The Prince of Egypt

One of my favourite animated movies is The Prince of Egypt. Released in 1998, the movie was the first traditionally animated movie released by Dreamworks.

The Prince of Egypt stands out for me amongst other animated films, as it doesn't shy away from being brutally honest. One scene that is particularly shocking is when God comes down to smite all the firstborns of Egypt. The wailing that can be heard through the city is heartwrenching, but it drives the plot forward and lends to further character development. Dreamworks does not shy away from being explicit in the representation of the Plagues, which makes them one of the most disturbing and powerful parts of the film.

In an industry where companies often shy away from such detail, The Prince of Egypt risks keeping it in for the story. I believe this to be a huge success, even if the movie is forgotten more now. The movie actually came about because Jeffery Katzenberg, while working for Disney, wanted to do an adaptation of the Ten Commandments, but it was refused by Michael Eisner. When Dreamworks was founded, the idea was brought back.

Another part of why I love this movie so much is the cinematography. There are so many scenes that carry significance in where characters are placed, and what is around them. My favourite is during the scene where Moses warns his brother to "let my people [the Hebrew slaves] go", in fear of the final plague - the death of the first borns - befalling Egypt. His brother stubbornly refuses, and the staging of his brother, the firstborn son of the Pharaoh, and Moses reflects their positions, and foreshadows the eventual death of the firstborn.

Moses stands under the Egyptian soldiers, who are throwing the firstborn of the Hebrews into the water - the same fate that would have befallen Moses had not his mother released him into freedom herself. Rameses, the brother, stands under the illustration of his father, who commanded the firstborns to death in fear the Hebrew population would grow too vast and take back control. Finally, Rameses' son stands underneath the damned babies, foreshadowing his eventual death from the same fate. 

The staging in this scene beautifully reflects the plot, and is just one of the reasons that The Prince of Egypt is a highly underrated film, in my opinion.