The Prince of Egypt

A closer look at the story

In the age of the pharaohs, a baby discovered in a basket on the River Nile is taken to the palace and raised as part of the royal family. Moses grows up among the princes of Egypt and forms a deep bond with the brother he is raised alongside in the palace. Yet Moses cannot bring himself to accept the cruelty the palace inflicts on its slaves. One day he kills a soldier who is torturing a slave and is forced to flee. His flight confronts him with his own past: he learns the truth about where he comes from, and then the voice of God chooses him as the messenger who will lead his people to freedom. Reunited with his siblings Aaron and Miriam, Moses delivers God's message to the pharaoh and demands that his people be set free, but each time he is turned away. The responsibilities they have chosen inevitably set the two brothers against each other. Directed by Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner and Simon Wells, the 99-minute 1998 film features the voices of Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes and Michelle Pfeiffer in a musical animation.