During his exile, he marries Tzipporah and has a son. It is there he experiences a life-changing event: a burning bush through which God speaks to him, commanding Moses to return to Egypt and demand, "Let my people go!"
Even over 25 years later, the animation is breathtaking. The film utilizes a unique blend of traditional 2D animation and CGI that creates a distinct, stylized look. The backgrounds resemble oil paintings, and the character animation is incredibly expressive.
The movie has since become a beloved classic, with a lasting impact on popular culture. It has been nominated for several awards, including two Academy Awards for Best Original Song ("When You Believe") and Best Original Score.
Key musical numbers include:
The "full" experience is also essential for the soundtrack. Schwartz wrote several demos not in the final film, including the heartbreaking "I Will Be There for You" (a duet between young Moses and Rameses). In the "full" extended version of the film's narrative (i.e., watching it as one continuous piece), you realize the tragedy: Moses saves his people’s bodies, but loses his brother’s soul.
The Prince of Egypt is renowned for its groundbreaking animation. The DreamWorks team employed a blend of traditional hand-drawn character animation (supervised by the late effects animator Hans Bacher) and early CGI for spectacular scenes. The sequence remains one of the most celebrated in animation history, using fluid simulations, layered effects, and sweeping camera movements to create a terrifying and beautiful miracle. The visual style drew inspiration from the art of N.C. Wyeth, Egyptian hieroglyphics, and the epic landscapes of David Lean films like Lawrence of Arabia .
Initially, some religious groups nitpicked the absence of Aaron or the fact that God is only a voice. But over 25 years, The Prince of Egypt has been canonized. It is screened at Passover Seders and Easter services alike because it understands that faith is not a children's fairy tale—it is a struggle. prince of egypt full
Thus, the Hebrews are delivered to freedom, and Moses's transformation from a prince of Egypt to the prophet of God is complete.
Rameses refuses, hardening his heart and doubling the slaves’ workload. What follows is the famous confrontation of the ten plagues—from water turning to blood and a plague of frogs to hail, darkness, and finally, the death of the firstborn. After the devastating tenth plague, a broken Rameses finally relents. Moses leads the Hebrew people out of Egypt. However, Rameses changes his mind and pursues them with his chariot army. At the Red Sea, Moses parts the waters, allowing the Hebrews to cross safely. When the Egyptian army follows, the sea collapses, drowning them. The film ends not with a triumphant arrival in Canaan, but with Moses descending from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments—a symbol of law, covenant, and the beginning of a new journey.
In the late 1990s, feature animation was synonymous with lighthearted fairy tales, talking animal sidekicks, and strictly black-and-white morality. DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg sought to shatter this mold. The Prince of Egypt was designed from its inception as a mature, sophisticated dramatic epic. During his exile, he marries Tzipporah and has a son
The music by Hans Zimmer is sweeping and grand, but it is Stephen Schwartz’s songs that steal the show. Tracks like "Deliver Us" set a tone of desperation and hope, while the soaring "When You Believe" remains an Oscar-winning classic that perfectly captures the theme of resilience.
For those looking to watch the film in its entirety, it is widely available across major digital platforms. Because of its status as a cult classic, it has been meticulously remastered.
A hauntingly beautiful sequence that used "white light" and whispers to depict the divine. The backgrounds resemble oil paintings, and the character