Joseph: King of Dreams is a 2000 American animated biblical musical drama film produced by DreamWorks Animation. 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) as well as the second film in The Prince of Egypt franchise. 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".
Joseph: King of Dreams was released by DreamWorks Home Entertainment on November 7, 2000. Co-director Robert Ramirez 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".
Plot 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 becomes conceited due to his parents' special treatment, leading to his brothers growing increasingly jealous of him. One night, Joseph dreams of a pack of wolves attacking the family's flock of sheep which comes true, though 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 Jacob's fourth son, Judah, the brothers sell Joseph to a slave trader for twenty pieces of silver and bring his torn coat to their parents, convincing them that wolves killed Joseph.
Joseph is brought to Egypt and sold to Potiphar, the captain of (the unnamed) Pharaoh's guards. He becomes a trusted servant and falls in love with Potiphar's niece Asenath but Potiphar's wife, Zuleika, tries to seduce Joseph, and when rebuffed she falsely claims Joseph attempted to rape her. Potiphar orders Joseph’s execution, but Zuleika begs him not to. Realizing Joseph’s innocence, Potiphar spares his life, but has him imprisoned to preserve his honor. There, Joseph meets the Pharaoh's cupbearer and baker and interprets their dreams, which soon come true: the cupbearer will return to his position whilst the baker is executed. Joseph pleads with the cupbearer to tell Pharaoh about his gift, but he forgets to do so, while Asenath tries to secretly supply Joseph with food that is instead devoured by rats. Joseph rages at God for his misfortunes and unsuccessfully attempts to climb the walls of the jail, after which he finds renewed purpose by caring for a dying tree, where he reflects on his past and begins to trust in God's plan again.
When the Pharaoh becomes troubled by nightmares that none of his advisors can interpret, the cupbearer remembers Joseph and advises the Pharaoh to consult with him. Joseph forgives Potiphar for imprisoning him, then interprets the Pharaoh's dreams as warnings of seven years of abundance set to be followed by seven years of famine that may devastate 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 also marries Asenath and they have two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
Twenty years later, Joseph is horrified to see his brothers in Egypt attempting to buy grain for their father and youngest brother using the silver they sold him for. Unrecognized by them, Joseph refuses to sell them grain and orders one of the brothers, Simeon, imprisoned until they can prove their story by producing their youngest brother. The brothers reappear with Jacob's twelfth son, Benjamin, who resembles Joseph and is favored by their father as he was. Benjamin tells Joseph that Rachel died and that his father was heartbroken by Joseph's disappearance; Joseph questions Benjamin on whether his father trusts his brothers to look after him and how his supposed death affected them, but Benjamin says they never speak of it.
Joseph releases Simeon and invites the brothers to a feast, after which Joseph conceals his golden chalice in Benjamin's bag. Upon its discovery, he orders that Benjamin shall be punished, but the brothers all offer themselves in his place. When Joseph questions their motives, Judah confesses to having sold Joseph into slavery, which has haunted them all ever since, and that they could not bear to lose another brother and their father to lose another son. Shocked and touched by this, Joseph reveals himself to them, and they reconcile. Joseph reunites with Jacob and meets his brothers' families after inviting them to live in Egypt, unaware of the hardships their descendants will face in many years to come.
Cast Main voice cast
Additional voices
Production
Conception and development 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.
Early work Ramirez explained the early stages of the film's production:
Screening and production troubles Ramirez explained how things turned awry at the film screening:
Cracking the story Ramirez explained that they cracked the story by returning to the basics of storytelling:
Casting and approach to characters 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.
David Campbell also served as the singing narrator of the film, with most songs being non-diegetic
Music
Score and songs were released in 2000 in CD format only for promotional purposes without release to a mass audience.
Release 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.
Book tie-ins 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.
Reception Critical response
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.