During their voyages across time, the brilliant dog Mr. Peabody, his adoptive human son Sherman, and their friend Penny Peterson travel to ancient Egypt. In Tutankhamun’s times, they meet the pharaoh, a spoiled and pampered child, who always obtains what he desires. Ancient Egypt is depicted as a fascinating era; however, the ancient Egyptians are represented only as a devotional and dogmatic people, blindly following the instructions given by their gods. Nonetheless, and despite the fact that the animated movie is specifically intended for a very young audience and aims to entertain rather than inform, the film is actually filled with quite interesting details concerning ancient Egypt. For example, some of the pieces of furniture belonging to Tutankhamun’s court in the movie are very similar to the ones found in his burial equipment, and, on different occasions, winged solar disks are visible on various surfaces, as well as the typical iconography of Aten. Moreover, most of the texts that are shown in the movie are written using actual ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, and, in his first appearance, Tutankhamun is represented with an accurate sidelock of youth. All these characteristics denote a significant attention to detail.
Therefore, despite the fact that a few clichés and some false-myths are also delivered (such as booby traps and human sacrifices), overall the movie brings out some interesting elements and details you might not expect in such an entertaining and fictional story.

Author: Valentina Santini