Hercules Review

Hercules


Release Date: 18th September 1997 - Australia


Production Companies
Walt Disney Pictures (presents)
Walt Disney Feature Animation

Distribution

Walt Disney Studios Motion

Pictures Australia

Genre: Animation/Family/

Fantasy/Comedy

Rating: G

Runtime: 93 minutes


Budget: $85,000,000

Box Office Gross: $252,712,101 (Worldwide)

Plot Summary

Hercules, a young mortal with godlike strength, grows up on Earth and has trouble fitting in. He discovers that his father is the great god Zeus, and he could live on Mount Olympus if he becomes a true hero. With Pegasus, his trusty flying horse and a feisty personal trainer,

Phil, as they all set out for

the mission. But for Hercules,

it's no easy task when he gets

tricked by a sinister, hotheaded villain, Hades, who seeks to take over Mount Olympus and the Universe. Hercules must choose between his legendary strength and true love, the Grecian beauty Meg. He soon learns that it's not the size of your strength that counts but only the strength of your heart. Can Hercules stop Hades from

taking over Mount Olympus and

be proclaimed a hero?

Voice Cast

Tate Donovan - Hercules

Josh Keaton - Young Hercules

Roger Bart - Young Hercules (singing voice)

Danny DeVito - Phil

James Woods - Hades

Susan Egan - Megara

Rip Torn - Zeus

Frank Welker - Pegasus

Samantha Eggar - Hera

Bobcat Goldthwait - Pain

Matt Frewer - Panic
Wayne Knight - Demetrius the Pot Maker

Charlton Heston - Narrator

Barbara Barrie - Alcmene

Hal Holbrook - Amphitryon

Paul Shaffer - Hermes

Amanda Plummer - Plotho

Carole Shelley - Lachesis

Paddi Edwards - Atropos

Patrick Pinney - Cyclops

Lillias White - Calliope the Muse of Epics

Vanéese Y. Thomas - Clio the Muse of History

Cheryl Freeman - Melpomene the Muse of Tragedy

LaChanze - Terpischore the Muse of Dance

Roz Ryan - Thalia the Muse of Comedy

Corey Burton - Titans/Burnt

Man/End-of-the-World-Man/

Tour Bus Guide

Jim Cummings - Nessus the

River Centaur/Tall Thebian/

Elderly Thebian

Keith David - Apollo

Mary Kay Bergman - Earthquake Lady/

Wood Nymph/Water Nymph/

Earth Nymph/Teenage Girls

Kathleen Freeman - Heavyset Woman

Bug Hall - Little Boy

Kellen Hathaway - Little Boy

Crew

Animation Screenplay/Producers/
Directors - John Musker and Ron Clements

Based on an Idea - Joe Haidar

Story - Kaan Kalyon, Kelly Wightman,
Randy Cartwright, John Ramirez, Jeff Snow,

Vance Gerry, Kirk Hanson, Tamara Lusher,
Francis Glebas, Mark Kennedy, Bruce Morris,
Don Dougherty and Thom Enriquez

Animation Screenplay - Don McEnery,
Bob Shaw and Irene Mecchi

Associate Producer - Kenrdra Haaland

Producers - Alice Dewey Goldstone

and Noreen Tobin

Casting Director - Ruth Lambert
Production Designer - Gerald Scarfe

Art Director - Andy Gaskill
Artistic Coordinator - Dan Hansen
Character Designers/Visual Development -

Hans Bacher, Andrey Brandl, Marek Buchwald,

Jean Gillmore, Joe Grant, Rick Maki, Tina Price,

Jeff Ranjo, Valerio Ventura, Rowland B. Wilson

and Gay Lawrence

Artistic Supervisor: Story - Barry Johnson

Artistic Supervisor: Background - Thomas Cardone

Artistic Supervisor: Background, Paris Unit -

Lisa Keene
Artistic Supervisor: Layout/Layout Stylist -

Razoul Azadani

Production Stylist - Sue C. Nichols

Production Manager - Peter Del Vecho

Production Managers: Paris Unit - Coralie Cudot

and Jean-Luc Florinda

Assistant Production Manager: Backgrounds -

Lindsey Collins

Supervising Animator: "Adult Hercules" -

Andreas Deja

Supervising Animator: "Baby & Young Hercules" -

Randy Haycock

Supervising Animator: "Phil" - Eric Goldberg

Supervising Animator: "Hades" - Nik Ranieri

Supervising Animator: "Meg" - Ken Duncan

Supervising Animator: "Pegasus" - Ellen Woodbury

Supervising Animator: "Zeus" & "Hera" -

Anthony de Rosa

Supervising Animator: "The Muses" -

Michael Show

Supervising Animator: "Pain" - James Lopez 

Supervising Animator: "Panic" - Brian Ferguson

Supervising Animator: "Titans" & "Cyclops" -

Dominique Monfery

Supervising Animator: "Amphitryon" &

"Alcmene" - Richard Bazley

Supervising Animator: "The Fates" & "Thebians" -

Nancy Beiman

Supervising Animator: "Hydra" - Oscar Urretabizkaia

Artistic Supervisor: Visual Effects - Mauro Maressa

Artistic Supervisor: Visual Effects, Paris Unit -

Peter DeMund

Additional Visual Effects Unit Supervisors:

Additional Visual Effects - Dave Bossert and

Mark Myer

Artistic Supervisor: Computer Graphics Imagery -

Roger Gould

Songs: Lyrics - David Zippel
Songs: Music/Original Score/Songs and

Score Producer - Alan Menken
Editor - Tom Finan

Additional Editor - Ivan Bilancio

Associate Editors - John K. Carr

and Jeff Jones
Sound Designer/Re-Recording Mixer -
Gary Rydstrom

Supervising Sound Editor - Tim Holland

Re-Recording Mixers - Lora Hirschberg,

Tom Johnson, Michael Semanick and

Shawn Murphy

Foley Artists - Dennie Thorpe and Jana Vance

Executive Music Producer - Chris Montan


Awards

1998 Academy Awards
Best Music, Original Song "Go The Distance" -
Alan Menken & David Zippel (Nominated)


Review
While based on a legendary Greek tale, HERCULES was not the animated movie I would expect. It should have been dramatic and epic instead of comedic and filled with pop-cultural references and jazzy songs like "I Won't Say I'm In Love", "The Gospel Truth", and others. It was a shame that Disney butchered the original legend by making this version, which bears more than a passing resemblance to the storyline of Superman. Only James Woods's fiery voice performance as the villain Hades stands out from this ungodly trash.

HERCULES has to be Disney's weakest animated movie. Further down the track, the producers could remake this movie and raise the benchmark by producing a more entertaining, excitement-filled motion picture.

Star rating: (2/5) Bad Movie

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