Joseph: King of Dreams
Joseph: King of Dreams is a 2000 American direct-to-video animated biblical musical drama film. The second film adaptation of the Bible from DreamWorks Animation and the only direct-to-video production they released, the film is an adaptation of the story of Joseph from the Book of Genesis in the Bible and serves as a prequel to the 1998 film The Prince of Egypt (as the biblical narrative of Joseph happens before that of Moses). Composer Daniel Pelfrey stated that the film was designed as a companion piece to The Prince of Egypt, noting that though "Joseph turned out to be very different than The Prince of Egypt, it was very challenging and rewarding".[2][3]
Joseph: King of Dreams
- Robert Ramirez
- Rob LaDuca
- Eugenia Bostwick-Singer
- Raymond Singer
- Joe Stillman
- Marshall Goldberg
Ken Tsumura
Michael Andrews
Daniel Pelfrey
- November 7, 2000
74 minutes
United States
English
Co-director Robert Ramirez has said that whilst the reviews for the film had "generally been very good" there was a period "when the film was not working very well, when the storytelling was heavy-handed" and "klunky".[4]
Plot[edit]
Joseph, the youngest of Jacob's eleven sons, is considered to be a "miracle child" because his mother Rachel, was thought to have been infertile. Joseph grows conceited under his father's special treatment, and his brothers become jealous of him being favoured, although Joseph desires to be accepted amongst them. One night, Joseph dreams of a pack of wolves attacking the family's flock, and the next day, the dream comes true. Another dream follows, in which Joseph sees his brothers bowing before him, to which on telling them this, they hatch a plan to get rid of him, led by Judah, the oldest brother. They sell him to a slave trader and take his torn coat back to their parents, convincing them that Joseph was killed by wolves.
In Egypt, after the men of Egypt sing out his arrival in their land, Joseph is bought by Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh's guards, and gradually becomes his most trusted attendant, as well as befriending his beautiful niece Asenath. However, Potiphar's wife, Zuleika, attempts to seduce Joseph, who refuses her advances. Infuriated, Zuleika falsely accuses Joseph of making advances on her. Potiphar nearly has him executed, but Zuleika, feeling guilty, stops him. Though Potiphar realizes that Joseph is innocent of the crimes, he reluctantly has him thrown in prison to preserve his reputation. Joseph finds himself imprisoned alongside the Pharaoh's cupbearer and his baker and interprets their dreams, which reveal that one will be beheaded and the other will return to his position at the palace. Sure enough, the baker is executed and the cupbearer is returned to his job. The cupbearer, however, forgets his promise to tell the Pharaoh about Joseph, leaving him to languish in jail.
Meanwhile, Asenath secretly supplies food to Joseph regularly through the prison's skylight. However, she is nearly spotted by a guard while doing so one evening when a thunderstorm strikes Egypt, and is forced to drop the basket of food, which is devoured by rats, much to Joseph's anger. At his lowest point, Joseph climbs the walls of the jail to the skylight, questioning God for his misfortunes and demanding to know why everything has happened to him, before slipping, falling back down, and being knocked unconscious. Upon waking the next day as the thunderstorm in Egypt is over, Joseph finds renewed purpose in caring for a small, dying tree, which is the only source of green in the prison, and slowly helps it grow bigger and healthier as he reflects on his past and begins to trust in God's plan again.
Soon, the Pharaoh becomes troubled by nightmares which none of his advisors can interpret. Remembering Joseph, the Pharaoh's cupbearer advises him to send Potiphar to retrieve him. The two share a happy reunion with Potiphar apologizing to Joseph for imprisoning him and Joseph forgiving Potiphar for it. Joseph interprets the dreams as warnings of seven years of abundance being followed by seven years of famine to come after that may wipe out Egypt, and suggests that a fifth of each year's harvest will be kept back for rationing. Impressed, the Pharaoh makes Joseph his minister and second-in-command, under the name "Zaphnath-Paaneah". In the following years, Joseph's guidance not only saves the Egyptians from starvation, but allows them to sell excess grain to their neighbors, who were also devastated by the famine. Joseph marries Asenath and has two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, with her.
Eventually, Joseph's brothers arrive in Egypt to buy grain due to a famine in their homeland, offering to buy the grain with the silver they sold Joseph, claiming that they will need it to feed their families. Joseph refuses to sell them grain, and imprisons Simeon until they can prove that they had another brother to support. They reappear with Benjamin, Jacob's twelfth son and Joseph's almost identical younger brother, born during his absence, and who is now doted upon by Jacob. Benjamin tells Joseph that Rachel has died and Jacob has been inconsolable ever since Joseph was supposedly killed. Simeon is released and Joseph invites the brothers to a feast.
After the feast, Joseph has his golden chalice concealed in Benjamin's bag while no one is looking, where upon its discovery, he orders that Benjamin shall be enslaved to see how the other brothers will react, and is astonished when they offer themselves in Benjamin's place. Grief-stricken and ashamed, Judah confesses to having sold Joseph into slavery, a crime which has haunted him and his brothers ever since for 20 years, and that they cannot return without Benjamin, as it would break their father's heart to lose another son. Shocked at and touched by their change of heart, Joseph reveals himself to them. They reconcile, and Joseph invites them to live with their wives and children in Egypt. Shortly thereafter, he is happily reunited with his father, and meets his brothers' wives and children. The Hebrews then enter Egypt, ending the film.
Music[edit]
Score[edit]
All songs were produced and arranged by Danny Pelfrey, and he also composed the score. Hans Zimmer, the composer for The Prince of Egypt, had approved of Pelfrey taking over his role after the latter, a relative unknown at the time, did a couple of interviews at DreamWorks. Pelfrey explained that through the process Zimmer gave him an input as to what they liked to hear, through the arranging and production of the songs. Pelfrey said that Zimmer gave him the foundation and communication skills he needed to successfully complete the project.[2] After receiving the job, Pelfrey read as many different translations of the original Bible text as he could, to find story nuances that he could incorporate. In regard to his collaboration with DreamWorks, he said that the input was initially "pretty" sketchy, but was an ongoing process with lots of dialog with writers, producers and directors along the way, also saying Jeffery Katzenberg was directly involved with the entire process.[2] He also explained that he never done a musical before, but Zimmer helped him to incorporate the sounds from The Prince of Egypt, serving as his guide in the song production.[3]
Pelfrey used choral choirs sparingly in his score, with notable examples being a small female group in the beginning for what he called God's theme, and in the scene at the end, which was the reunion of Joseph, his brothers and Jacob, his father. This was because the effect reminded him of angels, as he thought it was more appropriate to the sonic tapestry and he created a more uplifting feeling.[2] He described his musical style in the film as "World/Orchestral", noting that the instruments used were more regional than specifically Egyptian, incorporating Duduk, Ney, Rebaba, Ban-Di, Bansuri, Moroccan Flute, Zampona, and a great variety of percussion including Djembe, Darbuka, Dholak, Udu etc. In regard to using instrumentation from an inaccurate historical context, he said that he always thought that the exact historical and geographical use of the instruments is not as important as the evocative or dramatic effect.[2] A temp-track was made for the score, though Dreamworks "were not too attached to it"; some parts were tracked with "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" by Vaughan Williams.
Pelfrey commented: "Since I had never done a musical before, it was interesting to note the difference between producing these songs as opposed to doing a record. In a musical, the songs advance the story and I had to help that process, as well as make the songs belong to the fabric of the film and the palette of the score. Although this was animation, it certainly did not call for a cartoon approach, due to the depth of the story. The film needed more of a live-action treatment to the score. Joseph: King of Dreams also allowed me to work with the best producers in the business and helped make this a very successful experience both personally and professionally".[3] He explained that Lucas Richman was the reason the Symphonic Suite from Joseph was created. Lucas contacted Pelfrey about wanting to present it in a concert he was doing in Knoxville where he was the conductor and music director, and Pelfrey created the suite especially for them. Pelfrey said that he created a vibrant and thriving orchestra there and they were all welcoming for him. It was performed in LA by the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony in August 2010.[2][7]