Joseph: King of Dreams

• Directed by Robert Ramirez and Rob LaDuca
• November 7, 2000

Voice Cast

• Joseph-Ben Affleck
• Joseph (singing voice)-David Campbell
• Judah-Mark Hamill
• Jacob-Richard Herd
• Jacob (singing voice)-Russell Buchanan
• Rachel-Maureen McGovern
• Asenath-Jodi Benson
• Zuleika-Judith Light
• Potiphar-James Eckhouse
• Pharaoh-Richard McGonagle
• Auctioneer, Horse Trader-Dan Castellaneta
• Butler-René Auberjonois
• Baker-Ken Hudson Campbell
• Simeon, Slave Trader-Steven Weber
• Issachar, Lead Trader-Jess Harnell
• Zuleika’s servant, Additional Voices-Piera Coppola
• Servant-Emily Eby
• Benjamin-Matt Levin
• Levi-Jeff Bennett
• Reuben-Tom Virtue
• Potiphar’s guard, Jail Warden-Kevin Michael Richardson

A prophet able to interpret dreams is sold into slavery in ancient Egypt.

Joseph: King of Dreams is a direct to video animated feature from Dreamworks that attempts to follow in the success/footsteps of the very good Prince of Egypt. Through the animation it does just that but there are points where it loses the general impact of the latter film. That is mostly because it does not devote enough time to developing the film’s narrative.

The story of this Joseph is a rather interesting and I don’t think it can be done justice in 70 something minutes. It gets into so much such as destiny and the responsibility of the weight of being blessed by God and jealousy that only barely touched on here. Joseph was sold into slavery by his own brothers! That alone should take up a good chunk of the movie but gets breezed through. The story covers approximately 20 years, but the passage of time is not well displayed. You’d be forgiven for believing it’s a much shorter period than what makes it onto the screen.

Potiphar’s character and reasonings or Joseph’s dream interpretation or the romance between Joseph and Asenath are poorly demonstrated if at all. All these things are tossed at the audience but given almost no structure to support them. Consequences of serious actions never get addressed.

In one scene Potiphar’s wife Zuleika tries to seduce Joseph while he is still just a slave and nearly gets him killed when she implies he tried to assault (i.e. rape) her. You’re left thinking Zuleika got off quite easily. The woman threw herself at Joseph and when he said “No” she tried to frame him for rape and got him sent to prison where he was probably going to be left to die. That and so many other explanations of what happened are left for the viewer to extrapolate upon. Many viewers may be familiar with the story but not with the details and the filmmakers did not take that into consideration.

I can’t say the songs are great. They’re okay but they don’t help to tell the story. Joseph: King of Dreams is a movie I think that would’ve benefited from a lack of song. It should have dedicated that extra time to development of elements in the narrative. Build up the jealousy of the brothers. Expand upon Joseph’s rise from slavery to authority. Highlight how his purpose was not only to save the people of Egypt from seven years of famine but to help his brothers finish their journey to a more Godly path. They had come to realize the devastation that their jealousy caused but to complete the journey they needed to come to peace with Joseph.

What it gets right is the story is not about Joseph’s survival. It is about forgiveness and getting beyond the hurt of the past. Joseph has carried anger for so long over what his brothers have done and his brothers have come to feel guilty over their betrayal. This is a life lesson and a story about God.

Being a story that intersects with dreams there are some sequences involving them. The dream animation takes inspiration from modern art. At the minimum Starry Night drives the design of one sequence. The general character designs of the film are in line with Prince of Egypt and I dare say a highlight of the era for anything that would be in a film.

Joseph: King of Dreams is good but not great. It leaves a little bit too much out but it’s a nice primer for the story. Just don’t go in expecting anything like Prince of Egypt.