The Prince of Egypt

The Prince of Egypt
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Brenda Chapman Steve Hickner Simon Wells
Written by	Philip LaZebnik[1]
Based on	Book of Exodus
Produced by	Jeffrey Katzenberg Penney Finkelman Cox Sandra Rabins
Starring	Val Kilmer Ralph Fiennes Michelle Pfeiffer Sandra Bullock Jeff Goldblum Danny Glover Patrick Stewart Helen Mirren Steve Martin Martin Short
Edited by	Nick Fletcher
Music by	Hans Zimmer
Production companies	DreamWorks Pictures[2] DreamWorks Animation[3]
Distributed by	DreamWorks Pictures[2]
Release dates	December 16, 1998 (1998-12-16) (Royce Hall)[4] December 18, 1998 (1998-12-18) (United States)[5]
Running time	99 minutes[6]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$60 million[7]
Box office	$218.6 million[8]

The Prince of Egypt is a 1998 American animated musical drama film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. The second feature film from DreamWorks and the first to be traditionally animated, it is an adaptation of the Book of Exodus and follows the life of Moses from being a prince of Egypt to a prophet chosen by God to carry out his ultimate destiny of leading the Hebrews out of Egypt. The film was directed by Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, and Simon Wells (in Chapman and Hickner's feature directorial debuts), and produced by Jeffrey Katzenberg, Penney Finkelman Cox, and Sandra Rabins, from a screenplay written by Philip LaZebnik. It features songs written by Stephen Schwartz and a score composed by Hans Zimmer. The film stars the voices of Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Goldblum, Danny Glover, Patrick Stewart, Helen Mirren, Steve Martin, and Martin Short.

Katzenberg had frequently suggested an animated adaptation of the 1956 film The Ten Commandments while working for The Walt Disney Company, and he decided to put the idea into production after leaving Disney and co-founding DreamWorks Pictures in 1994. To make the project, DreamWorks employed artists who had worked for Walt Disney Feature Animation and Amblimation, totaling a crew of 350 people from 34 countries. The film has a blend of traditional animation and computer-generated imagery, created using software from Toon Boom Animation and Silicon Graphics.

The Prince of Egypt premiered at Royce Hall in Los Angeles on December 16, 1998, and was released in theaters on December 18, followed by a release on home video on September 14, 1999. Reviews were generally positive; critics particularly praised the visuals, songs, score, and voice acting. The film grossed $218 million worldwide in theaters, which made it the most successful non-Disney animated feature at the time. The film's success led to the direct-to-video prequel Joseph: King of Dreams (2000), and a stage musical adaptation which opened in London's West End in 2020.^[9][10]

The song "When You Believe" became a commercially successful single in a pop version performed by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, and went on to win Best Original Song at the 71st Academy Awards, making it the first animated film independently outside of Disney and Pixar films, as well as the first DreamWorks Animation film to receive Academy Awards, succeeded by Shrek (2001) and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005). The film also won the inaugural Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Animated Feature, in a tie with Disney and Pixar's A Bug's Life.^[11]

In the decades since its release, The Prince of Egypt has been widely acclaimed and regarded as one of DreamWorks' best films, and one of the greatest animated films of all time.^{[12][13][14][15]}