Episode 68 marks Chris and Alex’s first look at popular animation studio DreamWorks, turning to the California-based company’s early cycle of cel-animated cartoons to examine The Prince of Egypt (Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner and Simon Wells, 1998). Joining them to separate the historical realism from the packaged Westernised fantasy is biblical scholar and broadcaster Francesca Stavrakopoulou, Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Religion at the University of Exeter, whose research encompasses ancient Israelite and Judahite religions, and portrayals of the religious past in the Hebrew Bible. Listen as they discuss the artistic and historic license (and forms of poetic embellishment) that support this part-musical animated adaptation; The Prince of Egypt’s late-1990s context and vital place within the development of DreamWorks as a successful Hollywood studio; how the original Exodus story functions as a foundational myth central to the construction of Israelite identity; the formal and narrative interplay between Moses’ divine power, the supernatural, and Egyptian magic; star voice casting, vocal performance, and problematic processes of white-washing and colour-coding; the use of embryonic digital imagery during certain spectacular set-pieces; and how The Prince of Egypt presents its Christian iconography alongside the framing of miraculous activity within Moses’ own search for figurative and literal truth.
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) (with Meredith Braun)
Mary Poppins Returns (2018) (with Christian Kaestner and Frederikke Glick)
Ex Machina (2014) (with Andrew Whitehurst)
The Valley of Gwangi (1969) (with Astrid Goldsmith)
Corpse Bride (2005) (with Emily Mantell)
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (2012) (with Richard Haynes)
Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986) (with Robert Maslen)
Mr. Bug Goes to Town (1941)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) (with Stuart Messinger)
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) (with Simran Hans)
King Kong (2005) (with Barry J.C. Purves)
The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) (with Shaun Gunner)
Waltz with Bashir (2008) (with Bella Honess Roe)
Gulliver’s Travels (1939)
Pogles’ Wood (1965-1967) (with Simon Costin)
Aladdin (1992) (with Steve Henderson)
Peppa Pig (2004-) (with Richard Dyer)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
Society for Cinema and Media Studies 2019 (Part 2)
Society for Cinema and Media Studies 2019 (Part 1)
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