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, to date, 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".
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".
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 from his parents' special treatment, leading to his brothers becoming increasingly jealous of him. One night, Joseph dreams of a pack of wolves attacking the family's flock of sheep. The dream comes true, but Joseph's brothers dismiss it as a coincidence. Joseph further enrages his brothers by recounting his next dream, in which he saw them bowing before him. Led by the eldest brother, Judah, the brothers sell Joseph to a slave trader for twenty pieces of silver and take his torn coat back to their parents, convincing them that Joseph was killed by wolves.
In Egypt, Joseph is bought by Potiphar, the captain of (the unnamed) Pharaoh's guards. He becomes a trusted servant and falls in love with Potipher's niece Asenath. Potiphar's wife, Zuleika, tries to seduce Joseph, and when he refuses, she falsely claims Joseph raped her. Potiphar orders Joseph be executed, but Zuleika begs him not to. Potiphar realizes that Joseph is innocent, but orders him to be sent to prison to preserve his reputation. There, Joseph meets the Pharaoh's butler and baker and interprets their dreams, which soon come true. Having seen that the butler will return to his position whilst the baker is executed, Joseph begs him to tell the Pharaoh about his gift, but the butler forgets to do so. Meanwhile, Asenath secretly supplies food to Joseph until she is nearly spotted by a guard and forced to drop the food, which is devoured by rats. Raging at God for his misfortunes, Joseph climbs the walls of the jail, slips and falls back down, ending up being knocked unconscious. After he wakes up, he finds renewed purpose in caring for a dying tree as he reflects on his past and begins to trust in God's plan again.
The Pharaoh becomes troubled by nightmares which none of his advisors can interpret. Remembering Joseph, the Pharaoh's butler advises him to send Potiphar to retrieve him. Potiphar apologizes to Joseph for imprisoning him, and Joseph forgives him. Joseph interprets the Pharaoh's dreams as warnings of seven years of abundance set to be followed by seven years of famine that may wipe out Egypt. He suggests that one fifth of each year's harvest should be stored 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 saves the Egyptians and their neighbors from starvation. He marries Asenath and has two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, with her.
One day, Joseph's brothers arrive in Egypt to buy grain, offering to pay for it with the twenty silver pieces. The brothers claim they have to feed their youngest brother and Jacob. Unrecognized by them, Joseph refuses to sell them grain and imprisons one of the brothers, Simeon, until they can prove their story by bringing their youngest brother. The brothers reappear with Benjamin, Jacob's twelfth son whom he favors as he did Joseph. Benjamin tells Joseph that Rachel died and that his father was crushed by Joseph's "death". Joseph questions Benjamin on whether his father trusts his brothers to look after him and how his supposed death affected them. Benjamin says they never speak of it. Joseph then releases Simeon and invites the brothers to a feast.
After the feast, Joseph has his golden chalice concealed in Benjamin's bag. Upon its discovery, he orders that Benjamin shall be punished, but the brothers offer themselves in his place to Joseph's surprise. After Joseph questions their motives, Judah confesses to having sold Joseph into slavery, a crime that has haunted him and his brothers for twenty years, and says that they cannot return home without Benjamin, as it would break both their father’s heart and their hearts to lose another son and brother. Shocked and touched by this, Joseph decides to reveal himself to them, and they reconcile. Joseph reunites with Jacob and meets his brothers' families after inviting them to live in Egypt. The film ends with the Hebrews entering Egypt, unaware of the many hardships they would face in years to come.
Development for Joseph started while The Prince of Egypt was being made, so the same crew worked on both films, and the wide group of ministers served on both projects as consultants. Work on the film was based in Los Angeles and Canada, and nearly 500 artists contributed to the project.
Executive producer Penney Finkelman Cox and DreamWorks employee Kelly Sooter noted the challenge in telling a Bible story faithfully yet still making it interesting and marketable. They also noted that though it was destined to be a direct-to-video project from the beginning, their approach to the film was to develop it with the same quality and storytelling as they did with The Prince of Egypt. Creatives involved also noted that one of the most challenging parts of the film was creating Joseph's dream sequences, which look like "a Van Gogh painting in motion". Nassos Vakalis, who helped storyboard and animate the film, said that he had to travel a lot to Canada to see work done in a few studios that were subcontracting part of the film. Composer Daniel Pelfrey said that the writers and directors did a "great" job on staying true to the story and bringing it into a presentation for a contemporary audience.
Ramirez explained the early stages of the film's production:
Ramirez explained how things turned awry at the film screening:
Ramirez explained that they cracked the story by returning to the basics of storytelling:
Mark Hamill, who was cast as Judah, Joseph's elder brother, explained the choices he made regarding his character:
Ramirez explained one of the main themes in the film by analyzing how Joseph reacts upon seeing his brothers for the first time after they sold him into slavery:
Jodi Benson was thrilled to be cast as Joseph's wife, Asenath, after seeing the work that had been done with Moses in The Prince of Egypt. Benson didn't audition for the part, and was instead offered it. Unlike some of the other characters, she provides both the speaking and singing voices in her role. It took twelve days to record her lines, and the only other voice actor she worked with was the singing voice for Joseph, David Campbell. Benson explained her character is the "voice of reason and the voice of trying to do the right thing to reconcile [Joseph] with his brothers". Her character was given a much larger role than what is presented in The Holy Bible.
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. 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. 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.
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. 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. 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". 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.
Score and songs were released in 2000 in CD format only for promotional purposes without release to a mass audience.
As the first and only DreamWorks Animation direct-to-video film, Joseph: King of Dreams was released by DreamWorks Home Entertainment on VHS and DVD on November 7, 2000. Special features included "Sing-a-long songs, storybook read-a-long programming, an interactive trivia game, and printable activity and coloring sheets". The film was released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on DVD on May 13, 2014, as part of a triple film set, along with DreamWorks Animation's The Road to El Dorado (2000) and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003). The film was re-released by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on DVD on June 5, 2018, and released on Blu-ray for the first time on January 22, 2019.
The direct-to-video film was "made available to Christian retailers, but mainly [would] be sold in traditional retailers such as Walmart and Target and video stores." The financial success of Joseph would to some degree influence whether more animated Bible stories would be released by DreamWorks.
Nashville publisher Tommy Nelson, the kids division of the Christian publishing company Thomas Nelson, partnered DreamWorks to publish four companion book titles based on the film, and has exclusive publishing rights to Joseph ("a read-along tape, a sticker storybook, a 48-page hardcover storybook with illustrations from the film, and a smaller hardcover storybook which retells the story of Joseph"). One of them, My Sticker Storybook: Joseph and his Brothers (published on November 1, 2000) was a sticker storybook that followed the plot Joseph, and was written by Dandi Daley Mackall. The 48-page storybook (published on November 1, 2000, and sometimes subtitled "Classic Edition") featured images from the film, a retelling by Mackall, and was a "stand-alone book, as well as a splendid companion to the video", also written by Mackall. Joseph, King of Dreams: read-along (published on March 8, 2001) was a full-color storybook and accompanying cassette which "capture[d] all the emotional and dramatic high points". Written by Catherine McCafferty, it included the song "Better Than I" and dialogue from the film. A fourth book was published as well.
Chick-fil-A sold five storybooks based on the film during a five-week period.
While praising the film's merits including animation, storytelling, and music, much of the criticism came with comparing it negatively to its theatrically released predecessor The Prince of Egypt. The song You Know Better Than I was singled out for praise by numerous critics, as were the van Gogh-inspired dream sequences. Many noted that the animated hieroglyph effects were similar to those from Prince, and suggested that the film stuck closer to the Bible source material than the previous film had.
DecentFilmsGuide gave the film a B for Overall Recommendability and 3/4 stars for Artistic/Entertainment Value. They commented that the dream sequences look like "living, flowing Van Goghs", but they also wrote that Joseph: King of Dreams is not in the same class as The Prince of Egypt and considered it more as children's film. It said that the songs "while cheerful and uplifting, are generally unmemorable", and described the animation as "fine but not wonderful". It noted that "once one stops making unfair comparisons to a theatrical film made on a much bigger budget, Joseph: King of Dreams is very much worthwhile on its own more modest terms". Nevertheless, the review complimented the "ominous tune' Marketplace, and said that "in one small way, Joseph: King of Dreams even outshines the earlier film: the spirituality of its signature song, You Know Better Than I, is much more profound than anything in the more mainstream "There Can Be Miracles". DVD Verdict wrote that Joseph: King of Dreams will shatter anyone's expectations about direct-to-video animated features, also saying that this is not a "halfhearted" attempt to cash in on the success of The Prince of Egypt, but instead a fully realized and carefully crafted story of its own. Despite noting a short film's length, they praised its animation, music, and storytelling. PluggedIn wrote "while not as eye-popping as Prince of Egypt, the film is impressive for a direct-to-video title". They praised "artfully executed" dream sequences, film songs as "uplifting" and noted that the film took fewer liberties than its predecessor. Lakeland Ledger said: "At its best, the story communicated the sense of desperation and yearning that make up the tale and provides a sense of the emotions that underscore the story". Jan Crain Rudeen of Star-News gave a positive review to the film.
The Movie Report gave the film 3/4 stars, writing that "while clearly not on the level of that 1998 classic, it is a solid piece of work that is about on par with the SKG's spring theatrical release The Road to El Dorado". They were however critical to the songs and music, with the exception of You Know Better Than I. ChristianAnswers.net gave the film 4/5 stars, commenting while visual effects are not as outstanding as in The Prince of Egypt, the storyline does stay closer to the biblical version. The site also praised the music and the song You Know Better Than I. CommonSenseMedia rated the film 3/5 stars, praising the animation and its "compelling" dream sequences, but noted that it lacks The Prince of Egypt's poignant tunes and powerful storytelling. The Los Angeles Times wrote that film "with its beautiful, big-screen quality, flowing animation and striking computer-generated imagery--and with its dignity and heart--is a fine telling of the biblical story". Variety said that King of Dreams has much cross-generational appeal as its predecessor and called it an "entertainment" for whole family.