The idea that would become DreamWorks' "The Prince of Egypt" began to take shape
even before the company was formed. Of course, the story has its roots in the
biblical book of Exodus, but the inspiration to bring it to the screen as the
studio's first traditionally animated feature arose unexpectedly from a conversation
between Jeffrey Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg and David Geffen back in 1994. The
three were talking about their ambitions for their as-yet-to-be-announced studio
venture. Katzenberg's revolved around a new animation studio, which prompted a
question from Spielberg. Katzenberg recalls, "Steven asked what the criteria would
be for a great animated film, and I launched into a 20-minute dissertation about
what you look for: a powerful allegory that we can relate to in our time; extraordinary
situations to motivate strong emotional journeys; something wonderful about the
human spirit; good triumphing over evil; music as a compelling storytelling element;
and so on. Steven leaned forward and said, `You mean like "The Ten Commandments"?,'
and I said, `Exactly.'" However, it was Geffen who brought the concept home, as
Katzenberg remembers, "David said, `What a great idea. Why don't we make that
our first animated movie?' And we were off." Katzenberg acknowledges, "I'm sure
there are those who think we're nuts for choosing a Bible story as our first animated
feature. But the fact is, this is a great emotional story about a remarkable man
who must come to terms with his past, his heritage and his faith. In our telling
of the story, we also focus on the extraordinary relationship between two brothers
and how the roles in which they have been cast in life draw them into conflict
with each other."
"The Prince of Egypt" fulfilled another of Katzenberg's long-held goals, allowing
him to take animation into new territory. "In live action," he states, "there
is an incredible variety of movies-dramas, comedies, big effects films, intimate
romantic comedies. As moviegoers, we demand that kind of diversity from live-action
features. I don't see why animation can't be as varied in the types of stories
it tells. I hope and believe that we can use animation as a cinematic tool to
tell many different kinds of stories.that today's animation can be something more
than movies for children." "We do not want to exclude children as an audience,
but set out to make a film that we as adults would want to see," producer Penney
Finkelman Cox adds. "This part of the Bible touches on sophisticated themes, which
set the movie apart from the start. In other words, the story determined what
the film would be, as opposed to the technique used to tell it- animation didn't
define the movie, the nature of the material did." For the filmmakers, the fact
that the film would be animated made it no less important to try to be accurate
in depicting the time and place of the story. Everyone involved in the production
became part of a process of exhaustive research in their respective areas-from
the story itself to the geography, architecture and clothing of the Egyptian Empire.
The filmmakers also consulted with archeologists, historians, theologians, Egyptologists,
biblical scholars and religious leaders. During the early stages of production,
key members of the creative team embarked on a trip to Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula.
Traveling through the ancient land, directors Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner and
Simon Wells; producers Penney Finkelman Cox and Sandra Rabins; executive producer
Jeffrey Katzenberg; story supervisors Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook; production
designer Darek Gogol; art directors Kathy Altieri and Richard Chavez; and songwriter
Stephen Schwartz were each inspired in their own way. Schwartz observes, "It's
hard to define, but there's an intangible connection that comes from being on
the actual spot.seeing the locations and breathing the air. There were times when
I was walking through a temple or looking at a giant statue and music would actually
come into my head. Several themes in the movie originated that way."
The filmmakers recognized that there were a number of inherent challenges in bringing
the Exodus story to the screen. Producer Sandra Rabins offers, "We began by identifying
the problems, and then set out to solve them during an 18-month evolution in which
we continually honed the story to discover what worked and what didn't." The first
dilemma was how to tell a story of such enormous scope in about 90 minutes. Co-
story supervisor Kelly Asbury says, "The challenges were to be as true to the
biblical source material as possible, maintain the overall narrative of the story,
capture the emotions of the characters, and make a film you could really sink
your teeth into-all within the time constraints." Co-head of story Lorna Cook
continues, "It was also important to keep the character of Moses as accessible
as possible, because ultimately he was human. That was one thing we wanted to
get across: he wasn't just a messenger; he was a man who took on a mission, but
not without conflict and sometimes with a lot of fear." In "The Prince of Egypt,"
the main conflict faced by Moses becomes his relationship with Rameses, the man
he had always known as his brother. "This isn't a traditional animated picture
with a conventional hero and villain. It's a much more complex story," director
Steve Hickner notes. "In our movie, Moses and Rameses are brothers; from the beginning
of the film to the very last moment, they still care for each other." Val Kilmer,
who is the voice of Moses, offers, "We can all identify with having people in
our lives who we still care strongly about, even after the relationship has changed."
"They become estranged to the point where they are enemies. But when brothers
are enemies, they don't stop being brothers," says Ralph Fiennes, who provides
the voice of Rameses. "In fact, they still love each other very much," director
Brenda Chapman states. "Their conflict arises because of the different ways in
which they grow-one doesn't grow very much at all; the other grows beyond anything
he could possibly have imagined. The relationship between the two brothers evolved
out of a storyboard sequence created by story artist Ronnie del Carmen. When we
saw what he had conceived, we realized that the story of the two brothers was
the heart of the film. To me, it's the key to what made the story work." As the
story developed, so did the concept for the look of "The Prince of Egypt," which
was primarily influenced by the work of three very disparate artists. Nineteenth-century
French illustrator Gustave Dor? created Bible etchings that, although black and
white, are incredibly rich and very detailed. The paintings of Impressionist artist
Claude Monet are alive with lush palettes of color and light. Finally, the filmmakers
looked to the work of director David Lean, an undisputed master of epic cinema.
Katzenberg says, "When we were recruiting, people would come in, and I'd show
them the Dor? illustrated Bible, a book of Monet paintings and some stills from
Lean's `Lawrence of Arabia.' I'd say, `These are our inspirations; I hope we can
do them justice.'"
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