Oh, Prince of Egypt. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...
1) No whitewashing, yay! Semitic-looking Hebrews and not-white Egyptians. Unlike nearly every other Exodus film.
2) The foregrounding of women (though it ironically fails the Bechdel Test). These ladies are independent and bright, and take active roles in the story.
Especially Miriam. This is the only Exodus retelling I know of that gives her the credit she deserves. She is an important figure in Judaism and in the Exodus itself, as well as a prophetess, and The Prince of Egypt does such a great job reflecting it. I can totally buy this Miriam as a visionary: She sees what Moses can be long before anybody else does and then constantly pushes Moses to live up to it.
(Tzipporah was great too, though less integral and it's unfortunate her profile was raised at the cost of Aaron's, my only real problem with this film. Aaron never seems to get a fair shake in these movies. Though he serves as a decent foil here and his criticism of Moses is really on point.)
3) No I AM EVULLL villains. The bad guys here - minus the court-magician sidekicks - are well-developed and sympathetic.
Rameses is so hell-bent on pleasing/surpassing his father, and he's so hurt by Moses going to bat against him for his blood family and blood tribe that it hardens his heart and leads to his downfall.
And sure, Seti is a genocidal maniac, but he clearly loves both of his sons, and seems to respect his wife as well. He even tries to console Moses over the genocide, though the way he went about it was kind of screwed up. (Oh, they were only slaves... you feel better now?)
4) Respect for sources/people's beliefs, etc. It is truly impressive how far Dreamworks went to not alienate people who revere the Exodus. The research that went into this is incredible. Obviously they consulted the Bible, but that's not the only text that matters. There's also Talmud and Midrash (Jewish lore) here, which I deeply appreciate as a Jew. It's great to finally see a rehashing that doesn't totally de-Judaize it.
5) I didn't even get to the animation yet. The scale, the detail, it's all done so well that I often forget I'm watching scenes that were drawn up from nothing. Character designs are complex and lifelike, and the parting of the Red Sea will always leave me awestruck...
Superlatively awesome
Oh, Prince of Egypt. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...
1) No whitewashing, yay! Semitic-looking Hebrews and not-white Egyptians. Unlike nearly every other Exodus film.
2) The foregrounding of women (though it ironically fails the Bechdel Test). These ladies are independent and bright, and take active roles in the story.
Especially Miriam. This is the only Exodus retelling I know of that gives her the credit she deserves. She is an important figure in Judaism and in the Exodus itself, as well as a prophetess, and The Prince of Egypt does such a great job reflecting it. I can totally buy this Miriam as a visionary: She sees what Moses can be long before anybody else does and then constantly pushes Moses to live up to it.
(Tzipporah was great too, though less integral and it's unfortunate her profile was raised at the cost of Aaron's, my only real problem with this film. Aaron never seems to get a fair shake in these movies. Though he serves as a decent foil here and his criticism of Moses is really on point.)
3) No I AM EVULLL villains. The bad guys here - minus the court-magician sidekicks - are well-developed and sympathetic.
Rameses is so hell-bent on pleasing/surpassing his father, and he's so hurt by Moses going to bat against him for his blood family and blood tribe that it hardens his heart and leads to his downfall.
And sure, Seti is a genocidal maniac, but he clearly loves both of his sons, and seems to respect his wife as well. He even tries to console Moses over the genocide, though the way he went about it was kind of screwed up. (Oh, they were only slaves... you feel better now?)
4) Respect for sources/people's beliefs, etc. It is truly impressive how far Dreamworks went to not alienate people who revere the Exodus. The research that went into this is incredible. Obviously they consulted the Bible, but that's not the only text that matters. There's also Talmud and Midrash (Jewish lore) here, which I deeply appreciate as a Jew. It's great to finally see a rehashing that doesn't totally de-Judaize it.
5) I didn't even get to the animation yet. The scale, the detail, it's all done so well that I often forget I'm watching scenes that were drawn up from nothing. Character designs are complex and lifelike, and the parting of the Red Sea will always leave me awestruck...