From the outset, the filmmakers remained
keenly aware of the responsibility they had
accepted in bringing a Bible story to the screen.
They understood that while they wanted the movie
to be entertaining, they had to be respectful of
the biblical source material and sensitive to the
many millions of people of different religions
for whom the story of Moses is a foundation of
faith.
Katzenberg states, "Our goal was to be
faithful to the text without always being
literal-to embrace the themes and the fundamental
aspects of the story as they are presented in the
Bible. However, as good as our intentions were,
I have learned over the years that intentions and
perceptions are not always the same. No matter
what we set out to do, what would count was how
people perceived what we've done."
"We did extensive research, reading the
commentaries, histories and philosophical texts
that deal with Moses and the Exodus story,"
Finkelman Cox offers. "We learned that there
were certain aspects of the Bible on which we
could elaborate, and aspects to which we had to
be absolutely faithful, and we learned to
distinguish between them. The gist of what we
discovered was that where the Bible is specific,
you should respect the specificity, but when the
Bible is silent, we could be more creative and
interpretive. Coming to understand those
distinctions was extremely important."
The filmmakers brought in two prominent
biblical scholars to act as ongoing consultants:
Everett Fox, whose recent translation, The Five
Books of Moses, enabled them to understand the
original text more fully; and Burton Visotzky,
who worked with Bill Moyers on a series of
critically praised programs about the biblical
book of Genesis. In addition, they hired Tzivia
Schwartz-Getzug, a civil rights attorney with a
background in interfaith relations and religious
studies, to serve as the liaison to the religious
community.
Ultimately, however, the filmmakers realized
that it was impossible to fully understand the
many interpretations and beliefs of the diverse
religious community, so they came up with a
simple solution. They would ask.
"We asked religious leaders from every faith
group, as well as theologians, scholars,
archeologists and Egyptologists from around the
world to come in, and invited their comments,"
Katzenberg says. "I was concerned that trying to
get a consensus from hundreds of people would
constrain us, but actually, I am certain that our
movie has been qualitatively and quantitatively
improved by the incredible diversity of opinion
and observation we brought into the process."
Katzenberg continues, "I want people to be
entertained first and foremost. We have a long
history of finding great entertainment in stories
of faith, in everything from epics like `The
Robe' to contemporary musicals like `Godspell.'
The story of Moses has come to the screen several
times before, including Cecil B. DeMille's
magnificent classic `The Ten Commandments.'"
Steve Hickner notes, "The story is as timely
today as it was 2,000 years ago, and as it will
be 2,000 years from now, as people continue to
retell the story in whatever media exists at that
time."
Katzenberg concludes, "I hope audiences have a great time, but that this movie
also engages them to want to know more about the story."
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