THE PRINCE OF EGYPT

THE PRINCE OF EGYPT

Two men—brothers and princes of the greatest empire on earth. One will someday rule Egypt. The other will become one of the greatest heroes of all time. A lie made them brothers…but the truth will destroy a dynasty and forever separate them…in faith…in heritage…in destiny.

The epic journey of Moses from slave to prince to deliverer has been told and retold for centuries, inspiring generation after generation. Now this timeless story comes to the screen in a new form for audiences of every generation to experience.

“The Prince of Egypt” features the voices of Val Kilmer as Moses and Ralph Fiennes as Rameses. It also brings together the vocal talents of 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.

The production team is headed by directors Brenda Chapman, the first woman director of an animated feature, Steve Hickner and Simon Wells; producers Penney Finkelman Cox and Sandra Rabins; and executive producer Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Oscar® winner Stephen Schwartz (“Pocahontas”) wrote six original songs for the film, and composer Hans Zimmer, an Academy Award® winner for his work on “The Lion King,” created the score.

Over 350 artists, animators and technicians from over 35 different countries devoted four years to bringing “The Prince of Egypt” to the screen. The film breaks exciting new ground in animation with such developments as the state-of-the-art exposure tool, developed by DreamWorks and SGI, which allows for the seamless blending of 2-D and 3-D animation. New approaches in character and production design give the film a look that is distinctly different from other animated films. In addition, award-winning visual effects artists from the world of live-action films joined with traditional animation artists to achieve a new level of special effects for an animated feature.

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

THE BEGINNING

The idea that would become DreamWorks’ “The Prince of Egypt” began to take shape even before the company was formed. Of course, the story has its roots in the biblical book of Exodus, but the inspiration to bring it to the screen as the studio’s first traditionally animated feature arose unexpectedly from a conversation between Jeffrey Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg and David Geffen back in 1994.

The three were talking about their ambitions for their as-yet-to-be-announced studio venture. Katzenberg’s revolved around a new animation studio, which prompted a question from Spielberg. Katzenberg recalls, “Steven asked what the criteria would be for a great animated film, and I launched into a 20-minute dissertation about what you look for: a powerful allegory that we can relate to in our time; extraordinary situations to motivate strong emotional journeys; something wonderful about the human spirit; good triumphing over evil; music as a compelling storytelling element; and so on… Steven leaned forward and said, ‘You mean like “The Ten Commandments”?,’ and I said, ‘Exactly.’”

However, it was Geffen who brought the concept home, as Katzenberg remembers, “David said, ‘What a great idea. Why don’t we make that our first animated movie?’ And we were off…”

Katzenberg acknowledges, “I’m sure there are those who think we’re nuts for choosing a Bible story as our first animated feature. But the fact is, this is a great emotional story about a remarkable man who must come to terms with his past, his heritage and his faith. In our telling of the story, we also focus on the extraordinary relationship between two brothers and how the roles in which they have been cast in life draw them into conflict with each other.”

“The Prince of Egypt” fulfilled another of Katzenberg’s long-held goals, allowing him to take animation into new territory. “In live action,” he states, “there is an incredible variety of movies—dramas, comedies, big effects films, intimate romantic comedies… As moviegoers, we demand that kind of diversity from live-action features. I don’t see why animation can’t be as varied in the types of stories it tells. I hope and believe that we can use animation as a cinematic tool to tell many different kinds of stories…that today’s animation can be something more than movies for children.”

“We do not want to exclude children as an audience, but set out to make a film that we as adults would want to see,” producer Penney Finkelman Cox adds. “This part of the Bible touches on sophisticated themes, which set the movie apart from the start. In other words, the story determined what the film would be, as opposed to the technique used to tell it—animation didn’t define the movie, the nature of the material did.”

For the filmmakers, the fact that the film would be animated made it no less important to try to be accurate in depicting the time and place of the story. Everyone involved in the production became part of a process of exhaustive research in their respective areas—from the story itself to the geography, architecture and clothing of the Egyptian Empire. The filmmakers also consulted with archeologists, historians, theologians, Egyptologists, biblical scholars and religious leaders.

During the early stages of production, key members of the creative team embarked on a trip to Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula. Traveling through the ancient land, directors Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner and Simon Wells; producers Penney Finkelman Cox and Sandra Rabins; executive producer Jeffrey Katzenberg; story supervisors Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook; production designer Darek Gogol; art directors Kathy Altieri and Richard Chavez; and songwriter Stephen Schwartz were each inspired in their own way. Schwartz observes, ÒIt’s hard to define, but thereÕs an intangible connection that comes from being on the actual spot…seeing the locations and breathing the air. There were times when I was walking through a temple or looking at a giant statue and music would actually come into my head. Several themes in the movie originated that way.Ó

The filmmakers recognized that there were a number of inherent challenges in bringing the Exodus story to the screen. Producer Sandra Rabins offers, “We began by identifying the problems, and then set out to solve them during an 18-month evolution in which we continually honed the story to discover what worked and what didn’t.”

The first dilemma was how to tell a story of such enormous scope in about 90 minutes. Co-story supervisor Kelly Asbury says, “The challenges were to be as true to the biblical source material as possible, maintain the overall narrative of the story, capture the emotions of the characters, and make a film you could really sink your teeth into—all within the time constraints.”

Co-head of story Lorna Cook continues, “It was also important to keep the character of Moses as accessible as possible, because ultimately he was human. That was one thing we wanted to get across: he wasn’t just a messenger; he was a man who took on a mission, but not without conflict and sometimes with a lot of fear.”

In “The Prince of Egypt,” the main conflict faced by Moses becomes his relationship with Rameses, the man he had always known as his brother. “This isn’t a traditional animated picture with a conventional hero and villain. It’s a much more complex story,” director Steve Hickner notes. “In our movie, Moses and Rameses are brothers; from the beginning of the film to the very last moment, they still care for each other.”

Val Kilmer, who is the voice of Moses, offers, “We can all identify with having people in our lives who we still care strongly about, even after the relationship has changed.”

“They become estranged to the point where they are enemies. But when brothers are enemies, they don’t stop being brothers,” says Ralph Fiennes, who provides the voice of Rameses.

“In fact, they still love each other very much,” director Brenda Chapman states. “Their conflict arises because of the different ways in which they grow—one doesn’t grow very much at all; the other grows beyond anything he could possibly have imagined. The relationship between the two brothers evolved out of a storyboard sequence created by story artist Ronnie del Carmen. When we saw what he had conceived, we realized that the story of the two brothers was the heart of the film. To me, it’s the key to what made the story work.”

As the story developed, so did the concept for the look of “The Prince of Egypt,” which was primarily influenced by the work of three very disparate artists. Nineteenth-century French illustrator Gustave DorŽ created Bible etchings that, although black and white, are incredibly rich and very detailed. The paintings of Impressionist artist Claude Monet are alive with lush palettes of color and light. Finally, the filmmakers looked to the work of director David Lean, an undisputed master of epic cinema.

Katzenberg says, ÒWhen we were recruiting, people would come in, and I’d show them the DorŽ illustrated Bible, a book of Monet paintings and some stills from Lean’s ‘Lawrence of Arabia.’ I’d say, ‘These are our inspirations; I hope we can do them justice.’Ó

REBUILDING A LOST EMPIRE

The setting of “The Prince of Egypt” is divided into two major worlds: the majestic empire of the Egyptians, hewn from stone with clean hard edges and sharp angles; and the small, winding, intimate milieu of the Hebrews, made with mud bricks and timber and worn by the elements. This stylistically different approach helped underscore the contrasts between these two cultures.

“I designed the Egyptian world to be larger than life,Ó says production designer Darek Gogol. ÒWhen you go to Egypt and stand next to the actual temples, you realize that for ancient people, these were the skyscrapers of their time. What’s amazing is that in the 20th century, we’re still overwhelmed by this architecture. I wanted to make the buildings bigger than they actually were to capture that sense of scale on the screen.Ó

During his research, Gogol found another way to connote the Egyptian style of architecture. “All the ancient Egyptian drawings I studied are flat; they didn’t know about perspective,” he remarks. “I thought it would be interesting to take that element and draw the architecture in a very flat way without showing any vanishing points. The columns, for example, have no ellipse. They get bigger or smaller as we get closer or farther away, but they remain flat.”

In sharp contrast to the splendor of the Egyptian Empire are the modest dwellings of the Hebrews in Goshen. Art director Richie Chavez notes, ÒThe world of the Hebrews is more organic. We gave Goshen more of a rounded, eroded look because the homes were made of mud brick, which is weathered by the rain, the wind and the sand. The homes are asymmetrical and off-kilter to give them a flow and ebb that the angular Egyptian side didnÕt have.Ó

A similar split extended to the design of the people who inhabit these worlds. Character designers Carter Goodrich and Carlos Grangel studied ancient wall paintings and carvings to find a visual language that would help define the two societies. The Egyptian characters are more sculpted in appearance with chiseled features, while the Hebrews are more curved and looser in their shape.

In creating the faces, the character designers, along with lead animator William Salazar, hit on an approach that further set their characters apart from those in other animated films. Standard practice had been to divide the faces into thirds: one third for the eyes and forehead, one third for the nose and cheeks, and one third for the mouth and chin. In “The Prince of Egypt,” the familiar 33-33-33% formula was altered to 30-40-30%. Slightly elongating the middle section of the face and shortening the upper and lower ones gave the characters a more realistic and engaging countenance, and allowed the animators to bring out more expression in their faces.

The designers also utilized color to accentuate the contrasts between the two cultures. The buildings of the Egyptians are in polished white and light pastels, while the homes of the Hebrews are in muted earth tones. Their costumes also reflect these color separations. The Egyptians are dressed in white with jewelry accents of gold, red and turquoise, while the Hebrews are clothed in natural shades of brown and beige. Only the Midianites, the desert tribe of Jethro and Tzipporah, are dressed in vibrant colors.

“The Prince of Egypt” is the first animated film to employ a professional costume designer. Kelly Kimball worked closely with the character designers to create a “wardrobe” for the characters. She did extensive research, and also experimented with fabrics and natural dyes that were available in the time of Moses. She discovered that the people of the day would have been able to achieve a full palette, which opened up the range of colors that could be used in the costumes.

Color became integral not only to the look of the film, but the impact of the drama. During the development phase, the filmmakers worked with the art directors to map out what became known as the “emotional beat board,” which assigned specific color schemes to different points of the story.

“There are color cues we all respond to naturally,” art director Kathy Altieri explains. “We played on those throughout the film. The happier sequences, for example, have lighter brighter colors with lots of sunlight streaming through. We applied red and black for more dramatic, scary or violent sequences. We used blue, a soothing color, in the scene when Moses’ basket floats into the Queen’s water garden to emphasize that something nurturing and safe is happening.”

Lack of color also came into play. “The sequence of the death of the first-born is almost monochromatic. Whereas we had used color saturation to fill a scene with life, to express lack of life we literally sucked the color out. We helped convey the emotions of the story through color, light and contrast, but it should be very subliminal. If the audience becomes consciously aware of it, we didn’t do our job well,” Altieri states.

In animation, there is no set, so every sound has to be created from scratch, just like the visual elements. Award-winning sound designers Lon Bender and Wylie Stateman worked for over two years to develop the sounds of ancient Egypt, modulating the frequencies of the background noise in relationship to the action. The Red Sea sequence, for example, demanded that they give volume to the crashing waves without competing with Hans Zimmer’s score. They did this by keeping their frequencies out of the range of the music, allowing the sound and the score to be harmonious. In the final step, re-recording mixers Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Shawn Murphy wove together the sound effects, the music and, of course, the voices.

VOCAL TALENTS

“The Prince of Egypt” has a roster of stars as impressive as any ever assembled for a feature film—animated or live action. Casting director Leslee Feldman began the process by gathering voice tapes from a wide assortment of actors. She then played them for the filmmakers, often not revealing whose voice they were hearing. Brenda Chapman explains, “You want to listen for voice quality without being influenced one way or the other. You need to think about how you’re responding emotionally to what you’re hearing.”

Rabins notes, “Leslee had only worked in live action, so she had no preconceptions about what an ‘animated’ voice should sound like. She just presented us with the best actors for the roles, and 90 percent of the time everybody went for the exact same voice. We then approached those actors and actresses and told them about the film, and every one of them wanted to be part of it. We ended up with a dream cast.”

Cast in the central role of Moses, Val Kilmer brought the necessary range of both age and emotion to his performance. “Val has a wonderfully rich voice,” Wells says. “He could convey the innocence of youth of an 18-year-old boy, and could then capture the gravity and authority of an older and wiser man.”

Kilmer acknowledges that it might have been intimidating to portray someone who holds such significance for so many people. “However,” he adds, “as you become involved in his life, you begin to understand that he is a man; he has highs and lows and ups and downs…but his destiny is something he cannot escape, and it leads him beyond what he ever considered possible.”

Making his animation debut, Kilmer offers, “The rhythms of speech and the importance of each phrase made it very reminiscent of doing theatre. It was an extraordinary luxury to be able to keep refining my performance and to do the kind of work I’ve rarely had the chance to do in film. As an actor, it was a joyful and unique experience to be included in the process.”

Rabins comments, “Val gave this film everything we asked for and more. He pushed his performance to incredible levels and was always willing to come back in, even to record a single line. He was a joy to work with.”

Ralph Fiennes gives voice to the pivotal role of Rameses. “Ralph is not only a great actor, he actually helped us to develop the part of Rameses,” Chapman states. “There’s a vulnerability that comes out in his voice, even when he’s being very strong. That became the core of Rameses—he is this big, powerful Pharaoh, but deep down there’s some small part that’s a little unsure. He is trapped and driven by tradition and heritage, which are everything to him. He is so determined to live up to his father and be the greatest Pharaoh ever, that he’s blinded to anything else.”

“I think he’s a tragic figure,” Fiennes observes. “He’s unable to see that it’s wrong to treat other people as slaves because he’s been conditioned by how he was raised, and that kind of conditioning is very hard—sometimes impossible—to break. He is not a villain, which I think is one of the strengths of our approach to Rameses. He’s misguided and arrogant, but he is not overtly evil.”

Fiennes, who did his own singing in “The Prince of Egypt,” adds that working in front of a microphone instead of a camera was creatively and technically very different. “It is very difficult to be in a dramatic scene with another actor when they’re not there,” he says. “In a sense everything is focused into your voice; your voice has got to be its own physical body. It’s thrilling…but very exhausting.”

“Ralph really worked to bring out all the ambiguities and nuances we incorporated into the role,” Finkelman Cox remarks. “He’s incredible to watch because he becomes the character. He just disappeared in front of us and became the Pharaoh Rameses—proud and full of strength. He’s an amazing actor, and we were very excited to have his singing voice as well as his speaking performance in the movie.”

Another cast member who did her own singing was Michelle Pfeiffer, who is the voice of Moses’ wife Tzipporah. “She brought the part to life,” Hickner states. “Once we heard her voice, we were able to complete the design of the character. It became more and more clear who she should be.”

Tzipporah’s father Jethro is voiced by Danny Glover, who, Chapman says, “brought a wonderful exuberance to the role of this boisterous, happy, free man who loves life. Jethro teaches Moses that the value of a good life is not in materialistic wealth; it is in how he shares his life with others, which has a big influence on him.”

Sandra Bullock provides the voice of Moses’ sister Miriam. She describes her role as “the one who holds on to her faith from beginning to end. She is the one who forces her brother to see where he came from, which ultimately begins his journey. I’m very proud to be a part of this film,” she continues. “I think it’s groundbreaking—it’s going to change people’s perceptions of animation.”

Contrary to Miriam’s unyielding faith, the voice of doubt is represented by Moses’ Hebrew brother Aaron, played by Jeff Goldblum. “My character is very skeptical about the whole idea of Moses’ mission, but he comes to believe,” Goldblum says. “I love this story. It’s very uplifting in a way that’s heart-centered and conscience-driven. It inspires me.”

In one of the rare instances where two actors actually worked together, Goldblum and Bullock also inspired the filmmakers while recording the scene in which Miriam confronts Moses. “We had conceived this as a very heavy moment when Moses finds out who he really is,” Wells reveals. “Instead, Jeff and Sandra brought such a sense of humor to it that, at first, it put me in a bit of a panic. But then, the more we worked on it, we began to realize that what they were doing with the scene was better than what we had planned. The great thing about Jeff is you have to physically stop him from doing takes. He will do 150 takes on one line if you let him because he keeps coming up with more ideas.”

Steve Martin and Martin Short were another acting duo who recorded together in the respective roles of Hotep and Huy, the Pharaoh’s court magicians. In addition, they also did their own singing on the song “Playing With the Big Boys.” Chapman notes, “They believe that the magic that they have is actually the power of the gods. They bring a slightly comic but more sinister element to the movie.”

Patrick Stewart brings his distinctive voice to the role of Pharaoh Seti. “Patrick had a huge responsibility,” Hickner reveals. “In only a few scenes, he had to establish the ‘baggage’ that Rameses has to carry, so in the second half of the movie, you sense the weight of the mantle that Rameses bears. Patrick did that beautifully.”

Pharaoh Seti’s Queen, who draws Moses from the Nile River to raise as their son, is voiced by Helen Mirren. “The Queen represents the soft side of the Egyptian world,” Hickner says. “Helen gave her an innate gentleness; you can feel the bond she has with Moses in just the few moments they share onscreen.”

Though the Queen is the only mother Moses knows, the woman who gave him life is his birth mother Yocheved. The internationally popular Yemenite Israeli singer Ofra Haza brings heartbreaking poignancy to the part of Yocheved, singing her last lullaby to her baby as she sets him adrift in a basket on the Nile.

It was composer Hans Zimmer who originally called the filmmakers’ attention to Haza for the role. “We had auditioned a number of people who were pretty good, but no one quite hit the mark,” Wells says. “Then Ofra came in and just blew us away. It wasn’t acting…it was the real thing.”

Audiences worldwide will have the opportunity to hear Haza perform her role in almost every language. She not only sang the English-language version and, of course, the Hebrew, but recorded her song in 17 other languages as well, including German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Hungarian, Swedish, Polish, Norwegian, Flemish and Greek, among others. Haza actually speaks seven languages fluently, and learned her part phonetically in the others.

Several other notable performers lent their singing talents to “The Prince of Egypt.” Taking on the musical portion of the role of Jethro, Broadway star Brian Stokes Mitchell sings “Through Heaven’s Eyes.” Chapman states, “Brian worked to make himself sound more like Danny Glover. His natural voice is pretty close, but he listened to Danny’s takes and achieved a seamless transition between the two voices. He’s incredibly skilled, and he was having so much fun recording the song that everyone in the room was just grinning with joy.”

Another performer who had to match his voice to his speaking counterpart was Amick Byram, who sings Moses’ songs “All I Ever Wanted” and “The Plagues.” “Val Kilmer has such a unique voice that it was especially difficult, but Amick really worked to get it,” Wells says.

The singing voice of Miriam is split between two actresses: Sally Dworsky sings the adult Miriam’s part of “When You Believe”; and Eden Riegel is young Miriam, who sings a prayer for her baby brother as she watches him being rescued from the Nile River. Linda Dee Shayne provides the singing voice of the Queen.

“We were incredibly fortunate to have this unbelievable ensemble of talent who were so generous and supportive in making this movie,” Katzenberg says.

THE FACE TO THE VOICE

Though it’s the actors’ voices that personify the characters, the animators also play a vital part in bringing those characters to life. “In a way, there is an ensemble of ‘actors’ for each role—one doing the voice and several more doing the animation. You actually cast your animators, and direct their ‘performances’ in much the same way as you do your voice talent,” says Wells.

Dave Brewster, supervising animator for Older Rameses and the Queen, agrees. “Animators are just frustrated actors who are too scared to act in front of the camera, so they act with a pencil.”

Just as actors have different techniques, so do animators. Fabio Lignini, the supervising animator for Aaron, notes, “Some of us close our doors and act out the scenes before we even start drawing. I also went to the recording sessions, which was very helpful because Jeff Goldblum has very specific mannerisms and gestures.”

In addition, the actors are videotaped as they record their lines, and the animators often use this as a reference. Rodolphe Guenoden, the supervising animator on the character of Tzipporah, illustrates, “Michelle Pfeiffer has a certain spontaneity; she just went to the mike and, bang, the scene was there. I tried to get that same spontaneity in her character.”

Bob Scott, the supervising animator on Miriam, adds that sometimes the voice alone is enough to inspire him. “There is a distinctly sweet quality to Sandra Bullock’s voice. It really adds to her character, and made it easier to animate Miriam.”

Traditional hand-drawn animation has seen some refinements over the years. Nevertheless, the daunting task of creating tens of thousands of pencil drawings to fill 24 frames per second remains unchanged. Consequently, certain characters must be split between two supervising animators and their teams, as was the case with Moses and Rameses.

William Salazar was the supervising animator on Younger Moses, who we first meet as a carefree youth, but who is then confronted by a truth that changes his entire life. “I think the most difficult thing is to show emotion without dialogue,” Salazar says. “For example, there is a scene that was animated by a member of our team, James Baxter, in which Miriam is trying to convince Moses that he is her brother, and she sings their mother’s lullaby to him. You can see the panic in Moses’ eyes when he realizes he has heard this song before; you know he remembers without his speaking a word.”

The supervising animator on Older Moses was Kristof Serrand. The younger version of his character had already been conceived, so Serrand had the advantage of not starting from scratch. He first had to match his drawing of Moses to that of William Salazar and then age him appropriately. He adds, “The other challenge was to keep the character real. Moses is an impressive man, but if you’re so impressed by the character, it becomes too intimidating and you can’t do anything. I had to think of him as a normal person, someone I could meet somewhere.”

Serrand also served as the supervising animator on Pharaoh Seti, who, he says, he “tried to portray as a father rather than just as a ruler. That made him more human and more interesting.”

The role of Rameses was also divided, with Dave Brewster supervising Older Rameses, and Serguei Kouchnerov handling the younger incarnation of the Egyptian prince. For inspiration, Kouchnerov studied ancient Egyptian art, in addition to the performance of Ralph Fiennes. Also the supervising animator for baby Moses, Kouchnerov had a more personal inspiration for this character—his own three-month-old baby daughter.

Patrick Mate had a special appreciation for his work as the supervising animator on the magician team of Hotep and Huy, being a fan of their alter egos Steve Martin and Martin Short. “I had a lot of fun with the movement and the choreography of the characters. They are always together, so it was much better to have one animator supervising both of them,” Mate says.

The supervising animator for the role of Jethro, Gary Perkovac, was also incorporating the work of two actors, but for only one role. “Danny Glover and Brian Stokes Mitchell brought things in common to Jethro that I tried to draw from,” Perkovac says. “They both have very kind eyes and both gave incredible energy and joy to their performances.”

A large portion of the animators, as well as other members of the production team, were alumni of Steven Spielberg’s London-based Amblimation and had come from all over the globe. “It brought an international feel to the picture, and made it more interesting to direct…as long as you could speak 20 different languages,” Steve Hickner laughs.

THE MULTITUDES

In addition to the main characters, “The Prince of Egypt” features thousands of “extras,” who would have been virtually impossible to animate using traditional hand-drawn animation. Through some remarkable digital innovations, the computer animators were able to populate the film with hundreds of thousands of people.

CG crowd animator Wendy Elwell remarks, “Obviously, you can’t tell the story of the Exodus with only 100 characters, so ‘The Prince of Egypt’ required that we figure out how to put tens of thousands of people on the screen.”

The process began in the traditional way, with the hand-drawn design of a character, which was then modeled in the computer in 3-D. By reshaping that initial character, the animators were able to produce four “key” characters representing extremes of height, weight and age. They then took varying percentages of the four models and blended them in different proportions to make a database of about 20 characters. Modifying features like skin, hair color and clothing gave them even more variety. The process was duplicated to create a database of women and children as well. “It’s limitless,” Elwell states. “You can have as many characters as you need.”

The next step was to give the characters a “skeleton,” so the animators could assign repeatable motion cycles like walking, hammering, polishing, etc. Elwell expounds, “We could pick from an entire library of different actions and apply them individually as suited the character. An old man, for example, was animated very differently from a young woman.”

Applications of what is called behavioral software made the computer generated characters seem actually aware of their surroundings and the obstacles therein. To illustrate: the characters are given parameters of space, distance and variable speeds and set on a “path.” When a younger, faster person approaches an older, slower one, the faster character can judge how much space there is to go around the slower one without bumping into him, so they don’t crash into each other.

Even though the computer generated people could sense time and space, they didn’t seem to have much fashion sense…so to speak. Many of them are wearing long robes, but the computer didn’t know that the fabric should not go through the skin and vice versa. To prevent that from happening, the clothing had to be animated along with the character.

There was, however, one major drawback to animating the multitudes needed for scenes like the exodus itself. The amount of data necessary to create tens of thousands of 3-D character models would have slowed down the computer enough to have made it nearly as impractical as hand-drawn animation. To overcome this problem, software developer Mike Ullner designed a crowd simulation program for scenes where the characters would only be seen from a limited perspective. The computer could map a two-dimensional image of the animated character onto a “card” in three-dimensional space. Instead of the thousands of data points necessary for a 3-D model, the computer only needs the four data points of the “card” to show the character in motion from just the audience’s point-of-view.

Using these methods, “The Prince of Egypt” team was able to create a combined total of hundreds of thousands of characters for sequences like the exodus and the Red Sea passage. The final epilogue shot alone depicts over 146,000 fully animated characters.

MODERN-DAY WONDERS

You cannot bring the Exodus story to the screen without depicting miracles, and you cannot depict miracles without special effects. “The Prince of Egypt” breaks new ground in the effects arena, with the introduction of pioneering technology, as well as new approaches to traditional methods. The look of the film would not have been possible without these technological breakthroughs, and, conversely, the technological breakthroughs depended on traditional methods to make them work for the film.

The most significant breakthrough was the revolutionary exposure tool, which was developed by DreamWorks in conjunction with Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI). The exposure tool facilitates the seamless integration of 2-D and 3-D elements in a scene. For the layout artists, supervised by Lorenzo E. Martinez, the exposure tool was the key that opened the door to a new era in animation camera work.

Scene planning supervisor David Morehead expounds, “The exposure tool actually allows you to set your stage with any combination of 3-D elements and 2-D paintings and drawings, and then lets you choreograph them as you move through the scene with your camera.”

Co-visual effects supervisor Don Paul adds, “It opened up the scope of the picture, allowing us to do the kind of camera work that’s never been seen before in an animated film.”

Two of the most striking applications of the exposure tool come early in the film. The first is at the end of the prologue. As we pull away from the Queen’s tranquil water garden, the camera steadily rises up through a high scaffolding on which Hebrew slaves labor under the desert sun, finally revealing the vast panorama of the Egyptian Empire. The exposure tool allowed layout artist Harald Kraut to compose the first animated crane shot that encompasses hundreds of 2-D and 3-D elements simultaneously.

We then smash cut to another example of the seamless merging of 2-D and 3-D animation and camera work made possible by the exposure tool: the breakneck chariot race through the city between the young Moses and Rameses. The two princes are traditional hand-drawn animation, as are their horses, while the chariots are 3-D props. As the cameras follow the rushing chariots, the walls of the city—another traditionally hand-painted element—seem to fly by. Using rapid cutting and constantly shifting angles, the cameras continue to keep pace with Moses and Rameses as they careen through the streets and alleys onto a scaffolding, which collapses. The young men narrowly miss being crushed by a huge stone nose that breaks off a statue, only to be swept away by a river of sand when the embankment they are on gives way.

This extremely ambitious sequence required a combination of complex camera work and the marriage of 3-D computer-generated elements (the scaffoldings, the chariots, the sand and the nose) with traditional 2-D elements (the princes, their horses, some clouds of dust and the painted backgrounds).

“The exposure tool let us apply cinematic techniques—like constantly repositioning the camera and chasing the action—which would not have been possible before,” co-visual effects supervisor Dan Philips states.

A more subtle application of the exposure tool is seen in the sequence known as the Hieroglyphic Nightmare, in which two-dimensional hieroglyphs move along the walls, segue onto columns and then back onto another wall. In conceiving the scene, Simon Wells says he imagined, “if you’re two-dimensional, the only way to hide from other two-dimensional beings is to somehow escape into a third dimension where they can’t see you.”

Rabins reveals, “The hardest part was to make the characters appear as if they had been carved into the wall, and to carry the cracks and textures of the walls and columns onto the images moving over them. Dave Morehead did a great job accomplishing this effect using various software and the exposure tool.”

The hieroglyphs seen in “The Prince of Egypt” were created in the style of genuine hieroglyphs seen in Egypt. They were designed by illustrator and graphic designer Hani D. El-Masri, who also crafted the authentic tools and props seen in the film.

In a live-action film, the goal is normally to make the visual effects seem photorealistic, but in animation, the effects must blend with the hand-drawn appearance of animation and the style of the painted backgrounds. To help achieve this, the filmmakers began by un-departmentalizing the staff. “We mixed people up, sitting a traditional artist next to a CG artist, so they could design shots together,” Paul says. “It really opened up communication, creating a new visual vocabulary, which helped to integrate everything and raise the quality to a new level.”

Also raising the quality was the use of fine artists to create the 885 hand-painted backgrounds which set the backdrop for the story. Supervised by Paul Lasaine and Ron Lukas, the artists also did a myriad of paintings that were texture mapped onto the computer generated elements to carry the same painterly style throughout the film.

Philips says, “We created pieces of artwork—whether it be with a pencil, a brush, a keyboard or a mouse—and brought them together visually so they exist in the same world.”

It is misleading to think of special effects in animation in the same vein as live action. Every frame of an animated film has to be created, so, in that context, effects encompass even subtle things like shadows, light, reflections and the glint in a characterÕs eye. The effects work in “The Prince of Egypt” primarily focused on three “miracle” sequences: the Burning Bush; the Plagues, culminating with the Angel of Death; and the climactic parting of the Red Sea.

Director Brenda Chapman comments, ÒTaking a cue from the art direction, we drove everything that represented God toward the organic. The fire of the Burning Bush, for example, is a sort of slowed-down flame, and the effect it produces on the surrounding rocks is like light reflecting off water. If you watch, you will also see that the bush grows and flowers throughout the scene to demonstrate that the bush burns but is not consumed.”

The production pushed the edge of the effects envelope by enlisting the talents of live-action special effects artists, including Henry LaBounta, an Oscar® nominee for his work on “Twister,” and Doug Ikeler, who worked on such films as “Babe,” which won the Oscar® for visual effects.

Ikeler, the sequence lead on the plagues, had challenges as varied as the plagues themselves. “The first plague, blood, not only had to look like blood floating in the water, it had to act driven,” he illustrates. “For the plague of hail, the falling hail fire exploded into a molten lava-like substance when it hit the ground, and left a vaporous smoke trail, which gave it an eerie beauty.”

For the plague of pestilence, Ikeler had to create motion cycles for the bugs that are seen crawling out of a loaf of bread, which in turn disintegrates as it is eaten away. The bugs also had to interact with items on the surface without running into them. A very different kind of infestation, the plague of locusts, required him to manifest 7,000,000 swarming locusts.

Jamie Lloyd served as the sequence lead for the Angel of Death, as well as the Burning Bush. Seen in the final plague—the death of the first-born—the Angel of Death is described by Don Paul as “a breath that goes through and takes life. It also had to be very organic—a thinking image that could pause at a doorway and enter or move away.”

The plagues of blood, hail fire and locusts and the Angel of Death were achieved using 3-D particle systems, which are like little dots in space. Using the computer, the animator can apply forces such as gravity or wind to move them around. Once each particle’s position is set in space, it can be rendered to attain the desired look, whether fire or insects.

The most formidable task the effects artists faced was the parting of the Red Sea. Henry LaBounta led a team of no less than 10 digital artists, who collaborated with 2-D artist Jeff Howard and 16 traditional animators and two programmers to accomplish the powerful sequence. In the end, it took more than 318,000 hours of rendering time to complete this seven minutes of screen time.

Leading up to the parting of the Red Sea is the Pillar of Fire, which LaBounta says “was a familiar challenge for me, because I had just finished supervising the tornado work on ‘Twister.’ My initial instinct was to create a tornado of fire, but I soon realized that the visual challenge here was to avoid making it photorealistic.”

The parting of the Red Sea began with visual development artwork, from which the filmmakers were able to determine the overall look they wanted. The artwork, for example, led to the decision to have the water pull away in a circular pattern, rather than the more familiar separation split.

The filmmakers wanted the Red Sea to have incredible scale but still look like the visual development artwork on which the design was based. LaBounta says, “We developed digital techniques which gave us the level of detail necessary to convey a huge scale, but the style of hand-drawn animation is difficult to simulate.”

Using tiny variations of drawn splashes, LaBounta and his team were able to give the large simulations the look of hand-drawn artwork. They also applied the simple shapes that a brush stroke creates as the base element of the water texture. In many cases, the traditional artwork was blended into the digital animation, allowing the latter to reflect the same lighting and atmosphere as the artwork.

Water, from the Nile River to the Red Sea, is a central element of the film. “We used every technique imaginable to produce the water effects in ‘The Prince of Egypt,’” Philips says. “They ran the gamut from traditional animation to 3-D effects to 2-D CG, which is a digital approach using traditional paintings. We are very proud of the result, which is like a living painting.”

MUSICAL NOTES

Two Academy Award® winners collaborated to create the music of “The Prince of Egypt.” Hans Zimmer, who won an Oscar® for “The Lion King,” composed the score and arranged all the songs, and Stephen Schwartz, a double Oscar® winner for “Pocahontas,” wrote the six original songs heard in the film.

Katzenberg states, “Music is used as a tool of narration throughout the movie. It’s very emotional and very compelling, and is a critical element of the story. Our film benefited enormously from the talents of both Hans and Stephen. They gave the movie its soul.”

In terms of research, Zimmer recognized early on that, as composers, he and Schwartz were at a disadvantage compared to other members of the creative team. “The ancient Egyptians and Hebrews obviously didn’t record anything that we could use as a reference,” Zimmer notes. “I worked rather to create a musical path through the emotions of the story, while remaining true to the two cultures as far as we know.”

“To some extent, I tried to differentiate between the Egyptian music and the Hebraic music,” says Schwartz. “But they are so close in style that it’s not easy to do.” One unique way in which he accomplished this was to incorporate the Hebrew language in his lyrics.

In “The Prince of Egypt,” the filmmakers and the composers together took a different approach to the songs as a vehicle in the movie. “We looked for places where the song could advance the story, rather than stopping everything for the song and then starting up again. We wanted to avoid that at all costs,” says Wells.

The first song heard in the film is “Deliver Us,” a cry for freedom from the Hebrew slaves, which underscores the film’s seven-minute prologue. “That’s actually what launched us into production,” says Rabins. “We’d had a lot of meetings about how the prologue would work, but when Stephen gave us the song, we knew how to storyboard it.”

“First of all, the song had to immediately establish the sound of the movie,” Schwartz says. “I used the Egyptian and Hebraic chord patterns and melodic structures, with some contemporary underpinnings. As a lyricist, it was important to me that the audience be invested in the sufferings of the Hebrews and feel that this was happening to real people and not to biblical ‘symbols.’”

The centerpiece of the prologue is the sequence in which Yocheved eludes the Egyptian soldiers and puts her baby in a basket on the Nile. “I spent a lot of time writing a lullaby for Moses’ mother who we never see again,” Schwartz says. “In just those few moments, I wanted the audience to connect with the pain this mother went through having to surrender her son to the river as her only possible way of protecting him.”

Years later, when Moses learns the truth of his birth, he sings of losing the only life he had ever known in “All I Ever Wanted.” Schwartz found his inspiration for this song during the filmmakers’ research trip to Egypt. On a clear moonlit night, they obtained permission to visit a temple that was not officially open to the public. He recalls, “There was something about walking through those beautiful white columns reflected in the moonlight and seeing the hieroglyphs that triggered the tune which became ‘All I Ever Wanted.’”

Moses eventually runs away into the desert, where he sheds all vestiges of his life as a prince of Egypt. Coming to Midian, he is welcomed into the tent of the High Priest Jethro and his daughter Tzipporah. Jethro shares his philosophy of life with Moses in the song “Through Heaven’s Eyes.” It is perhaps the best example of a song advancing the story in the film, as it plays over a montage showing the passage of many years in which Moses settles into a new life, falls in love and marries Tzipporah.

The song also proved to be one of the greatest challenges for Schwartz, who explains, “We wanted Jethro to be a man of great faith and spirituality, but not specific to any one creed, so putting his message into words was very tricky. Ultimately, it came out of the question of how you measure the worth of a man. Is it what you accumulate in this world, or is it based on how you live your life? It was very important to me that the song say something that all of us—including myself—could stand to be reminded of.”

In turn, one of the greatest challenges for Hans Zimmer came in scoring the scene that followed this song—the pivotal moment when Moses comes upon the Burning Bush and is charged with the mission to return to Egypt and free his people from bondage.

Zimmer acknowledges, “Of course, I instantly embraced the challenge, but a year later I was still thinking, ‘I have no idea how to do this…’ I wanted to be very careful because the scene deals with so many people’s beliefs, but at the same time, when you become too careful, you can’t create. In the end, the only way I could compose it was to make it a completely personal experience. My studio became a monastery; I locked myself away and was totally focused on finding the belief in myself. In writing it, I knew I had to open up some very private emotions.”

Moses returns to Egypt and must confront Rameses, now Pharaoh. In the song “Playing With the Big Boys,” the Pharaoh’s court magicians, Hotep and Huy, try to dare the power of God with their own magic. Schwartz was able to write the song with Steve Martin and Martin Short in mind, knowing they had been cast in the roles.

When Rameses refuses to free the Hebrews, it leads to “The Plagues,” which might seem an unlikely place for a song. However, the song served a dual purpose: it presented the plagues in a limited time frame; and the altered reprise of “All I Ever Wanted” that is woven into the song conveys the final tearing of the relationship between Moses and Rameses.

“I thought there was no way we could get all the plagues into such a short period of time until Stephen wrote the song,” Zimmer remarks. “I realized that a song allows you to say things quickly, succinctly and dramatically in ways you never could with huge stretches of dialogue, because it goes straight for the raw emotion of it. I think he did a brilliant job with it; he surpassed anything I could have imagined.”

Schwartz counters that it was Zimmer’s imagination which led to the use of the song as an emotional turning point for the brothers. “I’d never really arrived at a ‘brother song,’” he offers. “Hans suggested to me that we put a twist on ‘All I Ever Wanted,’ which had never occurred to me, but as soon as he suggested it, I knew it was perfect.”

After the final plague, the death of the first-born, Rameses relents and tells Moses to take his people and leave Egypt, leading to the song “When You Believe.” Finkelman Cox reveals that this song also had its roots in the research trip to the Middle East, noting, “Steve Hickner, Stephen Schwartz and I were riding through the Egyptian desert when we came up with the idea for a song that would represent optimism in the wake of the devastation of the plagues.”

“The song began to form in my head looking up at Mount Sinai and hearing the echoes of history,” Schwartz remembers. “Then in my research, I came across the words to a song that the Hebrews were supposed to have sung after coming through the Red Sea, ‘Ashira l’Adonai,’ loosely meaning ‘I sing a song of praise to the Lord.’ I thought it would be nice if the children who were free for the first time in their lives sang this song of praise and joy in Hebrew in the middle of ‘When You Believe.’”

“The first time I heard the song, I knew Stephen had accomplished everything we had talked about that day in Egypt,” Finkelman Cox affirms. “‘When You Believe’ embodies all the hope of the human spirit, and the ability to recover from enormous adversity and walk forward to a better life if you hold on to your faith and your dreams.”

The Hebrews walk forward to the Red Sea where they witness the climactic miracle of the parting of the waters. “When you get to score something like the Red Sea sequence,” Zimmer says, “you can’t over think it, you just dive in…no pun intended. You embrace it in your language, which, as a composer, is music. Stephen can use lyrics to help tell the story; I try to illuminate what is going on emotionally through music.”

The music of “The Prince of Egypt” extends beyond what will be heard in movie theatres. A soundtrack album and two unique “inspired-by” albums will be released prior to the film’s opening, marking the first time three distinctly different albums have been produced in support of a film release.

“The Prince of Egypt – Soundtrack” contains music and songs from the feature film. In addition, it presents the first-ever duet by top female recording artists Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, who sing “When You Believe (from The Prince of Egypt)” on a track produced by Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds. There are also cover versions of songs performed by popular recording stars Amy Grant and K-Ci & JoJo, and an original song entitled “I Will Get There,” written by Diane Warren and performed a cappella by Boyz II Men.

“The Prince of Egypt – Nashville” is a compilation of songs performed by such chart-topping country artists as Reba McEntire, Vince Gill, Randy Travis & Linda Davis, Clint Black, Wynonna, Alabama, Faith Hill, Pam Tillis, Charlie Daniels, Steven Curtis Chapman, Toby Keith, Alison Krauss, Mindy McCready, Jessica Andrews, Mac McAnally, Beth Nielsen Chapman and Gary Chapman. James Stroud, head of DreamWorks Records Nashville, served as executive producer on the album.

“The Prince of Egypt – Inspirational” brings together a number of top-selling artists from the arenas of pop, urban and gospel music, including Boyz II Men, Kirk Franklin, Jars Of Clay, dc Talk, BeBe Winans, CeCe Winans, Carman, Take 6, Fred Hammond & Radical For Christ, Shirley Caesar, Brian McKnight, Donnie McClurkin, Trin-i-tee 5:7, Tyrone Tribbett & Greater Anointing (featuring Dave Hollister and Mary Mary), and Christian. The album is executive produced by award-winning producers Buster & Shavoni.

Rabins says, “We were thrilled by the response of so many gifted musical artists to the film. The participants in all three albums are performers whose music we have enjoyed and admired. It was very exciting for us to take part in a project that bridges popular music and film in such a unique way.”

DOING OUR HOMEWORK

From the outset, the filmmakers remained keenly aware of the responsibility they had accepted in bringing a Bible story to the screen. They understood that while they wanted the movie to be entertaining, they had to be respectful of the biblical source material and sensitive to the many millions of people of different religions for whom the story of Moses is a foundation of faith.

Katzenberg states, “Our goal was to be faithful to the text without always being literal—to embrace the themes and the fundamental aspects of the story as they are presented in the Bible. However, as good as our intentions were, I have learned over the years that intentions and perceptions are not always the same. No matter what we set out to do, what would count was how people perceived what we’ve done.”

ÒWe did extensive research, reading the commentaries, histories and philosophical texts that deal with Moses and the Exodus story,Ó Finkelman Cox offers. ÒWe learned that there were certain aspects of the Bible on which we could elaborate, and aspects to which we had to be absolutely faithful, and we learned to distinguish between them. The gist of what we discovered was that where the Bible is specific, you should respect the specificity, but when the Bible is silent, we could be more creative and interpretive. Coming to understand those distinctions was extremely important.Ó

The filmmakers brought in two prominent biblical scholars to act as ongoing consultants: Everett Fox, whose recent translation, The Five Books of Moses, enabled them to understand the original text more fully; and Burton Visotzky, who worked with Bill Moyers on a series of critically praised programs about the biblical book of Genesis. In addition, they hired Tzivia Schwartz-Getzug, a civil rights attorney with a background in interfaith relations and religious studies, to serve as the liaison to the religious community.

Ultimately, however, the filmmakers realized that it was impossible to fully understand the many interpretations and beliefs of the diverse religious community, so they came up with a simple solution. They would ask.

“We asked religious leaders from every faith group, as well as theologians, scholars, archeologists and Egyptologists from around the world to come in, and invited their comments,” Katzenberg says. “I was concerned that trying to get a consensus from hundreds of people would constrain us, but actually, I am certain that our movie has been qualitatively and quantitatively improved by the incredible diversity of opinion and observation we brought into the process.”

Katzenberg continues, “I want people to be entertained first and foremost. We have a long history of finding great entertainment in stories of faith, in everything from epics like ‘The Robe’ to contemporary musicals like ‘Godspell.’ The story of Moses has come to the screen several times before, including Cecil B. DeMille’s magnificent classic ‘The Ten Commandments.’”

Steve Hickner notes, “The story is as timely today as it was 2,000 years ago, and as it will be 2,000 years from now, as people continue to retell the story in whatever media exists at that time.”

Katzenberg concludes, “I hope audiences have a great time, but that this movie also engages them to want to know more about the story.”

MICHELLE PFEIFFER provides the voice of Tzipporah, the Midianite shepherdess who becomes the wife of Moses.

A three-time Academy Award® nominee, Pfeiffer gained her first nomination in 1989 as Best Supporting Actress for “Dangerous Liaisons.” The following year, she received a nomination for Best Actress for her work in “The Fabulous Baker Boys,” and she garnered another Best Actress nod in 1993 for her performance in “Love Field.”

She has also played a broad range of starring roles in such diverse films as “A Thousand Acres,” “One Fine Day,” “To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday,” “Up Close and Personal,” “Dangerous Minds,” “Wolf,” “The Age of Innocence,” “Batman Returns,” “Frankie and Johnny,” “Tequila Sunrise,” “Married to the Mob,” “The Witches of Eastwick,” “Sweet Liberty,” “Scarface,” “Ladyhawke” and “Grease 2.”

Her upcoming films include “The Deep End of the Ocean,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “The Story of Us.”

JEFF GOLDBLUM provides the voice of Moses’ older brother Aaron.

Goldblum is a familiar face to film audiences, having starred in some of the biggest blockbusters of all time, including Steven Spielberg’s “Jurassic Park,” the successful sequel “The Lost World: Jurassic Park,” and Roland Emmerich’s sci-fi hit “Independence Day.”

He has also starred in such diverse films as “Nine Months,” “The Player,” “The Fly,” “Silverado,” “The Right Stuff,” “The Big Chill,” “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” “Annie Hall,” “Next Stop, Greenwich Village,” “Nashville,” “California Split” and “Death Wish,” to name only a few. He most recently starred this fall in the comedy “Holy Man,” opposite Eddie Murphy.

Behind the camera, Goldblum received an Academy Awardâ nomination in the category of Best Live Action Short for his directorial debut movie “Little Surprises.”

RALPH FIENNES gives voice to Rameses, the prince who grows up to be Pharaoh.

Fiennes received an Academy Awardâ nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his chilling portrayal of a Nazi commandant in Steven Spielberg’s Oscar® winning Best Picture “Schindler’s List.” He more recently received a Best Actor Oscar® nomination for his work as Count Laszlo de Almasy in another Best Picture winner, “The English Patient.” He also earned praise for his portrayal of disgraced game show contestant Charles Van Doren in Robert Redford’s “Quiz Show.”

On the stage, Fiennes won the 1994 Tony Award for Best Actor for his work in the title role of the hit Broadway production of “Hamlet.”

A native of Suffolk, England, Fiennes made his film debut as Heathcliff in “Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights.” He includes among his other film credits “Strange Days,” “Oscar and Lucinda” and “The Avengers.” In addition, he has just completed production on the film adaptation of Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin,” which he both starred in and produced. He is presently in production on “Sunshine,” written and directed by Istvan Szabo.

DANNY GLOVER is the voice of Jethro, the high priest of Midian and Tzipporah’s father.

Glover most recently starred opposite Oprah Winfrey in “Beloved,” and provided the voice of a soldier ant in DreamWorks’ “Antz.” This summer, he starred in the sequel “Lethal Weapon 4,” in which he reprised the role of detective Roger Murtaugh. He had earlier won an NAACP Image Award for his work in the original “Lethal Weapon.”

His film credits also include “Angels in the Outfield,” “Maverick,” “The Saint of Fort Washington,” “Bopha!,” “Grand Canyon,” “A Rage in Harlem,” “Flight of the Intruder,” “Bat-21,” “The Color Purple,” “Silverado,” “Witness” and “Places in the Heart.” He executive produced and starred in “To Sleep With Anger,” winning the Independent Feature Project/West’s Best Actor Award, and another Image Award.

On television, Glover received an Image Award and a Cable ACE Award for his performance in HBO’s “Mandela,” and an Emmy nomination for his work in the miniseries “Lonesome Dove.” In addition, he starred in “A Raisin in the Sun,” “Dead Man Out,” and the miniseries “Buffalo Soldiers,” which he also executive produced.

PATRICK STEWART gives voice to Pharaoh Seti.

Stewart was most recently nominated for an Emmy for his portrayal of Captain Ahab in the Hallmark Hall of Fame/USA Network production of the classic “Moby Dick.” He is familiar to both film and television audiences for his role as Captain Jean-Luc Picard from the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” series, and the subsequent films “Star Trek Generations” and “Star Trek: First Contact.” He will reprise his role in the upcoming “Star Trek: Insurrection.”

Stewart’s film work also includes “Dad Savage,” “Conspiracy Theory,” “Safe House,” “Masterminds,” “Jeffrey,” “The Pagemaster,” “Gunmen,” “Robin Hood: Men in Tights,” “L.A. Story,” “Lady Jane,” “Dune,” “Excalibur” and “Hedda.” His additional television credits include the title role in the Hallmark Hall of Fame production of “The Canterville Ghost,” and TNT’s “In Search of Dr. Seuss.”

On stage, Stewart recently starred in the title role of “Othello” in Washington DC, and in Arthur Miller’s “The Ride Down Mt. Morgan,” which premiered at New York’s Public Theatre. He is well known for his award-winning one-man performance of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” on Broadway, in London and in Los Angeles. His extensive theatre repertoire also includes productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

SANDRA BULLOCK is the voice of Moses’ courageous sister Miriam.

Bullock starred this fall with Nicole Kidman in “Practical Magic,” and opposite Harry Connick Jr. in the summer romantic comedy “Hope Floats.” She also just completed work on a starring role in DreamWorks’ upcoming romantic comedy “Forces of Nature,” in which she stars with Ben Affleck.

Behind the camera, Bullock served as a co-producer on both “Hope Floats” and “Practical Magic,” under her own Fortis Films banner. With Fortis, she had previously produced several short films, including “Making Sandwiches,” in which she also starred and made her writing and directing debut. She is currently producing Fortis’ tentatively titled feature “Gun-Shy,” starring Liam Neeson and Oliver Platt.

Bullock was catapulted to stardom with her role in the blockbuster action thriller “Speed.” She then earned a Golden Globe Award nomination for her work in the romantic comedy “While You Were Sleeping.” She went on to star in the hit thriller “The Net,” and the acclaimed courtroom drama “A Time to Kill.” Her other film credits include “Demolition Man,” “Wrestling Ernest Hemingway,” “The Vanishing,” “The Thing Called Love,” “Two If by Sea,” “In Love and War” and “Speed II.”

MARTIN SHORT is the voice of Huy, one of the Pharaoh’s court magicians.

Short earned an Emmy nomination this year for his work in the miniseries “Merlin.” On the big screen, he has starred in such films as “Father of the Bride” and “Father of the Bride Part II,” “Mars Attacks!,” “Jungle 2 Jungle,” “Captain Ron,” “The Big Picture,” “Three Fugitives,” “Innerspace” and “Three Amigos.” In addition, he has lent his voice to the animated films “We’re Back: A Dinosaur’s Story” and “The Pebble and the Penguin,” and his own cartoon show “The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley.” He just completed work on “Alice in Wonderland.”

Short began his career in his native Canada as a member of the famed improvisational comedy troupe Second City. He gained fame on television on Second City’s “SCTV,” and later as a regular on “Saturday Night Live.”

He has also worked on the stage, earning a 1993 Tony Award nomination for his work in “The Goodbye Girl.” In addition, he starred in the Los Angeles production of “Four Dogs and a Bone,” and returned to Broadway this fall to star in “Little Me.”

VAL KILMER is the voice of Moses, born a Hebrew slave, raised as a prince of Egypt, and chosen to deliver his people out of bondage. Having consistently proven his versatility throughout his career, Kilmer is well known to moviegoers for his work in a wide range of features. His film roles include such real-life figures as Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s “The Doors,” Elvis Presley in “True Kid” and Doc Holliday in the Western “Tombstone.” He will next be seen starring in the romantic drama “At First Sight,” opposite Mira Sorvino. Among his other recent credits are: the title role in the hit “Batman Forever,” opposite Nicole Kidman  

STEVE MARTIN gives voice to Hotep, one of the Pharaoh’s court magicians. Martin has long been a comedy favorite for his work in such films as “Father of the Bride,” for which he earned a Golden Globe Award nomination, the hit sequel “Father of the Bride Part II,” “Sgt. Bilko,” “Parenthood,” “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” and “Little Shop of Horrors.” He also wrote as well as starred in the comedies “A Simple Twist of Fate,” “L.A. Story,” “Roxanne,” “Three Amigos,” “The Man With Two Brains,” “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid” and “The Jerk.” In addition, he has earned praise for more dramatic roles in films like “The Spanish Prisoner,” “Leap of Faith,” “Grand Canyon,” “Pennies From Heaven” and the acclaimed cable movie “…And the Band Played On.” On television, Martin has recurred often as one of the most popular hosts of “Saturday Night Live,” where he has created such classic characters as half of the “couple of wild and crazy guys,” and the hilarious song “King Tut,” which spawned a hit single. Martin most recently completed work on the films “The Out-of-Towners,” and “Bowfinger’s Big Thing,” which he also wrote. In addition, he has just released his latest book, Pure Drivel, a collection of humorous original essays, published by Hyperion.

HELEN MIRREN is the voice of the Queen who discovers the baby Moses in a basket on the Nile. Mirren received an Academy Award® nomination for her performance in “The Madness of King George.” In addition, she has twice been named Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival for that film, as well as “Cal.” Her other honors include an Emmy Award and another Emmy nomination for her work on the British television series “Prime Suspect,” and a Golden Globe Award for the Showtime movie “Losing Chase.” Her film credits also include “Where Angels Fear to Tread,” “Dr. Bethune,” “The Comfort of Strangers,” “The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover”

SANDRA RABINS (Producer) served as an executive producer on the computer animated hit comedy “Antz,” which topped the box office in its opening weekend. Rabins and Penney Finkelman Cox have an overall deal with DreamWorks to produce additional animated films. The deal also includes live-action features to be produced under their own Patchwork Productions banner.

Born and raised in Hollywood, Rabins began her career at Paramount Pictures as a production accountant, working on such films as “Flashdance,” “Terms of Endearment” and “Witness.” She later moved to Walt Disney Productions as Senior Vice President of Finance for the motion picture and television divisions. Her responsibilities included overseeing animation, as well as theme park films, including “Captain Eo” and “Star Tours.”

She was subsequently promoted to Senior Vice President of Production and Finance for Buena Vista Pictures. During her tenure, she worked on many features, including “The Ref,” “My Father, the Hero,” “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas,” “The Joy Luck Club” and “Blank Check.” Just prior to coming to DreamWorks, she served as executive producer on “Dangerous Minds,” starring Michelle Pfeiffer.

PENNEY FINKELMAN COX (Producer) brings a background in live-action production to her animation work at DreamWorks. She most recently served as an executive producer on DreamWorks’ first animated release “Antz,” which enjoyed a record-breaking opening weekend. Together with Sandra Rabins, she has an overall deal with DreamWorks to produce additional animated films. The deal also includes live-action features to be produced under their own Patchwork Productions banner.

Finkelman Cox previously produced “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids,” “Welcome Home, Roxie Carmichael” and “Till There Was You.” She also served as executive producer on James L. Brooks’ “I’ll Do Anything,” and co-produced two other films for Brooks: “Broadcast News” and the Oscar®-winning “Terms of Endearment.”

Born in Haverton, Pennsylvania, Finkelman Cox made her entrance into the performing arts as a press assistant for the Joffrey Ballet, and did a training internship with the National Endowment for the Arts. She then became an arts administrator with Performing Artservices, where she worked with various dance, theatre and music companies. She segued into film production with her acceptance into the Directors Guild of America Producer Training Program in New York. She went on to work as an assistant director, assistant production manager and production manager on various projects before coming to California to co-produce “Terms of Endearment.”

STEVE HICKNER (Director) brings an extensive background in animation work to his directing debut on “The Prince of Egypt.”

He previously served as a producer on the animated features “We’re Back: A Dinosaur’s Story” and “Balto,” and as associate producer on “An American Tail: Fievel Goes West,” all from Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment.

Earlier in his career, he worked on such animated film favorites as “The Little Mermaid,” “The Black Cauldron” and “The Great Mouse Detective,” as well as “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.” Brenda Chapman (Director) has the distinction of being the first female director of a major animated feature film.
Born and raised in Illinois, Chapman developed an interest in animation in her teens, which led her to study at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). During her summer breaks, she began her professional career working in syndicated television animation. After graduating with a BFA in Character Animation, she was a story trainee on the animated hit “The Little Mermaid.” She later served as head of story on the blockbuster “The Lion King,” overseeing both the writers and the artists on the project.
Chapman also worked in story and development on such successful animated films as “The Rescuers Down Under,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” She has been with DreamWorks Animation from its inception in the fall of 1994.

JEFFREY KATZENBERG (Executive Producer) is a principal partner in DreamWorks SKG, a multi-faceted entertainment company, which he co-founded with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen in October 1994. The studio most recently broke several box office records with the release of its first animated film, “Antz.” SIMON WELLS (Director) previously directed the animated feature “Balto,” and co-directed “An American Tail II: Fievel Goes West” and “We’re Back: A Dinosaur’s Story.”
Hailing from England, Wells began his professional career working with famed animator Richard Williams, directing commercials. He later served as a supervising animator for the innovative “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.”
In the live-action arena, Wells did storyboard and design work on the hits “Back to the Future Part II and Part III.” SIMON WELLS (Director) previously directed the animated feature “Balto,” and co-directed “An American Tail II: Fievel Goes West” and “We’re Back: A Dinosaur’s Story.”
Hailing from England, Wells began his professional career working with famed animator Richard Williams, directing commercials. He later served as a supervising animator for the innovative “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.”
In the live-action arena, Wells did storyboard and design work on the hits “Back to the Future Part II and Part III.”

KATHY ALTIERI (Art Director) joined the DreamWorks Animation studio in 1994.

Her previous animation credits include work as a background supervisor on “Aladdin,” the featurette “The Prince and the Pauper,” and the Roger Rabbit short “Tummy Trouble.” She was also a background painter for such animated successes as “The Lion King,” “The Little Mermaid,” “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” and another Roger Rabbit short, “Roller Coaster Rabbit.”

Altieri attended the University of California at Los Angeles as an Art major, and also studied at Pasadena’s Art Center for three years.

RICHARD CHAVEZ (Art Director) came to DreamWorks in 1995.

Prior to joining DreamWorks, Chavez worked as a visual development artist on such animated features as “Mulan” and “Bebe’s Kids.” Chavez also was a visual development artist on various television animation series including: Warner Bros.’ “Batman,” TMS Studio’s “Little Nemo” and DIC’s “The Real Ghostbusters.”

Chavez began his career illustrating greeting cards at Hallmark Cards, where he worked for two years.

DAREK GOGOL (Production Designer) has a background in both animation and live-action feature films.

Prior to coming to DreamWorks, he was at Walt Disney Feature Animation, where he worked on visual development for the animated features “Pocahontas” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” He also lent his artistry to the films “Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin” and “The Lion King.”

In the live-action arena, he served as a concept artist and storyboard artist on such features as “Broken Arrow,” “Cutthroat Island” and “StarGate.” In addition, he was an illustrator on this summer’s blockbuster “Armageddon.”

NICK FLETCHER (Supervising Editor) is currently serving as the supervising editor on DreamWorks’ upcoming animated feature “Spirit.”

Prior to joining DreamWorks in 1995, Fletcher worked at Amblimation in London where he served as supervising editor for “An American Tail: Fievel Goes West.” He was also co-supervising editor for “We’re Back: A Dinosaur’s Story” and “Balto,” and was the animation editor for “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.”

Born in Wales, Fletcher began his career at John Wood Sound Studios in London working on various commercials. He then moved on to Richard Williams Animation in 1981.

KELLY ASBURY (Story Supervisor) has been working in animation for 16 years. Presently, he is co-directing DreamWorks’ third traditionally animated film, “Spirit,” which is scheduled for release in 2001.

Asbury began his career at Walt Disney Feature Animation in 1982, where he remained for the next 12 years. While at Disney, he worked as a storyboard artist on such films as “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Toy Story” and “James and the Giant Peach.” He served as art director on the Roger Rabbit short “Roller Coaster Rabbit,” and as an assistant art director on “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.”

In addition, Asbury wrote and illustrated a series of published children’s books entitled Rusty’s Red Vacation, Bonnie’s Blue House and Yolanda’s Yellow School.

LORNA COOK (Story Supervisor) is a 25-year veteran of the animation industry. She is currently co-directing DreamWorks’ third traditionally animated film, “Spirit,” due out in 2001.

Prior to joining DreamWorks, she worked as a story artist on such animated successes as “Mulan” and “The Lion King.” She also served as an animator on the lead character Belle in “Beauty and the Beast” and on “The Secret of Nimh.”

Her other animation credits include directing animator on “All Dogs Go to Heaven,” “The Land Before Time,” and “An American Tail.” She began her career as an assistant animator on Elliot, the dragon in the live action/animated feature “Pete’s Dragon.”

DON PAUL (Visual Effects Supervisor) is presently at work co-directing DreamWorks’ upcoming animated feature “The Road to El Dorado.” Together with Dan Philips, Paul was responsible for setting up the visual effects department at DreamWorks Animation.

He previously served as head of effects for Walt Disney Feature Animation, where he worked on such hits as “The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin,” which was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Visual Effects, and “Pocahontas.”

Paul began his career right out of college when he was accepted into Disney’s training program. While at Walt Disney Feature Animation, he worked on such projects as “The Fox and the Hound” and “The Great Mouse Detective.” His additional credits include “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” “An American Tail,” “The Land Before Time” and “Amazing Stories.”

DAN PHILIPS (Visual Effects Supervisor) established DreamWorks Animation’s visual effects department with Don Paul and is currently serving as artistic liaison for effects.

Philips began his career with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in graphic, set, and production design. He then served as creative director and art director for Omnibus Computer Graphics. Segueing to freelance work, he lent his talents to the visual design and art direction of film and video ads for Diet Pepsi, Digital Computers and Rubbermaid.

In 1990, Philips joined Walt Disney Feature Animation as the head of Computer Generated Imagery (CGI), where he worked on the animated hits “Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin,” “The Lion King” and “Pocahontas.”

OFRA HAZA sings Yocheved’s last lullaby to her baby as she sets him adrift on the Nile.

One of Israel’s most popular singers, Haza has received international acclaim for her work as a singer and songwriter. Born in Israel of Yemenite descent, she was discovered by Bezalel Aloni at the age of 12, who made her the youngest member of the Workshop Theatre of Hatikva. She recorded her first international album, “Yemenite Songs,” in 1984, which was re-released in 1987 as “Fifty Gates of Wisdom.” The album featured the song “Im Nin Alu,” which reached number one in Europe.

Following her next two albums, “Shaday” and “Desert Wind,” she achieved her greatest success with “Kirya” in 1992. The album topped Billboard’s World Music chart, and brought Haza a Grammy nomination in the World Music category.

She has recorded over 20 albums in all, and has been featured on Paula Abdul’s “My Love is For Real,” and BMG/Logic’s “Diva Collection.” She is currently featured on the soundtrack for the film “The Governess,” and her music has also been heard in the films “Queen Margot” and “Wild Orchid.”

STEPHEN SCHWARTZ (Original Songs) earned two Academy Awardsâ, both shared with composer Alan Menken, for his work on the animated feature “Pocahontas”: one for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score and another for Best Original Song for “Colors of the Wind.” He and Menken also shared an Oscar® nomination for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score for the animated musical “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” for which Schwartz wrote the lyrics.

Schwartz has also enjoyed success composing for the Broadway musical stage. He wrote the music and lyrics for such shows as “Godspell” and “Pippin,” and more recently created the score for the play “Children of Eden.” His other theatre credits include the music and lyrics for “The Magic Show”; “The Baker’s Wife”; the musical version of Studs Terkel’s “Working,” which he also adapted and directed; and the title song for the play “Butterflies Are Free.” He remains dedicated to discovering and developing new musical talent, and recently joined forces with Disney and ASCAP to oversee the first West Coast Musical Theater Workshop.

Born in New York City, Schwartz studied piano and composition at the prestigious Julliard School of Music. He later graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a BFA in Drama.

HANS ZIMMER (Composer) earned an Oscar® nomination this year for his score for the hit comedy “As Good As It Gets.” In 1994, he won both the Academy Awardâ and Golden Globe for his score for the blockbuster “The Lion King.” The highest-grossing animated film to date, “The Lion King” also spawned one of the most successful soundtrack albums ever, which sold more than 12 million copies worldwide. The composer has also been honored with Oscarâ nominations for “Rain Man” and “The Preacher’s Wife.”

In only the last 15 years, Zimmer has composed music for over 60 feature films, as well as television projects. His credits include “The Peacemaker,” “The Rock,” “Broken Arrow,” “Nine Months,” “Crimson Tide,” for which he won a Grammy, “Beyond Rangoon,” “Cool Runnings,” “A League of Their Own,” “Black Rain,” “Thelma & Louise,” “Backdraft,” “Green Card,” “True Romance,” “Days of Thunder,” “Driving Miss Daisy” and “My Beautiful Launderette,” to name only a portion. He is currently working on the score for “The Thin Red Line.”

In addition to his composing work, Zimmer heads DreamWorks’ film music division. His appointment marks the first time that a composer has headed the music department of a major studio since the days of Dimitri Tiomkin at MGM and Alfred Newman at 20th Century Fox.

BRIAN STOKES MITCHELL is the singing voice of Jethro.

Mitchell earned both Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations and won the Drama League’s Distinguished Performance Award for his portrayal of Coalhouse Walker Jr. in the hit Broadway musical “Ragtime.” He had previously garnered the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award and the Dora Mavor Moore Award during the show’s Los Angeles and Canadian runs respectively.

He made his Broadway bow in the musical “Mail,” winning a Theatre World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut. He went on to replace Gregory Hines in “Jelly’s Last Jam,” and starred in the Tony Award-winning musical “Kiss of the Spider Woman” and “Oh Kay.” Mitchell made his Carnegie Hall debut with the recording of George Gershwin’s 100th Birthday Celebration with the San Francisco Symphony. His album appearances include “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” two “Ragtime” cast recordings, Duke Ellington’s “Queenie Pie,” and Michael Frank’s “Abandoned Garden.”

On television, Mitchell has appeared in numerous projects, from the acclaimed miniseries “Roots: The Next Generation,” to a starring role on the series “Trapper John, M.D.,” to a recurring role on the hit sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.”

Whitney Houston, the only artist ever to have achieved seven consecutive number one singles, has gained international fame as both a musical performer and an actress. Recently, she also enjoyed success as an executive producer of ABC’s top-rated television musical “Roger & Hammerstein’s Cinderella,” in which she also starred, and which was recently nominated for seven Emmy Awards. As a recording artist for the Arista Records label, she has a long string of hit songs, including “Saving All My Love For You,” “How Will I Know,” “You Give Good Love,” “The Greatest Love of All,” “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me),” “So Emotional,” “I’m Every Woman,” “Exhale (Shoop, Shoop)” and “I Believe in You and Me.”

Houston’s many honors include, 5 Grammys, 21 American Music Awards, 11 NAACP Image Awards, 6 People’s Choice Awards, 2 Emmy Awards and 7 Soul Train Awards. In November 1995 she was inducted into the Soul Train Hall of Fame, and in February 1998, she received Soul Train’s Quincy Jones Career Achievement Award.

On the screen, Houston made her film debut starring opposite Kevin Costner in “The Bodyguard.” She also performed six songs on the soundtrack album, which still ranks as the largest-selling soundtrack album in history. The soundtrack’s lead single, “I Will Always Love You,” became the biggest-selling commercial single ever. Houston’s other film credits include “Waiting to Exhale” and “The Preacher’s Wife,” with Denzel Washington.

MARIAH CAREY is one of the most popular young singer/songwriter/producers in the world today. Her achievements have been recognized with numerous awards, including Grammys, American Music Awards, World Music Awards, Soul Train Awards, Blockbuster Awards, Billboard Awards and, most recently, The Lady of Soul Entertainer of the Year Award. In addition, Carey has received numerous BMI Awards for her songwriting.

Carey’s chart-topping hits on the Columbia Records label include “Vision of Love,” “Love Takes Time,” “I Don’t Wanna Cry,” “I’ll Be There,” “Dreamlover,” “Hero,” “Fantasy,” “One Sweet Day” (with Boyz II Men), currently the longest-running number one single of its time, “Always Be My Baby,” “My All” and “Honey.”

An international superstar, Carey has sold more than 90 million albums worldwide in less than eight years, making her the largest selling female artist of the decade. She is the first female artist in history to have three studio albums sell in excess of eight million copies each. Her most recent album, Butterfly, has spawned numerous hit singles, including the number one smash hits “Honey” and “My All.” In total, Carey has achieved 13 number one singles—12 written by Carey—which, according to the Billboard Bulletin, sets a record for the most chart-toppers of any female solo artist in the rock era.

THE PRINCE OF EGYPT – SOUNDTRACK” contains music and songs from the feature film. In addition, it presents the first-ever duet by top female recording artists Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, who sing “When You Believe (from The Prince of Egypt)” on a track produced by Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds. There are also cover versions of songs performed by popular recording stars Amy Grant and K-Ci & JoJo, and an original song entitled “I Will Get There,” written by Diane Warren and performed a cappella by Boyz II Men.

THE PRINCE OF EGYPT – NASHVILLE” is a compilation of songs performed by such chart-topping country artists as Reba McEntire, Vince Gill, Randy Travis & Linda Davis, Clint Black, Wynonna, Alabama, Faith Hill, Pam Tillis, Charlie Daniels, Steven Curtis Chapman, Toby Keith, Alison Krauss, Mindy McCready, Jessica Andrews, Mac McAnally, Beth Nielsen Chapman and Gary Chapman. James Stroud, head of DreamWorks Records Nashville, served as executive producer on the album.

THE PRINCE OF EGYPT – INSPIRATIONAL” brings together a number of top-selling artists from the arenas of pop, urban and gospel music, including Boyz II Men, Kirk Franklin, Jars Of Clay, dc Talk, BeBe Winans, CeCe Winans, Carman, Take 6, Fred Hammond & Radical For Christ, Shirley Caesar, Brian McKnight, Donnie McClurkin, Trin-i-tee 5:7, Tyrone Tribbett & Greater Anointing (featuring Dave Hollister and Mary Mary), and Christian. The album is executive produced by award-winning producers Buster & Shavoni.