Hercules is a a 1997 American animated musical feature film, produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures on June 27, 1997. The thirty-fifth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon, the film was directed by Ron Clements and John Musker. This movie was based on the legendary Greek mythology hero Heracles (known in the movie by his Roman name, Hercules), the son of Zeus, in Greek mythology. The storyline also draws inspiration from "The Karate Kid" and "Rocky" and Richard Donner's Superman and Superman II.

Though Hercules did not match its predecessors, it still took over $99 million in domestic revenues and over $252,700,000 worldwide. The movie is part of the Disney Renaissance that started in 1989 and ended in 1999. The movie was later followed by Hercules: The Animated Series, focusing on Hercules during his time at the Prometheus academy and Hercules: Zero to Hero, a direct-to-video movie (the pilot of the series).

Plot

Hercules grows up to be a misfit, challenged by his incredible strength and inability to fit in with other people. His adoptive parents finally tell him they found him with the symbol of the gods around his neck. Hercules believes the Gods may have the answers behind his mysterious past and decides to go to the Temple of Zeus. Zeus appears and tells him that he is Hercules' father, and that he must prove himself a true hero before he can join the other gods on Mount Olympus. Along with his flying horse Pegasus, Hercules goes to Philoctetes, an unhappy satyr who has failed to train a true hero yet; he decides to take on Hercules as his final attempt.

After training with Phil (his preferred name), the three of them attempt to save the beautiful Megara, or Meg, as she identifies herself, a damsel in distress, from Nessus, a centaur. A smitten Hercules barely succeeds and Meg returns to the forest, where she is revealed to have sold her soul to Hades in order to save her lover's life; her lover abandoned her and now Meg must do favours for Hades in order to avoid an eternity in the underworld. When Hades learns that Hercules is alive, he is enraged and plots to murder him again.

When Hercules tries to prove himself a hero at Thebes, Hades sends the Hydra to kill him. After a lengthy battle, he prevails by using his strength to cause a landslide. He soon becomes a national, multi-million-dollar celebrity as a result. Realizing that his plans are jeopardized, Hades sends Meg out to discover Hercules' weaknesses, promising her freedom in return. Hercules is disappointed to learn from his father Zeus that he has yet to become a true hero, and then spends the day with Meg, who finds herself falling in love again. When Hades intervenes, she turns from him, much to his dismay.

Phil learns of Meg's involvement with Hades and tries to warn Hercules, who ignores Phil and knocks him to the ground in an outrage. Discouraged, Phil leaves for home. Hades arrives along with a captured Meg and makes Hercules a deal: If he surrenders his strength for the next twenty-four hours, Meg will remain free of harm. After making the deal, Hades frees the Titans from their prison and sends them to attack Olympus. One Titan, however, the Cyclops, is sent to kill Hercules. Phil talks to Hercules, and pushes him to "go the distance". Hercules uses his wits to defeat the titan and save the city of Thebes. During the Titan's rampage, a column starts to fall. Hercules was right underneath it, and Meg pushes him away from it. The column falls and ends up hurting Meg. As a result, the deal is broken and Hercules' strength is returned. When Hercules asked Meg why she would risk her life for him. She replied, "People always do crazy things when they're in love". Touched, Herc promises Meg that she won't die. Hercules, along with Pegasus, saves Olympus from certain doom and Hades returns to the underworld. Meanwhile, Meg dies of her injuries; her thread of life cut by the Fates.

Hercules arrives and demands for Meg to be revived, but Hades shows him that she is currently trapped in the River Styx, a river of souls where all the dead go. Hades allows Hercules to trade his soul for Meg's, hoping to return Meg's body to the surface of the river before he is killed. Hercules jumps in and as his lifeline is about to be cut by the Fates, his amazing courage and willingness to sacrifice his life for others prove him a true hero, restoring all his godly powers and rendering him immortal. As he successfully returns Meg to the surface, Hades tries to talk his way out of the situation. Hercules punches him, knocking him into the River Styx. The other souls grab Hades and pull him down into the stream. Hercules revives Meg and goes to Olympus, but when Meg's entrance is denied, Hercules chooses to become mortal and stay on Earth with her. Hercules is acclaimed a hero on Earth and Olympus alike, Zeus creates a constellation in his image and Phil is remembered for being the one to train him.

Production

Hades, voiced by James Woods, is cast as the villain. This idea is similar to that of the Hades of the Marvel Universe, who wanted to overthrow Zeus and was an ambitious, scheming god. In the movie Hades is a fast-talking, manipulative deal maker with a fiery (literally) temper, who hates his job as lord of the underworld and plots to overthrow Zeus.

Disney took considerable liberties with the "Hercules" myths, since some of the original material and characters were deemed inappropriate for younger viewers by the Disney studios moral standards, such as Hercules being conceived through a god posing as a mortal woman's husband, and of his stepmother Hera's attempts to kill him. Disney also made use of stereotypes when designing the look of the characters, such as depicting Hercules as a more of a crime-fighting superhero than a god, the gods as laid-back American types, the Moirae as demonic hags (merging them with the Graeae), the Muses as five gospel-singing divas, and the Titans as brutish giants. On the other hand it could be argued that Disney merely added a new 'version' in the long line of Greek myths, since the old myths often existed in many different versions in different parts of Greece. Gods and heroes could play a totally different role in the same story when told in different citystates.

Due to the name's prominence in Western culture, they went with the Latin Hercules rather than the actual Greek Herakles (Ἡρακλῆς). In the series, the god Dionysus was also portrayed with his Roman name, Bacchus.

The Disney version of Hercules has almost nothing to do with the Heracles myths, and should not be regarded as the actual stories about the mythological hero; rather, it is a spin on the character and the culture of ancient Greece. This is obvious, since ancient Greece is treated like modern day America, e.g. with Hercules-merchandising (Herculade, Air Herc, action figures) after he becomes popular. (The film does contain a brief reference to The Twelve Labors and other myths pertaining to the character, however, such as the Erymanthian Boar. In the movie, Hades sends these monsters to him, rather than their being encountered as they are in the myths). Some other Greek myths are appropriated, as well. One is the myth of Bellerophon, from which was taken the winged horse Pegasus and the scene where Hercules is swallowed by the Hydra (for Perseus it was the dragon Cetus) and cuts his way out. Another is the myth of Orpheus, who goes to the underworld to try to bring back his love, Eurydice. The most obvious is when Hercules is fighting a titanic battle with the Hydra, a lizard-like monster who regrows three heads for every one severed. According to Apollodorus it regrows two heads instead of three. Many other myths are mentioned, like the ones of the Argonauts, Pandora's box, the Trojan War and the Gorgons (which Hercules says he slew)

Because noted British caricaturist Gerald Scarfe (who contributed the animated segments for the film adaptation of Pink Floyd's album "The Wall") designed the characters, the film has a quirky visual style unusual in recent Disney films.

Cast

Crew

Soundtrack

• On Classic Disney: 60 Years of Musical Magic, this includes One Last Hope on the purple disc, and I Won't Say (I'm in Love) on the orange disc.
• And on Disney's Greatest Hits, this also includes I Won't Say (I'm in Love) on the blue disc and Go the Distance on the green disc. I Won't Say (I'm in Love) was also used in the shortlived Disney musical revue, On the Record.

Reception

Awards and nominations

• Academy Awards

• Gloden Globes

• Saturn Award

• Blockbuster Entertainment Awards

• Young Artist Award

• Annie Awards

Anachronisms

• Golden Fleece: The quest for the Golden Fleece, featuring Jason and the Argonauts, took place during the life of Hercules and featured him as a member of the Argonauts. However, the Argo itself has apparently been disassembled and Hercules has no first-person knowledge of its adventures.
• Orpheus: In the beginning of the movie, Hermes flies in and says that Orpheus made the floral arrangement in the bouquet he is carrying. However, Orpheus was a contemporary of Hercules.
• Trojan War: The war occurred a generation after the life of Hercules, and in fact featured his son as a participant, but Hades makes a reference to the defeat of the Trojans with the Trojan Horse.
• Achilles: In addition to referencing the Trojan War, several characters mention the mythological figure of Achilles, who lived a generation after Hercules and took part in the Trojan War. This is also true of Odysseus, who is mentioned as having lived before Hercules, and, as is additionally implied, dying after Achilles.
• Gorgons: Hercules says to Zeus that he slew a Gorgon, although only one of the Gorgons could be killed (Medusa), and she was already slain by Perseus at about the same time as Hercules's Twelve Labors.
• Hydra: The movie's hyda was depicted as a gargantuan dragon like creature with classic cartoon monster jaws living in a canyon. In the original text the hydra lived in the swamp of Lerna and was simply a viewed as a water snake. However, the hydra was depicted as being underneath a rock during the scene, implying that it might have been imprisoned there. Also the movie's version grew three heads after one was chopped, the original hydra only grew two.

Trivia

• When Hercules walks into Phil's house on the island, he hits his head on the mast of the Argo. Phil resultingly cautions him to be careful. This is a reference to Jason of the legends of Jason and the Argonauts, who died when the mast of the Argo fell on him.
• The Pillars of Hercules were spotted on Phil's Island.
• The animators spent 6 to 14 hours to render a frame of the Hydra, depending on how many heads it had at the time.
• After Hercules defeats Nessus and saves Meg, Phil tells him "Next time, don't let your guard down because of a pair of big goo-goo eyes". Phil's original line was "Next time, don't let your guard down because of a pair of big blue eyes". However, by the time the scene was in color, Meg's eyes were Purple.
• The movie is featured as a world - Olympus Coliseum - in the first three Kingdom Hearts video games. Its inclusion has also been reported in the upcoming Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days.
• Hercules, Megara, Philoctetes, Pegasus, Zeus, Hera, Hermes and the Fates were featured as guests in House of Mouse, and Hades was one of the villains in Mickey's House of Villains.
• The Wilhelm Scream is used as a sound effect.
• Scar from The Lion King makes an appearance as the hide of the Nemean lion being worn by Hercules during his portrait being painted.
• James Woods has called Hades one of his most favorite roles, and has almost always voiced the character in subsequent Hercules-themed Disney productions, including numerous video games and the animated series. Usually Disney is forced to rely on imitators for such work when a high-profile star provides voice talent.

References

External links

• The Big Cartoon DataBase entry for Hercules