"Who put the 'glad' in gladiator..."

HERCULES (G) 

Reviewed June 28, 1997 - Check out the Hercules web site.

The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and now Hercules.  The Disney animation factory has certainly been in full gear in recent years, and with every new addition the question always arises: "is this film going to live up to the standards set by its predecessors?"  With the phenomenal success of Mermaid, Beast, and Aladdin, and the relatively lukewarm reception to Pocahontas and Hunchback, it remains to be seen where Hercules falls in the pack.  For what it's worth, however, my viewing of this latest Disney animated musical (again with music by Alan Menken) revealed a fun, entertaining, and nicely told story accompanied by some great musical numbers and rich voice-over performances by the likes of James Woods (as Hades), Tate Donovan (as Hercules), Susan Egan (as Meg), and Danny DeVito (as Philoctetes). 

This "Disney-tized" version of Greek mythology, telling of Hercules' birth as the son of Zeus and his subsequent transformation into a "mortal" as Hades plots to take over Mt. Olympus, ends up as a love story between Hercules and Meg, who falls for Hercules while on assignment for Hades.  The music here has a "gospel" feel to it and, as expected, is excellent.  The humor is also typical of what we've seen in recent Disney efforts--great for the kids but with enough maturity so that adults can laugh as well. 

So, is there anything wrong with this film at all?  Is this one of those "all-time classic masterpieces" of Disney lore, forever to go down in history as another triumph for Mickey's empire?  Well, not quite.  I suppose this borders on nitpicky at this point, but the character animation for Hercules seems to lack the sophistication we've seen in prior Disney efforts (particularly Beauty and the Beast).  With characters that look more "cartoonish" than usual, Hercules rarely enchants with the illusion of realism that we've come to expect from Disney animations.  Just that little touch of magic that doesn't quite come through this time...

Still, Hercules is a strong film, definitely great for the young and young at heart, and most certainly capable of entertaining for a solid hour and a half.  And you get to hear Danny DeVito sing!!  :-)

Responses from cyberspace--thanks for writing!

rfksecond2@cs.com gives this movie  stars: "Good, but Disney seems to tamper with Mythology/History in order to get there G-rating. A.K.A: Disneyised" (6/17/00)

GOOD, BUT DISNEY SEEMS TO TAMPER WITH MYTHOLOGY / HISTORY IN ORDER TO GET THERE G-RATING. A.K.A: DISNEYISED.

David Rogers gives this movie  stars: "I expected more!" (5/6/00)

jammoei@tm.net.my gives this movie  stars: "I feel that it is very fun and nice. It is suppose to be a serius show but you make it funny with full of jokes. I like this show the best, actually. I hope you make nicer ones, next year. I'm sure you're already working on the next one. Good Luck!" (10/13/97)

ktancuan@holly.colostate.edu gives this movie  stars: "I enjoyed this movie, but...For one thing, the Little Shop of Horrors feel to it just doesn't work for Greek mythology. I hope little kids don't think that the Ancient Greeks sing in gospel style. Secondly, they totally screwed up the myth. I know Disney does this quite a bit but it's starting to get worse." (7/5/97)