Film

The Prince of Egypt

An animated Exodus, and DreamWorks' first real swing at gravity: Moses raised as Egyptian royalty, forced to choose between the brother who loves him and the people he was born to save. Directed with genuine weight, scored by Hans Zimmer and Stephen Schwartz, it turns Sunday-school material into something visually staggering. Not a kids' film adults tolerate — a serious film that happens to be animated.

TMDb rating3.7

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love animation that treats an old story with real seriousness, where sweeping musical numbers carry grief and conviction as much as spectacle, and where a family film is allowed to feel weighty.

Skip it if you want a light, fast-moving cartoon; this one spends long stretches on heavy themes and quiet reflection, and its musical sequences slow the pace considerably.

What it asks of you: Under two hours, it asks you to settle in for a stately, emotionally serious story, with patience for songs and a willingness to sit with its moral questions.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Ten Commandments1956

Charlton Heston's Moses is the granddaddy of this story on screen — three and a half hours of parted seas, plagues and pure Old Hollywood spectacle that Prince of Egypt is quietly answering.

But It's a slow, stagey, occasionally corny relic of 1950s epic-making — patience required.

The Ten Commandments poster

The Lion King1994

Same era, same studio-rivalry energy, same trick of making a betrayal between family feel operatic — plus a score built to make grown adults cry in a cinema.

But If you've seen it a hundred times already, there's nothing new here to discover.

The Lion King poster

Joseph: King of Dreams2000

DreamWorks' own follow-up in spirit, telling the story of Moses's ancestor Joseph with the same craft, songs and seriousness — the closest thing to a genuine companion piece.

But Made for video, so the budget and ambition are noticeably smaller throughout.

Joseph: King of Dreams poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Prince of Egypt

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Selma2014

Prince of Egypt's Exodus is the exact text Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement reached for — Selma shows that borrowed mythology made real, Pharaoh replaced by state troopers.

A quietly devastating, beautifully acted account of the Selma marches that makes explicit the debt modern freedom movements owe to the Moses story — no animation, no songs, just history repeating the shape.

But Grounded and unglamorous where Prince of Egypt is spectacle; this is a hard, sober watch, not an adventure.

Selma poster
More like this (8)

Mulan1998

Released the same year, sharing Prince of Egypt's appetite for treating a legend with real weight — duty, identity and family loyalty rendered without irony.

But Lighter and funnier throughout, so the tonal comparison only stretches so far.

Mulan poster

Ben-Hur1959

Two men raised as brothers, torn apart by empire and belief, playing out against the same ancient world — just with chariots instead of songs.

But Nearly four hours long, and its stately pacing shows its age.

Ben-Hur poster

Anastasia1997

Another animated exile-and-identity story from the same late-90s moment, with a similarly lush, grown-up musical sensibility and real sense of scale.

But Its stakes are romantic rather than spiritual, so it's a much lighter watch overall.

Anastasia poster

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron2002

Also DreamWorks, also scored with sweeping Hans Zimmer grandeur, also about freedom against overwhelming power — just told through a horse instead of a prophet.

But No dialogue from its lead and a simpler story, aimed at a younger audience.

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron poster

Exodus: Gods and Kings2014

The same story told as a grim, CGI-heavy live-action epic with Christian Bale — fascinating to see how differently the plagues and the sea play without music.

But Reviews were mixed, and it strips out the warmth that makes the animated version sing.

Exodus: Gods and Kings poster

Kingdom of Heaven2005

Ridley Scott's crusader epic, set in the same part of the world, wrestling with faith, power and what people do in God's name at enormous scale.

But A different religious conflict entirely — the connection is mood, not story.

Kingdom of Heaven poster

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat1999

Same Old Testament family, one generation earlier — Joseph is Moses's ancestor — but told as a garish, wall-to-wall pop musical instead of a solemn animated epic.

Donny Osmond in a coat of many colours, singing pastiche disco and calypso numbers about being sold into slavery — it's ridiculous, catchy, and oddly hard to stop watching.

But Deliberately camp and cheap-looking next to Prince of Egypt's polish; if you want gravity, this isn't it.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat poster

The Egyptian1954

The same painted-tomb, palace-and-Nile visual world Prince of Egypt animates so lovingly, built decades earlier as a live-action Hollywood melodrama about ambition rather than liberation.

A lush, strange 1950s epic about a physician clawing his way through Pharaoh's court — gorgeous sets, overripe dialogue, and a genuinely different angle on the same ancient setting.

But It's romantic melodrama, not a faith story, and its pacing feels very much of its era.

The Egyptian poster

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Recommended by

Roots, An American Tail, The Lion King, Mulan, The Ten Commandments, Anastasia, Trolls Band Together, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Antz, Joseph: King of Dreams, The Bible, King David, The Holy Family, Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie, Don Carlo, The Lion King, Chaar Sahibzaade