A Peek At The Promised Land

By KIM MASTERS

From the start, it was apparent that DreamWorks founders Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen had made an ambitious--and risky--choice when they decided that their first animated feature, The Prince of Egypt, would be a retelling of the story of Moses. "You can't deal with this like some trivial fairy tale," Geffen admonished Katzenberg, who was chairman of the Disney studio during the making of Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and Lion King. Prince of Egypt, which will open Dec. 18, has to entertain, but it must also have a grandeur befitting its subject matter.

The DreamWorks animation team seems to have risen to the challenge, combining an opulent style with extensive use of computer-generated effects to re-create the splendor of the ancient world. Almost all 1,192 shots in the 90-min. film include effects elements, whether it's a sprinkling of computer-generated desert dust or the vaporous Angel of Death. Some scenes would be virtually impossible to draw by hand, such as the flight of more than 16,000 Hebrews from Egypt and the spectacular 4-min. parting of the Red Sea--a sequence that is taking an estimated 300,000 man- and computer-hours to complete. The overall visual style is inspired by the epic filmmaking of director David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia), the ethereal biblical illustrations of 19th century French artist Gustave Dore and the paintings of Impressionist Claude Monet, which use contrasting strokes of color to create a sense of light and space. "We want the audience to respond to our film the way we respond to fine art, not to a comic book," says art director Kathy Altieri. None of this comes cheap: the film costs about $65 million if you ask DreamWorks, and almost twice that if you ask the competition.

For Katzenberg, The Prince of Egypt represents a rather personal drama. This is his first effort in animation since he was ejected from the Disney fold in 1994 and his first chance to show that Disney's resurgence was at least in part due to him. (Some DreamWorkers have dubbed the new movie Zion King.) And since DreamWorks hasn't produced its first big hit after 3 1/2 years in business, some Hollywood observers believe that the company's very future hangs in the balance. "Emotionally, we have a lot invested," Katzenberg admits. Financials, however, he insists, are "not an issue."

Disney is keenly aware of the stakes. The company has high hopes for its own computer-animated release this November: A Bug's Life, created by Steve Jobs' Pixar, the folks who brought the world Toy Story in 1995. When DreamWorks moved the premiere of Prince of Egypt to December to keep it away from A Bug's Life, Disney announced it was moving Mighty Joe Young--a picture starring Bill Paxton and an ape--from this summer to Prince's new date. DreamWorks has its own computer-created insect feature, Antz, coming out in 1999.

And there are other challenges to overcome. The film's profit potential will be hampered because the seriousness of the subject matter has wiped out any hope for lucrative merchandising deals and Happy Meals. There will be no burning-bush night-lights. The filmmakers must also tread carefully to avoid offending the too-numerous-to-count religious communities that regard the story of Moses as their own. To ensure authenticity, Katzenberg says, he has met with more than 500 religious leaders, including a pontifical council on social reform at the Vatican and Fundamentalist minister Jerry Falwell.

Prince of Egypt is still a work in progress, but the attention to detail lavished on this film shows how seriously DreamWorks is approaching one of the greatest stories ever told--and how much it covets a bona fide hit.