Note 6: The Prince of Egypt

A little bit different today is that the musical I’m going to introduce you is an animated one-The Prince of Egypt. Rather than showing you a Broadway or West end production, the reasons I choose the animation is because that much of the animation is stunning and all of the vocal performances are good to great. And it's just much of the passion seems to be in not stepping on anyone's beliefs or interpretations, instead of in telling the story in the most compelling way possible.

Dreamworks Pictures has taken the biblical story of Exodus, put it into cartoon form, and released it on the big screen as an epic animated feature. The Prince of Egypt tells the story of Moses releasing the Jews from Egyptian slavery under the hand of the evil pharaoh Rameses. Think of The Ten Commandments with songs and an all-star cast doing the voices. The story revolves around these two close brothers, Moses and Rameses. While Rameses is groomed to take over the land, his beloved brother Moses is a carefree prankster, until he learns the true secret of his past. His secret, of course, is that he is really a Jew and as a child was floated down the river to escape mass genocide. The pharaoh Seti raised Moses as his son. Upon learning the truth of his past from a burning bush, Moses returns to Egypt with God on his side and demands that the pharaoh (now his brother Rameses) must "Let my people go." With songs written by Oscar-winner Stephen Schwartz and sung by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, The Prince of Egypt covers all the classic story points of the story of Moses, including the ten plagues and the parting of the Red Sea.

The film was nominated for best Original Musical or Comedy Score and won for Best Original Song at the 1999 Academy Awards for "When You Believe". The song's pop version was performed at the ceremony by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. The song, co-written by Stephen Schwartz, Hans Zimmer and with additional production by Babyface, was nominated for Best Original Song (in a Motion Picture) at the 1999 Golden Globes and was also nominated for Outstanding Performance of a Song for a Feature Film at the ALMA Awards. Though “When You Believe” seems to be the most representative song of the film, my favorite number is ‘”Deliver Us”. This song enchanted me as a child when i first saw the movie and to this day it still paralyzes my soul to stop and listen and float in harmony with the beautiful voices. What triggers me the most is the voice of the mother, who sings with deep sorrow and strong hope. Someone may argue about whether the story is true or not, but let’s just put it aside and enjoy the breath-taking music first.