The Prince of Egypt (movie, little background)

The Prince of Egypt is a fun movie. The animation style is very reminiscent (or, rather, antecedent) of The Road to El Dorado. They are both Dreamworks animation adventures, after all, but it is a pretty style.

Unfortuneately, the animation style is the best thing I can say about The Prince of Egypt. It was "Fun but Flawed". Since I have fairly limited experience with any older story of Moses, wether orignial or in the English translated versions of the Bible, I am unsure how much of my crtisism is toward that or this. It was kind of Dreamworks (Disney could learn a thing or two here) to put a little disclaimer in the beginning that admitted to using artistic lisense. Disney, however, if they used such a thing, would rarely be able to say that they tried to remain true to the spirit of the original tale. The only movie of theirs I can think of which could claim to have much similar with any "original spirit" was The Lion King with Hamlet.

The way that The Prince of Egypt was made does make me think that the original story is a parable that has little to do with historical fact. Perhaps there's a little historical relevance, but it's probably on par with the historical relevance to the Norse Creation Myth. It is, instead, a story with a purpose, like any number of the parables in the Bible such as David and Goliath or Noah's Arc. I suppose there are too many miracles, and too little understanding of psychology on the part of God, for me to think otherwise even though I will admit the possibility of its being factual.

It is not my favorite pariable of the Bible, either. Most pariables have a lesson. And, as many writers say, fiction can be more than fact, sometimes. The pariable here seems to be: cross me and I'll KILL you, for I am a mighty and powerful God! Hu-Rah!

NOTE: I apologize if much of this sounds offensive. That is not actually my point. Though I am not religious, really, myself. I have no quarrel with any God or Gods there might be and hope they have a sense of humor. I feel I give God more credit than this story because I assume, as a creator of humans and our bizarre psychology, he would understand it far better than the entity in this movie and could have concocted a better plan for getting the Hebrews out of Egypt using the pharaoh's half-brother and brother in spirit.