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Passover The Prince Of Egypt

Decent Essays

Hollywood is known for creating its classic movies that are cherished long after they were released. Some of the greatest movies of all time are animated, one of them being The Prince of Egypt. This time honoured film was based upon the true story of the Jewish ancestors in Sefer Shemot. To some extent the movie was spot on but, there were a handful of differences between the movie and the history. The addition of character traits, songs, and events, reshaped the story of Passover and made the movie a success. The first observation noted is the addition of character traits. For example, the brotherly bond between Moshe and Ramses. In both the movie and the history, Moshe was raised in the Egyptian palace. But in Shemot, Ramses is not a character. …show more content…

Hollywood did this for a few reasons, first being able to appeal to their younger audience. The original story of Passover can seem boring and confusing to younger kids. To make the series of events more exciting, Hollywood adapted the story into a musical to make the movie a more enjoyable experience. Especially when very early age watchers are not familiar with the story, music helps express the plot. Secondly, the songs in the movie are what truly make The Prince of Egypt a classic. The well-known songs enhance the feelings of the characters, whether they are feeling conflicted or victorious. When referring to The Prince of Egypt, viewers often associate it with the popular songs because of their catchiness. Musicals also earn more awards for their songs, The Prince of Egypt won an academy award for the song “When You Believe”. A third factor is when the movie was realised, the late 90s. During the 90s era, DreamWorks Animation had just begun a few years earlier. A great deal of animated musicals emerged and not long after, musicals were popular by demand. Seeing how most successful Disney films were musicals, the franchise decided to do the …show more content…

Hollywood attempts to adapt all of the original story without boring or offending the audience. To do so, Hollywood removed and added scenes to the film. The first example is when Moshe and Ramses are chariot racing throughout the palace. Things get out of hand and they end up destroying a large and an important statue. Their father Pharaoh gets very cross with them and punishes them for their actions. This scene does not appear in Shemot but Hollywood adds this scene to represent the brother’s fun personalities and what it is like growing up in the Egyptian palace. A second time this is seen is the ceremony held for the new prince of Egypt, Ramses. Moshe also receives a new title, the Royal Chief Architect. As a gift from the magicians, they give Ramses captivity of Sephora. Ramses declines and gives her to Moshe. He embarrasses her in front of all the citizens of Egypt by making her fall into the fountain. Again, none of this happens in history and Sephora is only introduced when Moshe saves her at the well, which does happen in the movie. “ויבאו הרעים ויגרשום ויקם משה ויושען וישקאת צאנם” פרק ב. Hollywood does this to show maturity and character growth for Moshe and showing the viewers that Sephora is a strong female lead. The third example is not an addition but an important scene in history that was cut from the film. In Sefer Shemot, before exiting Egypt the Jews baked unleavened bread also known as

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