The Prince of Egypt - A Forgotten Masterpiece

when on the topic of what some of the best animated films of all time are movies like these are always mentioned and it would almost be a crime if they weren't these films have shaped entire childhoods and generations and have inspired countless lives especially mine movies like the iron giant ratatouille and how to train your dragon played a great part in making me the person who i am today i'm glad that they get the recognition that they deserve on lists like rotten tomatoes top 100 animated films of all time however one film that is rarely on these lists and is always overlooked is none other than the prince of egypt some of you may remember it for its catchy musical numbers some may remember watching it because of religious reasons and some of you may have never even heard of it regardless i strongly believe this film is far more than what we remember it to be and it deserves a spot to be recognized not just for its technical artistic feats but also because of its beautiful themes and unexpected meaning that few movies successfully explore let's revisit the forgotten masterpiece that is the prince of egypt the sequences of this film are huge [Music] the scale is enormous and grand and all of this is due to the combination of the music and animation of the film the amount of detail and weight there is in the animation is outstanding and incredibly impressive you can almost feel the texture of the objects the characters touch the ground that they walk on or the dust that flies into their faces the music production done by none other than steven schwartz and hans zimmer is magnificent and humbly making you feel small in the presence of the overwhelming size of monuments plagues and miracles but the combination of the two make for a unique experience i have found in few films both animated and live action [Music] the casting in the film is brilliant with actors like val kilmer ralphine sandra bullock patrick stewart michelle pfeiffer and of course jeff goldblum as well as many other well-renowned actors and actresses their performances are full of emotion and character especially val kilmer and ralph finds as moses and ramsay's the conflict between the two is heavy and layered with a great amount of depth and realism especially for an animated movie as are the film's themes on complex meaning with this being an adaptation of a biblical story you would think that the meaning of the film would be something religious like believe in god and miracles will happen in your life and that's what i thought too for a majority of my life however it wasn't until recently that i finally began to understand what this film means this movie isn't about belief in god if it was then it would be the driving conflict of the movie and be a predominant theme the thing is that's never a problem for the characters in the opening scene the israelites aren't seeing about how they rejected god because they are oppressed on the contrary they are calling out to him in faith that he will save them as for moses the moment he comes into contact with god he doesn't doubt him i am the god of your ancestors abraham isaac and jacob he immediately believes and continues to do so throughout the film again this isn't about belief in god since that isn't a problem for any of the characters the problem is what the characters believe about themselves i will not be the weak link [Music] in the very beginning of the film we are presented the problem immediately with the deliver us musical sequence we see the hebrew slaves suffer as they build the kingdom and monuments of egypt while the egyptian soldiers are slaughtering their firstborn infant males the innocent are suffering immensely at the hands of pharaoh a man in a self-appointed place of divinity and royalty his belief of himself being a god has resulted in the suffering of the innocent the film then presents us two brothers moses and ramses through these characters the film elegantly further explores the theme of self-belief and its effects on others at first moses believes he's egyptian and is blind to the suffering of the israelites but once he learns he's actually one of them that's all he sees even in places where they aren't even physically present what he believes about himself has shifted meanwhile ramses is in line for the throne of pharaoh and has a lot of expectations put on him by others on who he should be and fears he will be ruined to his father's kingdom but one weak link can break the chain of a mighty dynasty it's because of this fear that he wishes to not only become more like his father but more than his father which also causes him to succumb to the same delusions of grandeur that has plagued the line of pharaoh but in spite of all of this he has a strong bond with his brother moses who runs off into the wilderness after learning of his true heritage it's there where he is welcomed into a small village midian by its high priest jethro who's seeing some incredible words of wisdom to moses he sings a song of perspective of how one cannot judge their own life based off of their actions or by others but through the lens of reality itself and the stone that sits on the very top of the mountain's mighty face doesn't think it's more important than the stones that formed so how can you see what your life is it doesn't matter what you've been called what you've done or what you've said through the perspective of reality we all deserve freedom and love but ultimately it's a choice it's up to you to look through heaven's eyes it's because of this shift in moses's self-belief that he is able to hear the voice of god who interestingly is also voiced by val kilmer as well as a few other members of the cast that can obviously mean many things but it's a detail i really love and appreciate in this beautifully animated scene god tells moses to go back to egypt and tell pharaoh to let the hebrews go and he does ramses is now pharaoh and has succeeded in his endeavors to become greater than his father but he is blind to the suffering he has caused which is all that moses can see because of ramses's false belief of himself he falls prey to deceit literally smoke and mirrors while moses can see right past it also a comparison can be made between the egyptian hype priests and midians while hotep and hoy played by steve martin and martin short believe miracles are attention-grabbing and glamorous they love it jethro played by danny glover believes miracles are present in our lives every day and can only be seen by those willing to search for it it's a small comparison but it really brings contrast to the opposing ideals between ramses and moses one is grand but ultimately false the other is humble but ultimately true moses tells ramses that things can't be how they were while his people remain slaves under ramses tyranny here ramses is presented a choice let go of his power or abuse it further [Music] ramsay's choice to hold on to his power results in not just the suffering of the hebrews but all of egypt moses continuously warns him of this but he denies it time and time again i will not be dictated to i will not be threatened i am the morning and the evening star i am pharaoh here is where we start to get into the heavy meaning of a film god then tells the israelites to mark their lentils with the blood of a sacrificed lamb so that they are unaffected by the next plague the life of the firstborn being taken without diving into the year's worth of theological studies revolving around the meaning of sacrifices in the bible i will share one interpretation when the nation of israel became their own independent civilization most of their laws involved sacrificing an innocent animal when someone did wrong like cheating lying or stealing like i said there are many interpretations as to what this means but one that i largely agree with and find quite meaningful even in today's society is that the blood of the innocent reflects the consequences of your wrongdoings god taking the life of the firstborn reflects the ramses the suffering and pain he has caused his own people and the hebrews through his selfish ambitions though it is a horrible consequence it's a painfully realistic one that presents him another choice he can choose to either let go of his power and come to terms with his abuse of it you and your people have my permission to go or hold onto it further and blame others the now free hebrews pass through the fallen kingdom of egypt towards freedom which further shows us the meaning of the film throughout the whole movie we have seen how a toxic belief of oneself being separated and above others has led to oppression and abuse of power moses however looks at himself not separate from the world and his people but as a part of them and deeply connected this humble belief of seeing himself through heaven's eyes has led to the miracle of freedom for not just himself but his world egypt ramsay's still failing to accept his faults returns to slaughter the hebrews now that they are backed into a corner we all know where this goes [Music] the whole sequence of this film is nothing short of majestic the composition and music is just [Music] perfect too god provides an opening for ramses to attack which he obviously takes but the israelites managed to escape leaving for ramses and his army to get swallowed up by the sea the hebrews meanwhile are on the other side free and hopeful to start anew for our final shot of ramses we see him on the other side alone and in a whirlwind of emotions while calling out to moses here he is given a choice once again accept and come to terms with his abusive power and move on or continue to perpetuate the cycle of oppression and selfish ambitions the prince of egypt dives into a theme practically all animated films do but in a way that is deeply layered with incredible imagery beautiful perspective and respect towards the source material all while being socially relevant and something everyone can relate to the meaning being the power of self-belief believing you are above others and disconnected from the world leads to suffering you fall prey to delusions and your pride meanwhile believing you are on the same level as others by looking through heaven's eyes leads to the freedom of not just yourself but of others you can see past deceit and corruption and find true miracles every day whether it be in the eyes of a child a sunrise or a dance the final shot of the film is moses walking down a mountain with the ten commandments and standing above the free people of egypt while the song deliver us plays which mirrors this moment at the beginning of the film moses is not the king of egypt we've seen how kings become corrupt with their power god or reality is the king of egypt the true ruler moses isn't he understands that he's an equal a humble leader the prince of egypt as you've seen i really love this movie it's visually rich musically vibrant deeply meaningful it's a masterpiece of storytelling through animation but unfortunately it's been mostly forgotten even by dreamworks they didn't even release it on blu-ray until october of 2018. as someone who collects blu-rays i was hoping for a dedicated 20th anniversary release with appropriate artwork and design not this wonderfully entertaining for a movie that has mature themes like genocide and slavery this seems a little inappropriate as for its absence and discussions and lists about the best animated films of all time it's also really disappointing let's just say despicable me 1 and 2 show up on these lists more often the prince of egypt is a one of a kind i've never seen an animated film convey such mature and deeply meaningful themes on such a grand yet intimate scale if you've never seen it or at least have it in a while please give it a watch it's currently on netflix and most likely available at your library it strongly deserves a second chance to be remembered as the masterpiece it is [Music] thank you so much for watching i hope you enjoyed my video as for a quick update i just want to apologize for my absence from youtube i made a post on instagram that hopefully answers your questions on where i've been and what i've been up to i really recommend checking it out link for that is down in the description i'm proud to announce that you can expect me to upload not once every 10 months but at least once a month that's right you can expect me to upload videos consistently and i'm looking so forward to it in case you couldn't already tell i love doing this it's a huge passion of mine and it's beyond humbling that you guys actually enjoy it thank you so much for your support and patience it means the world to me see you next time god bless

Channel: Josh Keefe

Views: 3,083,197

Keywords: The Prince of Egypt, Animation, Video essay, film, film and animation, josh keefe, christian movies, christian movie, essay, video, josh keefe prince of egypt, dreamworks, underrated, top ten underrated movies, top 10 underrated movies, masterpiece, Animated masterpiece, underrated masterpiece, forgotten, forgotten film, forgotten masterpiece, animating, review, movie review, video essays, treasure planet, animated review, animation movies, good animation, bad animation

Id: Y7N6_HTR9y0

Length: 12min 48sec (768 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 09 2019