Somehow, Steven Spielberg has parted the Red Tape in Hollywood.

One of America's most famous moviemakers, Spielberg has broken with Tinseltown tradition to offer a production that not only is edifying and redeeming but -- get this -- based on the Bible. Your children have heard the story of Moses countless times, but now they can see it. Moses is coming to a theater near you.

The royal lineage of animated movies has traversed from The Lion King earlier this decade to The Prince of Egypt, the story of Moses that is the new blockbuster-in-waiting. It is scheduled to be released on December 18, just in time for Christmas -- and Oscar consideration.

The Prince of Egypt was conceived and produced by DreamWorks, the company Spielberg co-founded. He authorized the movie after informing the group pitching the idea that the story they were describing was actually the life of Moses. More than 350 animators, artists, and technicians then brought the movie to life.

"The Prince of Egypt is a magnificent animated feature focusing on the highlights of the story of Moses,'' says Dr. Ted Baehr of the Christian Film and Television Commission. "Having brought 18 top theologians together prior to the project to ensure its biblical integrity, I am totally convinced that The Prince of Egypt is one of the great movies, in terms of entertainment and content, of the twentieth century."

DreamWorks has gone to great lengths to assure leaders from a variety of religions that The Prince of Egypt stays true to the fundamentals of Moses' story in the book of Exodus. By mid- September, the company had invited 558 people of various religions to view the film. Among the Christian leaders to visit DreamWorks' Hollywood studios were Dr. James Dobson, Dr. Jerry Falwell, Rev. Billy Graham, Dr. Brandt Gustavson, Dr. D. James Kennedy, Dr. Richard Land, Dr. Pat Robertson, and Baehr.

In the movie, Moses' mother avoids the Egyptian pharaoh's terrible edict of death for every Hebrew male by placing the infant Moses in a basket and sending him down the Nile River. The Egyptian queen finds Moses' basket in her water garden and takes him into Pharaoh Seti's palace. There, Moses is raised alongside Rameses, the new "brother" who becomes Moses' rival. Ultimately, Rameses is the pharaoh before whom Moses must represent God and repeatedly petition for the release of the Hebrew slaves, his real brethren.

DreamWorks brought to bear its full force for the movie, signing Val Kilmer as the voice of Moses and Ralph Fiennes as Rameses. The film also features the voices of Sandra Bullock, Danny Glover, Jeff Goldblum, Steve Martin, Michelle Pfeiffer, Martin Short, and Patrick Stewart. Lyricist Stephen Schwartz (Pocahontas) and composer Hans Zimmer (The Lion King), both of whom have won Oscars, lead the soundtrack and score, respectively. Three star-laden music compact discs (soundtrack, country, and inspirational) support the movie.

"We began to do research, reading the commentaries, histories, and philosophical texts that deal with Moses," says producer Penny Finkelman Cox. "We recognized that we had to look deeper and, as we did, the story improved. We learned that there were certain aspects of the Bible that we could elaborate on and aspects to which we had to be absolutely loyal and take literally. And we learned to distinguish between them."

"We acknowledged that we couldn't see the material the way others saw it, and we needed to develop a proper respect and understanding for their points of view. We could not incorporate them all, but we needed to see the story through others' eyes."

The look of the film is unique, especially for animation. Never in the history of cinematography have the components of two-dimensional artwork and three-dimensional computer graphics been so melded to make animated characters life-like.

Already, four scenes are garnering attention: Moses at the burning bush; Moses having a nightmare in hieroglyphics (Egyptian symbols); Moses leading the gargantuan Hebrew exodus; and, most especially, Moses parting the Red Sea.

DreamWorks executives knew their vision for the movie would blend several popular elements. They drafted the story from the Bible. But they drew inspiration for the movie's appearance from the talents of other greats: 19th-century illustrator Gustave Dor

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