The Prince of Egypt

The Prince of Egypt is a 1998 American animated musical film produced by DreamWorks Animation. It premiered on December 16, 1998 and was the studio's first traditionally animated feature. It was directed by Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, and Simon Wells, written by Philip LaZebnik, with a score by Hans Zimmer and songs by Stephen Schwartz. **Story.** The film adapts the biblical Exodus, following Moses from his upbringing as an Egyptian prince to his role as the prophet who leads the enslaved Hebrews out of Egypt, including the ten plagues and the parting of the sea. Rameses, voiced by Ralph Fiennes, is portrayed as Moses's adoptive brother. The voice cast includes Val Kilmer as Moses (and, uncredited, the voice of God), Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Goldblum, Danny Glover, Patrick Stewart, and Helen Mirren. **Music and awards.** Its songs include "Deliver Us" and "When You Believe"; the latter, performed by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 71st Academy Awards. The film grossed about $218.6 million worldwide. **Production sensitivity.** DreamWorks consulted biblical scholars and Christian, Jewish, and Muslim theologians during production to handle the religious source material respectfully — an approach that aligned the film with the monotheistic mainstream of those traditions. For how the film relates to scholarly readings of the underlying text, see Henotheism and Monolatry in the Biblical Exodus Narrative and Exodus.