"His Story Continues"
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What You Need To Know:
The animation here is excellent. The dream sequences have a great, beautiful, Van Gogh quality. The music also is superb, with deep, spiritual significance. There are a few frightening sequences where Joseph dreams of wolves, and it happens, but these are much more tame than similar animated movies. In all, JOSEPH is a powerful feature film. One only wishes that it had first gone to big screen before being released on video
Content:
(BBB, CCC, V, M) Strong Judeo-Christian biblical worldview; minor action violence such as a dream about wolves, wolves attack a flock & rats & scorpions in dungeon; and, brother sells Joseph into slavery.
More Detail:
Before THE PRINCE OF EGYPT, DreamWorks reminds us, there was Joseph.
JOSEPH: KING OF DREAMS tells Joseph’s story in a powerful, feature animated film for video and DVD. The movie opens with the birth of this baby, whom his father Jacob says is a miracle child, because previously Jacob’s wife Rachel was not able to have children. Jacob sings a long song of praise to God for blessing him with this spiritual child. Jacob is so taken with Joseph that his older brothers, half-brothers, are resentful.
When Joseph grows into young manhood, he starts having God-given prophetic dreams, which tend to come true. Thus, his older brothers are even more disturbed when he dreams a dream that clearly implies they will bow down to him. A scuffle ensues, and Joseph falls into a well. When he is lifted out, his brothers sell him to some passing slave traders.
He ends up being sold to Potipher, the second most powerful man in Egypt, after the Pharaoh. Blessed by God in everything he does, he quickly rises to be the steward of all that Potipher holds.
This success is broken when Potipher’s wife makes a pass at Joseph, and then claims that he tried to defile her. Joseph ends up in prison, where a cook and a wine steward are also in prison. He interprets their dreams, saying that the baker will be beheaded and the wine steward will go back to serving the Pharaoh. When Pharaoh is disturbed by nightmares, the wine steward tells him that Joseph can interpret them. Joseph is brought from prison and correctly interprets the Pharaoh’s dreams.
Pharaoh asks him how he does this. Joseph answers, “God and God alone.” Pharaoh makes Joseph steward over Egypt.
When famine strikes the land, Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt to get food, which Joseph wisely stored up during the years of plenty. Joseph, of course, puts the brothers to several tests, which will eventually reunite the family.
The good news is that JOSEPH, KING OF DREAMS focuses clearly on God. God is given the credit, and even the songs witness to Him. The theme is that God knows better than we do because it is God who is at work in our history, thus it is His story, not ours.
As with THE PRINCE OF EGYPT, there are certain changes made for dramatic purposes. Most of these are innocuous. One has to do with the chronology of the birth of Benjamin. It is understandable why the timing of Benjamin’s birth was changed until after Joseph was sold into slavery, but many will complain that this particular point doesn’t follow the biblical story. However, in almost all other points, the movie is very close to the biblical account. Also, the movie does honor and lift up God, which is the whole point of the story.
The animation here is excellent. The dream sequences have a great, beautiful, Van Gogh quality about them. Other sequences recall other great books of art, including the now famous hieroglyphics coming alive as they did in THE PRINCE OF EGYPT.
The music also is superb, with deep, spiritual significance. Five all new memorable songs are performed by such renowned singing talents as Jodie Benson, who immortalized THE LITTLE MERMAID and is a committed Christian.
There are a few frightening sequences where Joseph dreams of wolves, and then the dream comes true, but these are much more tame than similar dramatic instances of other feature-length animated movies.
In all, JOSEPH is a powerful feature film. One only wishes that it had first gone to big screen before being released on video.