opportunity
1:03
one that DreamWorks would gladly take advantage of in their stead. But being taken seriously would be a hard-fought battle
1:09
A majority of Western audiences tend to view animation as an art form strictly for children
1:14
In the late 90s, after living through the golden era of Saturday morning cartoons and the Disney renaissance
1:20
that attitude was even more pervasive. So though they had successfully poached a significant amount of Disney's top talent
1:26
and had the backing of a literal billionaire in Geffen, DreamWorks was an underdog
1:31
They had decided the best way to tackle this David and Goliath story was with a different biblical tale
1:37
Originally, Katzenberg wanted to do an adaptation of 1956's The Ten Commandments for Disney
1:42
but his idea was shot down during his tenure at the company. Fittingly, a story based on the Book of Exodus
1:48
was the very first thing that DreamWorks dreamlit. According to director Brenda Chapman in an interview with A-Frame
1:55
Katzenberg wanted The Prince of Egypt to look as if it were drawn by French illustrator Gustave
2:00
Duret, painted by famed Impressionist Claude Monet, and directed by Dave Lean. Essentially
2:06
Katzenberg wanted a high art, adult-oriented tale of inconceivable scope, and that's exactly what
2:12
he got, though it would take four full years of development to get it right. In the meantime
2:16
Katzenberg had fast the production of Ants to beat Disney A Bug Life to theaters earning the fledgling studio nothing but petty satisfaction because just two months later on December 16th 1998 their real masterpiece premiered
2:30
An unreal level of love and attention went into the finer details of The Prince of Egypt
2:35
It made great strides in the medium of animation, blending hand-drawn 2D artwork with CGI
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which, in some cases, took literal years to realize. The seven-minute sequence where Moses parts the Red Sea took 22 artists a total of three years to complete
2:51
The combination of computer-generated elements against hand-drawn scenes felt more natural than anything Disney had attempted up to that point
2:58
And the transition to a hieroglyphic art style as Moses learns the truth of his parentage remains one of the most memorable scenes not just in this movie, but in all of 90s animation
3:08
And while the look of the movie was certainly its biggest draw, it was only a single thread in the Prince of Egypt's tapestry
3:15
The script, written by Pocahontas' Philip Lezebnik, is a masterwork in adaptation
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It departs just enough from both its biblical and theatrical source material to feel like it stands on its own
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The choice to humanize Ramses and focus on his relationship with Moses made him an incredibly compelling antagonist
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The darker tone meant the story never shied away from showing us the atrocities at the center of their conflict
3:39
and the Prince of Egypt refused to soften the blow. There were no talking animal sidekicks, no innocent young princesses in need of rescue
3:46
and no slapstick comedy gargoyles to cut the tension. Do you mind
3:51
I would like to have a moment with the boy if it's all right with you. Hey, quit beating around the bell tower
3:56
What do we got to do? Paint you a fresco? And then there's the soundtrack. With songs by Stephen Schwartz and a score by Hans Zimmer
4:02
the music perfectly fits the epic scope of the movie. And while most of them didn't sing their musical numbers
4:08
the voice cast still boasts an impressive list of household names. Val Kilmer brings a gentle strength to Moses
4:15
and Ralph Fiennes does an excellent job conveying the burden felt by his foster brother, Ramses
4:20
Helen Mirren and Patrick Stewart are both fittingly regal in their royal roles
4:24
and the rest of the cast is just as stacked with the likes of Sandra Bullock, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Pfeiffer, Danny Glover, Martin Short, and Steve Martin
4:33
All in all, The Prince of Egypt was a triumph. It just took audiences a minute to realize it
4:38
The film box office opening weekend was a major disappointment making only million off an estimated budget of million As one New York Times article put it in December of 1998
4:51
whether it was a matter of misjudging the public's appetite for a serious animated film during the
4:55
holiday season or simply running into heavy competition that may be fragmenting the audience
5:00
or perhaps even exposing new fault lines in the animation market, Mr. Katzenberg and DreamWorks
5:06
have found that it is not easy to out-Disney Disney. However, thanks to word of mouth
5:12
the good news spread quickly about the artistry behind The Prince of Egypt. And by the time it left theaters, it had grossed over $218 million
5:20
making it the most successful non-Disney animated feature ever made at the time
5:25
Unfortunately, this love from general audiences didn't translate to critical reviews, though
5:30
While its stunning visuals and voice talent were met with unabashed fanfare
5:34
Some critics believed the tone to be either too serious or too polarized, citing things like the opening sequence about the mistreatment of slaves juxtaposed with a whimsical chariot race
5:45
Despite these dissenting opinions, the Prince of Egypt did go on to win an Oscar for Best Original Song with When You Believe and was nominated for Best Score
5:54
It was the first non-Disney animated film to win an Academy Award as well as the first ever animated film to be directed, at least in part, by a woman
6:03
So that's it, right? Katzenberg did what he set out to do
6:07
With all this fiscal and artistic success, Katzenberg proved to the world that animation as a medium
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can be used to tell serious stories for an older audience and delivered the killing blow to Disney, right
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Obviously not. Remember that the Oscar that the Prince of Egypt won
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was for best original song, not for anything to do with its animation or story
6:32
While any accolade of this magnitude is something to be proud of
6:36
the Academy has been handing out Best Original Song Awards to Disney movies since 1940
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Being the first non-Disney animated feature to win is significant, but it wasn't exactly breaking down cultural barriers the way Katzenberg had envisioned
6:50
After awards season was over, most people quickly forgot about The Prince of Egypt
6:54
Tarzan and Toy Story 2 came out of Disney and Pixar the following year
6:58
taking up all the space in the animated market and adding insult to injury since both were fairly standard kids flicks Then in 2000 DreamWorks abandoned their pursuit of serious art in favor of beating Disney to the punch yet again with Road to El
7:13
Dorado as an answer to Disney's Emperor's New Groove, and neither of them performed well at the
7:18
box office. DreamWorks' next critical and commercial success would be 2000's Chicken Run, which
7:24
while excellent, was a far cry from the adult-oriented grandeur of The Prince of Egypt
7:28
As time went on, Katzenberg's pet project only became less relevant in modern pop culture
7:34
His dream of legitimizing animation in the eyes of older audiences was dying
7:39
and the final nail in the coffin would be hammered home by DreamWorks itself
7:43
After releasing a failed direct-to-video sequel to The Prince of Egypt, the next property to come out of DreamWorks Animation would permanently alter the company's place in the industry
7:53
just not in the way Katzenberg might have hoped. Some of you may die, but it's a sacrifice I am willing to make
8:01
2001's Trek is, by all accounts, a cultural touchstone. Making nearly $500 million at the box office, this gross-out parody of all things Disney
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gave rise to an expansive franchise and created a meme culture that keeps it relevant more than 20 years later
8:17
The Muffin Man? The Muffin Man! More importantly, it was the first ever recipient of the newly created Best Animated Feature category at the Oscars
8:27
beating out Nickelodeon's Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius and Disney Pixar's Monsters, Inc
8:31
So DreamWorks did make history. It did help to legitimize animation as a medium in the minds of the public
8:38
And it did alter the cultural perception of Disney's specific brand of storytelling
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But it did it with fart jokes and talking animals. The exact opposite of what Katzenberg was hoping to prove with The Prince of Egypt
8:50
And that's why The Prince of Egypt was, ultimately, a failure. It didn't turn the tide of the industry, it didn't hurt Disney as a brand
8:58
and it didn't have the staying power of a big, green Scottish ogre
9:02
Even today, it stands at number 7 on Ranker's fan-voted list of the best DreamWorks animation movies
9:08
Luckily, The Prince of Egypt is still exceptional, and it has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years
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more and more people are pointing to the film as an underrated or forgotten gem
9:19
and finally giving it the credit it deserves. So while it may have failed in the short term
9:24
there's still time for the Prince of Egypt to be redeemed in the eyes of the industry
#Film & TV Industry
#Animated Films
#Drama Films