Joseph - König der Träume

A generally good effort, which, as the introduction noted, took certain liberties, but was largely "faithful" to the story. One major difference was the handling of Joseph and Potiphar's wife (the scene was comparatively tame, which I appreciated, given that I was watching with a six and an eight year old): Joseph is spared death because Potiphar's wife declares to him that he does not deserve it. Potiphar immediately understands that she was lying, but has Joseph imprisoned anyway (apparently an act of bad faith on his part, despite his otherwise virtuous portrayal). Joseph nonetheless treats him as a "bro" when released from prison, apparently feeling solidarity because they both suffered familial betrayal. An interesting touch.

The music was not great, but the animation was decent, especially the dream sequences, which remind of van Gogh.

It also effectively conveyed the emotion of the story, especially Joseph's anger, pain, and mixed feelings upon seeing his brothers. So much so that Sebastian didn't want to keep watching it at first because he said it was too sad!

The movie is a sort of companion piece to The Prince of Egypt. The art style is the same, but it is obvious that this was made on a far smaller budget. The animation is pretty rough in some places, but not so much that it really bothered me while watching it. There are some very beautiful backgrounds and landscapes.

Especially noteworthy are the dream sequences, which use some more experimental animation. Joseph's two dreams have a style like a van Gogh painting, which works very well. The Pharaoh's dream uses CGI, and looks like a video game cutscene. I didn't like that one, but kudos to the creators for taking a risk.

The songs are all very enjoyable and well sung, but none of them really stuck in my memory.

I definitely enjoyed rediscovering a biblical story that I had almost forgotten. I think anyone who liked The Prince of Egypt will enjoy this movie as well, as long as they keep in mind that this was made on a more modest budget.

Genre: Cartoon Bible story Musical

My thoughts: To admit the plain truth, I was a bit shy of watching this because we had watched the "Prince Of Egypt" by the same makers and DID NOT like it! We watched this just over a month ago and I really like it! Since then I've watched it about four or five times (including once yesterday) and I'm STILL not bored of it (I think my bro's a bit bored of it. He keeps saying this film is "barking religious" but then he thinks that about anything that's religious). I like this film because of the beautiful songs (I can't stop singing "You know better than I", but of course my bro's bored of it because he's changed it to "I know better than you" and he gets a good laugh. I'm more bored of that version than the original!), stunning animation, good characters and it does a good job on the bible story.

What it all adds up to: Beautiful songs + Stunning animation + A good job on the bible story + Memorable characters = The beautiful film that is "Joseph: King Of Dreams. Enjoy! :)

What happens: Joseph is the first born of Rachel, which makes him a miracle child. In a way he is! He outshines his half-brothers and makes his father and mother happy. He even receives a beautiful, shining coat...

No, I'm not a Bible-Thumper. However, Joseph is one of the most precious examples of a man who trusted God with everything he had and did, and how God was with him throughout his life.

Joseph, King of Dreams doesn't quite reflect that total, precious trust in my opinion. However, this is a children's animated story and I know that some liberty has to be taken to get the point across to kids in a way that they will be both entertained, and remember well. This story does achieve that goal in spades. My nieces and nephew are glued to the set whenever we put this movie in, and my oldest niece can almost recite it verbatim.

I can just imagine how hard it must be for the actors to put life and feeling into an animated character, and all of the actors who lent their voices were positively excellent. I gave this film an overall rating of 8 - if you have little children and are wondering how in the world to introduce your kids to the greatest story ever told, here's your answer for a stupendous start.

In this day of pure junk that gets foisted off on our kids(and parents that buy the movies) this film is a treat. I can't sit and tell you how close that this story follows the Bible, and in the opening credits, it states that some license was taken. Fine. My children sat thru it and enjoyed it. That's the sign of a good movie for a young person.

With the sole exception of the folks that make the "Veggie Tales" series of videos, there seems to be a great lack of good movies with a positive tone, without a ton of violence, and good "values" tossed in. Like Prince of Egypt, this movie has it's Biblical tone, but never forces it down your throat, in the way that some kid's Bible videos, do.

Even if you have a problem with movies along those lines, "Joseph" is a pleasing piece of work.

I'm not a Pollyanna by any means, but in light of what our kids have been watching since September 2001, isn't it nice that there are a few feature length films that can be shown to youngsters, without worrying about what might be seen?

A good 6 out of 10.