Joseph: King of Dreams (2000) (V)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Directors:

Rob LaDuca
Robert C. Ramirez

Writers:

Eugenia Bostwick-Singer (screenplay) &
Raymond Singer (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

27 October 2000 (UK)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Drama | Family | Musical

Plot:

Based on the well-known story which, in terms of religion, is known to be taken from the book of Genesis...

Plot Keywords:

Dream | Pharaoh | Prison | False Accusation | Reunion

Awards:

2 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Ben Affleck	...	Joseph (voice)
Mark Hamill	...	Judah (voice)
Richard Herd	...	Jacob (voice)
Maureen McGovern	...	Rachel (voice)
Jodi Benson	...	Asenath (voice)
Judith Light	...	Zuleika (voice)
James Eckhouse	...	Potiphar (voice)
Richard McGonagle	...	Pharaoh (voice)
David Campbell	...	Joseph (singing voice)
Steven Weber	...	Simeon / Slave Trader (voice)
Dan Castellaneta	...	Auctioneer / Horse Trader (voice)
Rene Auberjonois	...	Butler (voice)
Ken Hudson Campbell	...	Baker (voice) (as Ken Campbell)
Tom Virtue	...	Reuben (voice)
Jeff Bennett	...	Levi (voice)

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:G | Argentina:Atp | Germany:o.Al. | UK:U | USA:Unrated

Company:

DreamWorks Home Entertainment

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Multiple differences between the movie and its original source material. Changes made when another medium is adapted into a movie are, by policy, not considered goofs. The movie even begins with a disclaimer that "artistic and historical license have been taken".

Quotes:

Joseph: I've had enough of this stupid game!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Troldspejlet: (#25.13)" (2001)

Soundtrack:

Marketplace

A worthy follow-up to Prince of Egypt from Dreamworks

I just stumbled across this on cable and was very impressed. It definitely meets and exceeds the expectations that you'd have for a direct-to-video follow-up. I guess this is Dreamworks' first effort at direct-to-video and I only wish they hadn't made such a secret of it.

It borrows nearly every aspect of it's storytelling style and production design from Prince of Egypt, and I do mean that as a compliment. The only thing missing is that there are no scenes that match the transcendance of the burning bush or Red Sea crossing scenes from POE.

If you examine the credits closely, you'll see thats some of the animation work was done by asian subcontractors, and it's a little disturbing that even with the lesser demands of video-only, Dreamworks still found this necessary. In spite of all the innovations Dreamworks is doing in terms of merging hand-drawn and computer-generated animation, there's still a lot of manual effort needed in the details of the character movement, and you can see where they cut corners if you're paying close attention.

The bottom line is that Dreamworks, even when it's "slumming" in the direct-to-video market, has still produced an animated Bible story that's head and shoulders above nearly every other animated Bible story that's ever been done, with the exception of POE of course. Not too shabby. Once again my hat is off to Katzenberg and his crew.