The characters are all hugely expressive and work well in the more expressly comic set sequences especially, but the gradual introduction of early CG elements – most notably in the four-minutes-to-watch, over-a-year-to-animate hydra battle – have, perhaps understandably, not aged all that well. The distinctive character designs were inspired by Gerald Scarfe cartoons filtered through the prism of Ancient Greek art. Because of this Hercules is, for the most part, aiming to be a more light-hearted crowd-pleaser in the vein of their earlier work. Alan Menken composed the score and David Zippel provided the lyrics, but it is the powerful vocals and gorgeous harmonies of Lillias White, Cheryl Freeman, LaChanze, Roz Ryan and Vanéese Y Thomas as the omniscient Muses that really makes the music so memorable and also elevates the story.ĭisney’s hunt for an Oscar and thereby grown-up recognition, beginning with Beauty and the Beast and continuing through Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, had not yielded the desired results and had started to lose momentum at this point. As exposition dumps go, the Muses’ belting out of the Greek mythology highlights reel with accompanying animation on an Aegean-style clay pot is one of the best routes you could’ve gone. The next thing we hear is the first number in the catchiest Renaissance era Disney soundtrack (thanks to its heavy gospel influence). It would have probably been more appropriate to have someone who was is in Jason and the Argonauts or Clash of the Titans, but most of them were either dead or not as recognisable as Ben-Hur, The 10 Commandments and Planet of the Apes star Heston. In a reference to all the old biblical and sword-and-sandals epics the film references, the first thing we hear is Charlton Heston’s very brief cameo as the gravelly voiced narrator. Growing up on Earth as a clumsy, freakishly strong outcast, Herc discovers he must prove himself a true hero in order to have is godhood restored, so seeks out legendary hero trainer Philoctetes (Danny DeVito) for help, before Megara (Susan Egan) enters the picture and complicates everything considerably for “wonder-boy”. In Hercules we follow the eponymous son (Tate Donovan) of Zeus (Rip Torn) who is kidnapped as a baby from Olympus and made mortal as part of a power grab by his uncle Hades (James Woods), which also involves unleashing the Titans on the gods. Sing along if you know the words: “Who puts the glad in gladiator?”…
It received a mixed reception upon its release in 1997 and is perceived to have under-performed at the box office, but a quarter of a century on how does it play? The result was Hercules, a colourful sitcom-meets- Superman-riff in sandals. Starring: Tate Donovan, Susan Egan, James Woods, Danny DeVito, Rip Torn, Bobcat Goldthwait, Matt Frewer, Hal Holbrook, Barbara Barrie, Paul Shafferįollowing their latest attempt to get their dream project Treasure Planet off the starting blocks (which would at long last come to fruition in 2002), Disney Renaissance MVP directors Ron Clements and John Musker were asked to helm a prestige animation based very loosely on Greek myths and legends. Screenwriters: Ron Clements, John Musker, Don McEnery, Bob Shaw, Irene Mecchi
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