The making of ‘Prince of Egypt’ By Paula R. Kincaid The Presbyterian Layman Wednesday, November 18, 1998
The movie is the story of Moses and his passage from slave, to prince, to deliverer and features the voices of Val Kilmer as Moses, Ralph Fiennes as Rameses, Sandra Bullock as Miriam, Danny Glover as Jethro, Jeff Goldblum as Aaron, Steve Martin as Hotep, Helen Mirren as the Queen, Michelle Pfeiffer as Tzipporah, Martin Short as Huy and Patrick Stewart as Pharaoh Seti. While in Pasadena, CA to preview the film, The Presbyterian Layman attended a press conference with Jeffrey Katzenberg, principal partner of Dreamworks . Katzenberg said it was the goal of DreamWorks to be as faithful to the biblical story of Moses as they could be “in the context of understanding that we have 90 minutes to tell 80 years of a man’s life.”
To ensure the accuracy of the film, DreamWorks consulted with more than 350 religious leaders representing the Jewish, Protestant, Catholic, African-American, Mormon and Muslim groups, as well as archaeologists, historians, theologians, anthropologists and anatomists, and made numerous cuts and changes to accommodate them. In some cases, actors who were used on the original soundtrack were brought back to record changes in the dialogue. Kilmer was summoned back to rerecord lines during the killing of the first born (the final plague) scene in which the words “a mark upon the door” were changed to “blood upon the door.” “Because the criticism was as constructive and generous as it was, it actually made us make a better movie,” said Katzenberg. He cited the song, “When You Believe,” as another change made at the request of the religious leaders. “When it was first composed and recorded it said, ‘You can work miracles when you believe.’ What was pointed out by any number of people across all faith groups is ‘Are you saying that people can work miracles when they believe?’ “The answer to that is no,” said Katzenberg, “That is not what we were saying but it was clear that is how one might take it.” Now the song says, “There can be miracles when you believe.” Katzenberg said that “tiny little change” corrected something that “could have offended everyone … and wasn’t what we intended.” No ‘fairy tale merchandising’ Katzenberg said DreamWorks would not do any of the “typical fairy tale merchandising” with the movie – no “burning bush night-light or Red Sea shower curtains. … In doing that we would send the wrong message.” Instead, three albums will be released in support of “The Prince of Egypt.” In addition to a soundtrack album, two albums are being recorded featuring songs inspired by the film’s story: “Inspirational,” gathering recording artists from the arenas of pop, urban and gospel music; and “Nashville,” a compilation of songs performed by country music’s top talents. Other merchandising events include the release of approximately 20 books, and a series of direct-to-video Bible stories, which will go through a screening of religious leaders much like Moses’ story, but not as extensive. DreamWorks has commissioned seven study guides for “Prince of Egypt,” each tailored for different religious faiths (Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, etc.). The guides will be available closer to the movie’s premiere free of charge on the “Prince of Egypt’s” website. By accessing http://www.princeofegypt.com, viewers can download the study guide of their choice. “We’re trying to provide tools for those parents who want to take their children to the movie,” said Katzenberg. “We want to provide them the information to be able to talk about the movie and the story.”
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| 'Prince of Egypt': A review | ||||
| The Presbyterian Layman Nov/Dec 1998 | ||||
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