Why The Prince Of Egypt is perfect

And how to make a masterpiece

It happens every April. Somewhere around spring break and the Masters. The ritual so many return to compulsively, instinctively, and with a profound, unquestioning joy. The annual pilgrimage to watch The Prince of Egypt, where Moses is hot, Rameses is British, and Miriam is Sandra Bullock.

There are few things more perfect in this life than this movie.

As an adult it is easy to understand why. The cast is shocking, from Val Kilmer (RIP) to Helen Mirren to Steve Martin, literally everyone is in this FILM. The music is transcendent, which makes sense because it was composed by Stephen Schwartz and Hans Zimmer, modern day Gods in their own right. The animation is angular and simple, but manages to capture something so vivid and impossibly real.

As an adult I understand why these things make a masterpiece. I know that the crescendos and swells are strategically placed to make you hold your breath with main character energy. I know that the hand drawn characters and painted backgrounds give every single frame a unique and glimmering craftsmanship.

As an adult I know these things. But every April, as I hear the opening chords of “Deliver Us,” I slink right back to my childhood, eyes wide and jaw slacked. Back to rituals that make me feel the kind of nostalgia that strips away all my anxiety.

I am suddenly connected to ancestors who have told and retold these miraculous and unlikely stories. I am connected to anyone who has their own sacred little rituals like this one. I am even connected to the artists who made each stunning detail.

Did you know that it took two years and 10 animators to finish this one scene?

Did you know that the production designer who led that team also worked on Hunchback, Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Aladdin, and How to Train Your Dragon???

It is a good omen to reach out to people you admire.

The truth about this movie is it will always be the niche cult classic that got overshadowed by Shrek. But what about the stuff underneath? Why do rituals like these make us feel so seen? Why do they renew us?

Maybe it’s the chance to revisit that nostalgic feeling at the same time every year. Maybe it’s the opportunity to fall down the rabbit hole and reach out to someone who was part of making the thing we love.

Maybe it’s that every year, we change and grow and meet people and make things and move places and change jobs and have babies, but The Prince of Egypt is always there, frozen in time. It stands like something sacred that anchors us to the comforting illusion that life is predictable.

The window has almost closed now and soon it will be time to move on. Part of me mourns this moment but a bigger part of me feels grateful, knowing that Jeff Goldblum’s voice will be waiting for me next year. I’ll be different, but his character will be the same. April after April, it will emerge again, timelessly beautiful, ready to break our hearts again in the same way it always has.

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I’d love to hear your thoughts, but only if they’re positive and supportive. Actually, I’m very open to all kinds of comments... I’d love to see anyone try to tell me ONE bad thing about this movie.