The Most Successful Animated Failure Ever Made

I do not know this God neither will I let your people go rames please you must listen I will not be the weak Link in 1994 an embittered Jeffrey kenberg resigned from the Walt Disney Company after being passed up for a promotion planning to spite his former colleagues kenberg co-founded a rival Animation studio and began producing what he hoped would be the future of Animation 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 before we race into today's video please be sure to give us a thumbs up and subscribe to nerdstalgic so you don't miss our latest releases when Jeffrey kenberg co-founded Dreamworks Animation alongside David geffin and Steven Spielberg the goal was not to copy Disney in fact the goal was to upstage them at the time this seemed like a feudal effort Disney had comfortably monopolized the market for animated feature films and trying to face them head-on was tantamount to corporate self-destruction still kenberg and his peers were adamant they saw Disney's resistance to more somber serious storytelling as a critical missed opportunity one that DreamWorks would gladly take advantage of in their stad but being taken seriously would be a hardfought battle a majority of Western audiences tend to view animation as an art form strictly for children in the late '90s after living through the Golden Era of Saturday morning cartoons and the Disney Renaissance that attitude was even more pervasive so though though they had successfully poached a significant amount of Disney's top talent and had the backing of a literal billionaire in geffin DreamWorks was an underdog they had decided the best way to tackle this David and Goliath story was with a different biblical tale originally kenberg wanted to do an adaptation of 1956's the Ten Commandments for Disney but his idea was shot down during his tenure at the company fittingly a story based on the book of Exodus was the very first thing that DreamWorks greenl according to director Brenda Chapman in an interview with a frame kenberg wanted The Prince of Egypt to look as if it were drawn by French illustrator Gustav dur painted by famed impressionist Claude Monae and directed by Dave lean essentially kenberg wanted a high art adult oriented tale of inconceivable scope and that's exactly what he got though it would take four full years of development to get it right in the meantime kenberg had fast-tracked the production of ants to beat Disney's AB bugs life to theaters earning the fledgling Studio nothing but Petty satisfaction because just 2 months later on December 16th 1998 their real Masterpiece premiered an unreal level of love and attention went into the finer details of the Prince of Egypt it made great strides in the medium of Animation blending handrawn 2D artwork with CGI which in some cases took literal years to realize the 7-minute sequence where Moses Parts the red SE took 22 artists a total of 3 years to complete the combination of computer generated elements against handdrawn scenes felt more natural than anything Disney had attempted up to that point 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 9s animation 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 the script written by Pocahontas's Philip lbck is a Masterwork in adaptation it departs just enough from both its biblical and theatrical Source material to feel like it stands on its own the choice to humanize ramse and focus on his relationship with Moses made him an incredibly compelling antagonist the darker tone meant the story never shied away from showing us the atrocities at the center of their conflict and The Prince of Egypt refused to soften the blow there were no talking animal Sidekicks no innocent young princesses in need of rescue and no slapstick comedy gargoyles to cut the tension do you mind I would like to have a moment with the boy if it's all right with you hey quit beating around the bell tower what do we got to do paint you a fresco and then there's the soundtrack with songs by Steven Schwarz and a score by Hans Zimmer the music perfectly fits the Epic scope of the movie and while most of them didn't sing their musical numbers the voice cast still boasts an impressive list of household names velmer brings a gentle strength to Moses and ra fins do an excellent job conveying the burden felt by his foster brother Ramsay's Helen mirin and Patrick Stewart are both fittingly Regal in their Royal roles and the rest of the cast is just as stacked with the likes of Sandra Bullock Jeff gold Blum Michelle Fifer Danny Glover Martin Short and Steve Martin we're going to take a quick break from this video to chat all things cyber ghost VPN so as someone who obviously consumes a lot of 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months free it's simply one of the best VPN service providers that helps you and your data stay protected so click the link in the description and use this special discount cyber ghost VPN granted specifically for nerd star nostalgic to protect your data it's a 45-day money back guarantee and 24/7 customer support so everything is risk-free and now back to the video All In All The Prince of Egypt was a Triumph it just took audiences a minute to realize it the film's box office opening weekend was a major disappointment making only $14 million off an estimated budget of 70 million as one New York Times article put it in December of 1998 whether it was a matter of misjudging the Public's appetite for a serious and animated film during the holiday season or simply running into heavy competition that may be fragmenting the audience or perhaps even exposing new fault lines in the animation Market Mr kenberg and DreamWorks have found that it is not easy to out Disney Disney however thanks to Word of Mouth 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 making it the most successful non- Disney animated feature ever made at the the time unfortunately this love from General audiences didn't translate to critical reviews though while its stunning visuals and voice Talent were met with unabashed Fanfare some critics believed the tone to be either too serious or too polarized citing things like the opening sequence about the mistreatment of slaves ju deposed with a Whimsical Chariot race 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 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 so that's it right kenberg did what he set out to do with all this fiscal and artistic success kenberg proved to the world that animation as a medium can be used to tell serious stories for an older audience and delivered the killing blow to Disney right obviously not no remember that the Oscar that The Prince of Egypt won was for best original song not for anything to do with its animation or story while any Accolade of this magnitude is something to be proud of the academy has been handing out best original song Awards to Disney movies since 1940 being the first non- Disney animated feature to win is significant but it wasn't exactly breaking down cultural barriers the way kenberg had envisioned after award season was over most people quickly forgot about the Prince of Egypt xan and Toy Story 2 came out of Disney and Pixar the following year 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 Dorado as an answer to Disney's Emperor's New Groove and neither of them performed well at the box office DreamWorks next critical and Commercial Success would be 2000's chicken run which while excellent was a far cry from the adult-oriented Grandeur of The Prince of Egypt as time went on katzenberg's Pet Project only became less relevant in modern pop culture his dream of legitimizing Animation in the eyes of older audiences was dying and the final nail in the coffin would be hammered home by Dreamworks itself after releasing a failed direct 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 just not in the way cats B might have hoped some of you may die but it's a sacrifice I am willing to make 2001 strek is by all accounts a cultural Touchstone making nearly $500 million at the box office this gross Out parody of All Things Disney gave rise to an expansive franchise and created a meme culture that keeps it relevant more than 20 years later 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 beating out Nickelodeon's Jimmy Neutron boy Genius and Disney Pixar's Monsters Inc so DreamWorks did make history it did help to legitimize animation as a medium in the minds of the public and it did alter the cultural perception of Disney's specific brand of Storytelling but it did it with fart jokes and talking animals the exact opposite of what kenberg was hoping to prove with the Prince of Egypt 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 and it didn't have the staying power of a big green Scottish ogre even today it stands at number seven on rankers fan voted list of the best Dreamworks animation movies luckily The Prince of Egypt is still exceptional and it has seen a Resurgence in popularity in recent years more and more people are pointing to the film as an underrated or forgotten gym and finally giving it the credit it deserves so while it may have failed in the short term there's still time for The Prince of Egypt to be redeemed in the eyes of the industry don't forget to click on the description link to get Cyber ghost VPN special discount protect your data while you browse and get full access to all blocked content on the internet for $23 cents a month only check it out Link in the description [Music]

Channel: Nerdstalgic

Views: 264,090

Keywords: Prince of Egypt, Prince of Egypt Dreamworks, Prince of Egypt Failure, Prince of Egypt Animation, Prince of Egypt Behind the Scenes, Nerdstalgic, Prince of Egypt Disney, Prince of Egypt Jeffery Katzenberg, Shrek, Shrek 2, Shrek Animation, Disney, Disney Animation, Disney Renaissance, Disney Movies, Disney Studios, Kung Fu Panda, Kung Fu Panda 4, How to Train Your Dragon, How to Train Your Dragon 4, Animation, Animated Movies, New Rockstars, ScreenCrush, IGN, Corridor Crew, Nerdist

Id: f9viECfnTI0

Length: 11min 28sec (688 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 19 2024