Hollywood didn’t follow the original story.

Surprise.

Biblical inaccuracies in “The Prince of Egypt” aren’t causing most pastors and Bible scholars a tremendous amount of heartburn, though.

David Staff, senior pastor at the First Evangelical Free Church of Ames, said he doesn’t think the inaccuracies are a problem “unless people walk away thinking it’s fact.”

“[The producers] do dress it up some,” Staff said, “but it’s not a huge problem.”

Staff said the film is “mostly Biblical” but that “The Prince of Egypt” differs from the original Biblical text in two significant ways: Moses and Pharaoh weren’t really brothers, and in the Bible, very little is written about Moses’ wife Zipporah.

Although the film’s plot diverged from the original, Staff isn’t as bothered by the differences as he expected to be.

“I was prepared to be disappointed, but I wasn’t,” Staff said. “[The movie version] made for a much better story, but it wasn’t a very accurate retelling of the Biblical story.”

Staff said “The Prince of Egypt” was a fun movie to see and he appreciated the portrayal of Moses’ character.

“I think they displayed the fact that [Moses] depended on God’s power,” he said. “[Moses] didn’t come off as prideful or boastful, and I liked his sense of humility — he didn’t appear to be a power-hungry person.”

Staff said it would be a “positive” thing if Hollywood produced more movies with Biblical themes.

“I like what it does to create interest in the scriptures,” he said. “It gets people thinking about Biblical themes and events.”

Jen Lathrop, senior in English, and Nicole Achter, junior in art and design, are sales associates at Lemstone Books in North Grand Mall, where “The Prince of Egypt” merchandise is sold to the Christian market.

They said they’ve sold a couple of books, but the soundtracks are a little more popular.

Both associates said they don’t think pastors or church leaders have bought “The Prince of Egypt” merchandise to use in churches for educational purposes though.

Lathrop said that although complaints of inaccuracies have been minimal, many parents have been surprised at how the animation was geared toward an adult audience.

“From what I’ve read in press releases, it isn’t meant to be a children’s movie but an actual retelling of Exodus in cartoon form,” Lathrop said.

Lathrop said a lot of children who have come into the store have had difficulty understanding parts of the movie, such as the Passover and why the Egyptians treated the Hebrews so poorly.

In the past, children have asked Lathrop questions that she has had a hard time answering.

“[The children] didn’t understand why [the Passover] had to happen, but it’s kind of an adult concept,” she said. “I tried to explain it as best I could, but eventually I’d tell them to ‘just ask their dad.'”

Because of the Biblical storyline and adult animation, college students have been drawn to the film, as well as church leaders and families.

Marcy Sharp, junior in apparel design, said she appreciated the quality of the animation in the scenes with “the blood in the river and the frogs.” However, Sharp said she observed numerous aspects of the movie that didn’t line up with scripture.

“I noticed that [Moses’] birth mother wasn’t the nurse for Moses, Moses didn’t fall on his face before God at the burning bush, and he didn’t say, ‘Don’t send me, send my brother Aaron,'” Sharp said. “Also, Aaron wasn’t the spokesperson for the people and for Moses before Pharaoh.”

J.T. Bridges, senior in exercise sport science, said, “The greatest inconsistency that stuck out to me was Moses’ age. When he’s taking God’s proposals to Ramses in the movie, he looks like he’s about 40 years old, but in the Bible he stays with Laban for 40 years before he goes back to Egypt; so he’s got to be in his mid-60s.”

Sharp also said the movie “doesn’t explain the full story” of Moses’ life.

“It doesn’t even go into the Ten Commandments, which is the other biggest thing that God did through [Moses],” she noted.

Despite historical inconsistencies, Sharp said she feels that God’s characters and qualities in the Bible are accurately portrayed in the movie.

“I think they did a good job of trying to display [God’s] power and His ability to do whatever he wants,” Sharp said.