La reine soleil

The theme of a rebelling young child against their father is as old as the world itself. It has been done and re-done in numerous movies and animations. This particular story, being set in Egypt, had the potential of showing some very original aspects, if - in its setting, character design, soundtrack, general presentation and scenes - wasn't a complete rip-off of Dreamworks' "The Prince of Egypt". And it's not the writer of "La reine soleil" - Christian Jacq's fault. It's the fault of the people who decided to make a movie out of it, had however no idea how to successfully present it on screen, and ultimately decided to copy everything from an Oscar-winning animation.

Most viewers don't mind. I do. Because why put up with an imitation, when you can afford the original?

I am also particularly surprised that this thing comes from France and Belgium of all places, since both of the countries are known worldwide for their original comic books and are in fact able to offer unique character design.

So, to all people who haven't yet watched "La reine soleil", I have two things to say:

First, if you want to see something original, I highly recommend the Franco-Belgian "Kirikou et la sorcière", "Une vie de chat", "Un monstre à Paris"; the Irish "Song of the sea" and "The secret of Kells"; the Japanese "Spirited Away". All of them are available in English as well as multiple other languages.

Second, watch "The Prince of Egypt". As it always happens in life, the original is infinitely better than its copy.