José: O Rei dos Sonhos

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.

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...

We bought this film in a two-pack with PoE and find ourselves watching King of Dreams much more than PoE. I personally find that:

1) The story is incredibly satisfying emotionally. Joseph's story of commitment to God in the face of such challenges and especially his struggle to forgive his brothers is something that I think everyone can relate to.

2) The acting is top notch. They didn't near as many high powered stars as PoE, but apparently Ben Affleck and Mark Hamil decided that they couldn't coast through this and put in super performances.

3) The music is less "soundtracky" and more singable. I 2 years later, I still can't get "You know better than I" out of my head.

4) The animation, sigh, is not quite as ambitious as PoE, but is definitely sufficient to tell the story. I didn't notice any letdown until I read a previous poster's comment about a lack of animation on the level of the Red Sea parting or burning bush PoE scenes, and they're right. But I didn't miss them. Go hang your PS3 screenshots in a museum -- I'll stick to my awesome Wii gameplay.

Ever since I started hearing rumors about this on Prince of Egypt message boards last year, I was pretty much looking forward to seeing it - though in the early stages of this news, I didn't take it too seriously. However, it is no longer a rumor but is now for real. And I must say, it left me breathless. I will probably sound high saying this but anyway...it was a *beautiful* movie. It made me laugh and cry. It was really emotional. The songs really touched my heart, and now they are stuck to my mind! Of course, that's not a problem and I loved the way the dreams were presented, they reminded me of the paintings of Van Gogh and other expressionist paintings. I also found a lot of things to be similar to PoE, especially those words before the start of the movie....but then I suppose I can understand that they made it like that since the two stories are related. Yhe characters look like the ones in Prince, too. It really reminds me a lot about Prince, yet I find it difficult to say which one is better.

Love it and I will watch it again. It is unforgettable. I really loved the scene when Joseph first enters Egypt, the city seemed sooo...majestic. I was totally glued to it and the way they portrayed the characters really interesting too. They made them seem so real, especially the relationships between the family members and Joseph was...amazing and I admire his personality too. If I were Jacob, I would be *swelling* with pride. Bwn Affleck did a superb job as him.

Indeed, I will see this movie again and again.

I really liked the respect DreamWorks showed respect towards their biblical epic The Prince of Egypt and their biblical source material. Disney should be ashamed of themselves ruining their beloved classics!

While Joseph: King of Dreams is nowhere near the intensity of PoE it still does a pretty good job with what they had to work with. Personally, the only thing I felt was noteworthy is the look of the animation. You know a smaller budget when you see it, but hey, direct-to-video stuff.

Even by those standards the animators really did their best, because once in a while we are presented to these wonderful Van Gogh stylized dream sequences which were highlights along with some of the hieroglyphs in the palace.

The central theme of the movie of family and heritage is a bit similar to PoE, but different enough to make it its own. The voice actors also did good jobs conveying the emotional drama unfolding. I think all involved gave us their ultimate offering considering their limited resources.

In short, less heavy-weight on the drama and the music, but respectful of its source material. Recommendable.