Just a note regarding why “When You Believe” is a duet between Miriam and Tzipporah: The filmmakers wanted to show Moses’ past and present coming together – “a resolution of the conflicts and obstacles that he and his people have faced” (from the official animation book).

Also, in the source material, Miriam and Tzipporah have a pretty good bond, so it’s nice that they carried that over to the film 🙂 (even if they did expand Tzipporah’s role quite a bit, in general — in the original story, it’s actually Aaron who’s with Moses when he turns his staff to a snake, and Aaron who does a lot of the speaking for Moses. *That* I would have loved to see, but I love Aaron in PoE, so the change doesn’t much matter to me in the end.)

PoE does wonders with its soundtrack, letting things go pretty silent when they need to (final plague scene, like you mentioned) or ramping it up to great effect (that beautiful pantomime scene where Moses is telling Tzipporah about meeting God).

Love this movie 🙂

That’s interesting that it was so different from what you originally learned. I didn’t grow up with religion so watching this film was from an agnostic point of view, even as a child. But even then I did appreciate that opening acknowledgement because as a biblical tale there is going to be so much personal interpretation ingrained in most of the audience.
I know the DreamWorks team did work to be as mindful of that as they could; I know Katzenberg brought in religious and biblical experts as they developed the story, and those brought in had a special screening and approved, because a lot of their notes were considered and included.
Even though I’ve never been religious, I always appreciated the care that went into all angles of this film, because it really shines through.
It would definitely be interesting to read an opinion from someone who, as in your case, grew up with a certain interpretation or telling of the story.

“PoE” isn’t anything like I was taught in school nor does it have to be. In itself it is a masterpiece: the storytelling, the pace of the story, the animation, and the music all blend together to make an epic tale that emotionally hits you in all the right places. Like other people have said it doesn’t sugarcoat the difficult themes and accepts them with a degree of balance so children can watch and understand the timeless themes of heroism, redemption, hope, and legacy.

I didn’t watch the movie in full until I was a teenager either.