Development ofHercules began in 1992 following a pitch adaptation of the Heracles mythological stories by animator Joe Haidar. Meanwhile, Clements and Musker re-developed their idea forTreasure Planet (2002) following the critical and commercial success ofAladdin (1992). Their project was removed from development in 1993, and Musker and Clements joinedHercules later that same year. Following an unused treatment by Haidar, Clements and Musker studied multiple interpretations of Greek mythology before abandoningZeus's adulterous affair withAlcmene. The project underwent multiple story treatments and a first script draft was inspired by thescrewball comedy films of theclassic Hollywood era and popular culture of the 1990s. During production, McEnery, Shaw, and Mecchi were brought on board to revise Musker and Clements' script. British cartoonistGerald Scarfe was recruited as production designer and produced over seven hundred visualization designs of the characters. Research trips toGreece andTurkey provided inspiration for the background designs. Animation for the film was done in California and Paris.Computer animation was used in several scenes, predominantly in the Hydra battle sequence. The production budget was $85 million.
Hercules was released on June 13, 1997, and received generally positive reviews from film critics, with James Woods's performance as Hades receiving particular praise, but the animation (particularly the visual style) and music received a mixed response. The film under-performed in its theatrical release notably in comparison to previous animated Disney films, ultimately earning $252.7 million in box office revenue worldwide.[2]Hercules was later followed byHercules: The Animated Series, a syndicated Disney television series focusing on Hercules during his time at the Prometheus Academy, and the direct-to-video prequelHercules: Zero to Hero (1999), which consists of four episodes from the TV series.
Plot
InAncient Greece, the godsZeus andHera have a son namedHercules. While the other gods are joyful, Zeus' wicked brotherHades plots to overthrow Zeus and ruleMount Olympus. Throughthe Fates, Hades learns that in eighteen years, aplanetary alignment will allow him to free theTitans to conquer Olympus, but only if Hercules does not interfere. Hades sends his minions,Pain and Panic, to murder Hercules, providing them with a potion that can strip a god of immortality. The two kidnap the baby and feed him the potion, but a married farmer couple pass nearby, causing the demons to flee before Hercules could drink every last drop; therefore he is only stripped of immortality but retains his god-like strength. The couple adopt Hercules and Pain and Panic decide not to report their failure to Hades.
Years later, the teenage Hercules becomes an outcast for his inability to control his strength. Wondering about his origins, he decides to visit theTemple of Zeus for answers. There, astatue of Zeus comes to life and reveals all to Hercules, telling him that he can earn back his godhood by becoming a "true hero." Zeus sends Hercules and his forgotten childhood friendPegasus to thesatyrPhiloctetes ("Phil") who is known for training heroes. After completing the training, Phil and Hercules travel toThebes, so he can prove himself there as a hero. On the way, they meetMegara ("Meg"), a sarcastic damsel whom Hercules saves from the centaurNessus. Unbeknownst to Hercules, Meg is Hades' slave due to selling her soul to him to save her boyfriend, who eventually left her for another woman. When Meg mentions Hercules to Hades, he realizes Pain and Panic's failure and plots to finish off Hercules properly.
Hades stages an accident with the disguised Pain and Panic to lure Hercules into a fight with theHydra. Hercules defeats the monster, earning the respect and admiration of the Thebans. He defeats many other monsters afterward, each of them sent by Hades, and becomes a celebrated hero. However, Zeus tells him that he is not yet a "true" hero but refuses to explain what that means. Saddened and frustrated, Hercules spends a day out with Meg, during which they fall in love with each other. Realizing this, Hades, on the eve of his takeover, holds Meg hostage and offers her freedom in exchange for Hercules surrendering his strength. On the condition that Meg will be unharmed, Hercules accepts but is heartbroken after learning that Meg was working for Hades all along.
Hades unleashes the Titans, who defeat the gods on Olympus, while theCyclops goes to Thebes to kill Hercules. Hercules uses his wits to defeat the Cyclops. During the battle, Meg is mortally injured while saving Hercules from a fallingpillar. This breaks Hades's deal, so Hercules regains his strength. Hercules and Pegasus fly to Olympus, free the gods and vanquish the Titans, but Meg dies from her injuries.
To recover Meg's soul, Hercules goes to theunderworld and risks his life by leaping into theRiver Styx. This act restores his godhood and immortality, so he is able to reach Meg's soul and climb out alive. Hercules punches Hades into the Styx, where he is dragged to its depths by vengeful souls. After reviving Meg, she and Hercules are summoned to Olympus, where Zeus and Hera welcome him home, saying he has proved himself a "true hero" through the "strength of his heart". However, rather than joining the gods, Hercules chooses to remain on Greece with Meg, and he deactivates his god powers to show this. Returning to Thebes, they watch Zeus form aconstellation in Hercules' honor, much to Phil's happiness.
Tate Donovan asHercules, a powerful demigod based on themythologicaldeityHeracles. Supervising animatorAndreas Deja described Hercules as "...not a smart aleck, not streetwise, he's just a naive kid trapped in a big body", and claimed that Donovan "had a charming yet innocent quality in his readings". Donovan had not done any voice-over work prior toHercules. Deja integrated Donovan's "charming yet innocent quality" into Hercules' expressions.[3]
Josh Keaton provided the speaking voice ofHercules as a teenager, whileRoger Bart provided his singing voice. Originally, Keaton also provided his singing voice, but his singing was re-recorded by Bart.[4] Randy Haycock served as the supervising animator for Hercules as an infant and teenager.
Danny DeVito asPhiloctetes/Phil, a crotchety, old Satyr (half-man, half-goat) who served as a trainer of heroes in Ancient Greece, most notably Achilles and the powerful demigod, Hercules.Eric Goldberg, the supervising animator for Philoctetes, cited Grumpy inSnow White and Bacchus inFantasia as the inspirations for the character's design. Goldberg mentioned that they discovered that Danny DeVito "has really different mouth shapes" when they videotaped his recordings and that they used these shapes in animating Phil.[3]
James Woods asHades, Hercules' uncle and Zeus' brother who is the ruler of the Underworld. Producer Alice Dewey mentioned that Hades "was supposed to talk in a slow and be menacing in a quiet, spooky way", but thought that Woods' manner of speaking "a mile a minute" would be a "great take" for a villain.[3] Woods did a lot ofad-libbing in his recordings, especially in Hades' dialogues with Megara.Nik Ranieri, the supervising animator for Hades, mentioned that the character was "based on a Hollywood agent, a car salesman type", and that a lot came from Woods' ad-libbed dialogue. He went on to say that the hardest part in animating Hades was that he talks too much and too fast, so much so that "it took [him] two weeks to animate a one-second scene". Ranieri watched Woods' other films and used what he saw as the basis for Hades' sneer.[3]
Susan Egan asMegara, Hercules' love interest and Hades' former servant. Supervising animator Ken Duncan stated that she was "based on a '40s screwball comedienne" and that he used Greek shapes for her hair ("Her head is in sort of a vase shape and she's got a Greek curl in the back.").[3]
Rip Torn asZeus, king of the gods and Hercules' birth father.
Bobcat Goldthwait andMatt Frewer as Pain and Panic, Hades' henchmen. James Lopez and Brian Ferguson respectively served as the supervising animators for Pain and Panic.
Patrick Pinney as theCyclops. Dominique Monfrey served as the supervising animator for the Cyclops.
In early 1992, thirty artists, writers, and animators pitched their ideas for potential animated features, each given a limited time of two minutes. The first pitch was for an adaptation ofThe Odyssey, which entered into production in the following summer.[5] However, production on the film was abandoned because it was deemed too long, lacked central characters,[6] and failed to translate into animated comedy.[7] Animator Joe Haidar also suggested pitching a story fromGreek mythology, but thought his chances plummeted when work onThe Odyssey was discontinued. Nervously, he produced a pitch sketch ofHercules, and delivered a brief outline set during theTrojan War where both sides seek the title character for their secret weapon. Hercules makes a choice, without considering the consequences, though in the end, he learns humility and realizes that strength is not always the answer.[6] With the pitching session concluded,Hercules was approved for development based on Haidar's page-and-a-half outline, but his involvement with the project went no further.[6]
In November 1992, following the success ofAladdin (1992), directorsRon Clements andJohn Musker re-developedTreasure Planet up until fall 1993.[8]Aladdin co-screenwritersTed Elliott andTerry Rossio subsequently took Clements and Musker's earlier ideas and wrote atreatment.[9]Jeffrey Katzenberg, who was the chairman ofWalt Disney Studios, disapproved of the project, and instead suggested they do an adaptation ofA Princess of Mars (in which Disney had held the film rights to).[10] Clements and Musker were uninterested in the adaptation, and the film rights were transferred toParamount Pictures in 2002.[10][11] Katzenberg later struck a deal with the directors to produce another commercially viable film before he wouldgreen-lightTreasure Planet.[8][12] Turning down adaptation proposals forDon Quixote,The Odyssey, andAround the World in Eighty Days, the directors were notified of Haidar's pitch for aHercules feature.[8] "We thought it would be our opportunity to do a "superhero" movie," Musker said, "Ron and I being comic book fans. The studio liked us moving onto that project and so we did [Hercules]."[12]
Writing
WithHercules in production, Clements and Musker conducted research and wrote extensive notes for the film. On excerpts detailed in November 1993, the similarities between their outlines included the naïve title character caught between two worlds, aDanny DeVito-type sidekick, a world-wise heroine, and a powerful villain in a battle of idealism versus cynicism.[6][13] The directors also sought inspiration from classicscrewball comedy films directed byPreston Sturges andFrank Capra with "Hercules as the youngJimmy Stewart inMr. Smith Goes to Washington," Musker explained, and "Meg is modeled onBarbara Stanwyck, especially the characters she played inThe Lady Eve andMeet John Doe."[14]
While preparing the script, Clements and Musker consulted the works ofThomas Bullfinch,Edith Hamilton,Robert Graves, and other interpreters of Greek mythology until they reached the conclusion to not portray the traditional story of Hercules.[15] Because Zeus sired Hercules outside of his marriage withHera, Clements remarked "that illegitimacy would be difficult subject matter for a Disney movie. So [he and Musker] thought of different ways he could be half-man and half-god. [They] moved more toward making Hades the villain instead of Hera. TheUnderworld seemed like such a fascinating, dark image; the contrast withOlympus seemed to have all kinds of visual possibilities."[15] Additionally during their research, the directors were inspired by the correlation of the popularity of Hercules in comparison to that of sport athletes and celebrities in the contemporary era, with both stating Hercules was theMichael Jordan of his era.[16][17]
After multiple meetings and story conferences, Clements and Musker wrote several story treatments before proceeding to their first script draft. Comedy writers Donald McEnery and Bob Shaw were recruited by creative executive Jane Healey to work onHercules. Meanwhile, their draft was concurrently rewritten byIrene Mecchi,[18] which altogether brought additional humor and definition to the script.[19]
Casting
Donny Osmond originally auditioned as the speaking voice of the title character, but was turned down because his voice was considered too deep. Osmond later earned a singing role inMulan (1998) instead.[20] While writing the role ofPhiloctetes, Musker and Clements envisionedDanny DeVito in the role, but DeVito declined to audition, soEd Asner,Ernest Borgnine, andDick Latessa were brought in to read for the part. AfterRed Buttons had auditioned, he left stating, "I know what you're gonna do. You're gonna give this part to Danny Devito!" Shortly after, the directors and producer Alice Dewey approached DeVito at a pasta lunch during the filming ofMatilda (1996), where DeVito signed on to the role.[12]
For every Disney animated feature sinceBeauty and the Beast (1991),Susan Egan auditioned for a role, and then landed the role ofBelle in theBroadway production.[21] Upon learning aboutHercules, Egan actively pursued the role of Megara, though she revealed that "Alan Menken initially blocked me from going after that part. He said that the female lead inHercules was supposed to be this cynical smart-ass, sounding nothing at all like sweet, innocent Belle." Menken eventually relented and allowed Egan to audition for the role.[22] Egan read for the part in front of a microphone while being videotaped as Menken,Beauty and the Beast musical director Michael Kosarin, and the filmmakers sat at a table with their eyes closed. Nine months following the results of the test animation synced with Egan's audition, Egan won the role.[23] During production, Meg was originally given a ballad titled "I Can't Believe My Heart", but Ken Duncan, the supervising animator of Meg, pointed out the song was out of character for Meg. Menken and Zippel would later compose "I Won't Say I'm in Love" instead.[22]
The casting ofHades proved to be very problematic for Musker and Clements. When DeVito asked the directors who they had in mind to play Hades, Musker and Clements responded by saying they had not selected an appropriate actor. In response, DeVito blurted, "Why don't you askJack [Nicholson]?"[24] After DeVito notified Nicholson of the project, the next week, the studio was willing to pay Nicholson $500,000 for the role, but Nicholson demanded roughly a paycheck of $10–15 million, plus a 50 percent cut of all the proceeds from Hades merchandise.[24] Unwilling to share merchandising proceeds with the actor, Disney came back with a counter offer that was significantly less than what Nicholson had asked for. Because of this, Nicholson decided to pass on the project.[24]
Disappointed by Nicholson's refusal, Clements and Musker eventually selectedJohn Lithgow as Hades in fall 1994. After nine months of trying to make Lithgow's portrayal of Hades work, Lithgow was released from the role in August 1995.[25] According to John Musker,Ron Silver,James Coburn,Kevin Spacey,Phil Hartman, andRod Steiger arrived to the Disney studios to read as Hades. Musker also invited producerRobert Evans to read.[12] Additionally, animatorNik Ranieri claimedMichael Ironside,Terrence Mann, andMartin Landau also auditioned for the role, and that Musker and Clements had reached out toJerry Lewis to read for the role.[26] When the directors invitedJames Woods to read for the part, they were surprised by Woods' interpretation, and he was hired by October 1995.[25] Hades's co-henchman Pain was written withBobcat Goldthwait in mind, although the actor confessed he still had to audition for the role despite playing himself.[27]
Animation and design
In 1993, Clements and Musker fondly remembered aTime magazine cover ofthe Beatles, illustrated by English cartoonistGerald Scarfe.[28] While working as the production designer on a production ofThe Magic Flute, Scarfe was invited to tour the Disney studios where Clements and Musker noticed a direct correlation between Scarfe's style and the Greek vase painting style. With the permission from the Disney studios, Scarfe was hired as production designer to produce a dozen drawings.[29] Scarfe conducted minimal research, not wanting to be influenced by other interpretations where he sent thirty-two sketches via fax machine or courier,[30][29] and ended up producing more than 700 drawings throughout production.[31] By July 1995, Scarfe and fifteen animators and designers began developing working prototypes for every character in the movie. That same year, the filmmakers embarked on a research trip toGreece andTurkey to research classic Greek mythology.[32] Since Scarfe's style proved to be too fluid and chaotic for the animators, production stylistSue Nichols created reference charts for the animators on which elements of Scarfe's style, as well as classical Greek illustration, to adapt into their work.[33]
Animation began in early 1995 with a team of nearly 700 artists, animators, and technicians inBurbank, California whileWalt Disney Animation France contributed nearly ten minutes of animation, including the finale with the Titans and Hercules' descent into the Underworld.[34]Andreas Deja, the supervising animator for Hercules, commented that the animation crew he worked with to animate Hercules was the "largest [he] ever worked with". He previously worked on other characters (likeGaston inBeauty and the Beast,Jafar inAladdin, andScar inThe Lion King) with about four animators on his crew, but he had a team of twelve or thirteen for Hercules.[3] Given Deja had worked with three villains before, he was first offered Hades, but asked to animate Hercules instead – "I knew it would be more difficult and more challenging, but I just needed that experience to have that in your repertoire."[35]
Following the release ofPocahontas (1995),Eric Goldberg was initially assigned to animate Hades when Jack Nicholson was thought to play the character. However, when Nicholson decided to pass on the role, Goldberg was not interested in animating the character anymore. Around the same time,Chris Buck was assigned to animate Philoctetes, but after he left the production ofHercules, this left the character of Philoctetes without a supervising animator.[36] Goldberg then decided to instead animate Philoctetes when DeVito signed onto the role noting his similarities with the actor in their short stature, baldness, and admittedly a little "soft around the middle". Throughout production, there were twenty-seven designs for the character,[37] but the final design took inspiration from Grumpy inSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Bacchus inFantasia (1940) in terms of their curmudgeonly personality and facial structure.[38] For Hades, animator Nik Ranieri took inspiration from Scarfe's concept drawings and James Woods' mannerisms during the recording sessions. While Hades' body was drawn by hand, the animation of the hair was handled by the effects animators with input from Ranieri as to how it should move.[19]
For theHydra, Scarfe provided preliminary drawings to give the mythical beast its requisite fangs and serpentine necks before work was transferred over to the computer animation team headed by Roger Gould. The Hydra was sculpted into a clay model where the dimensions were digitized into the computers as awire-frame model by which the monster was animated.[39] Early into production, the filmmakers decided the Hydra would ultimately have thirty heads by which the animators created one master head, and the computer could multiply the heads to their desired scale. Overall, thirteen animators and technical directors spent nearly a year-and-a-half creating the four-minute battle sequence.[40] Additionally, because the directors envisioned Olympus as a city composed of clouds, painted backgrounds of clouds and cloud-like imagery were blended with drawn effects animation to create a morphing technique that were used for baby Hercules's cradle and Zeus's reclining chair.[19]
On February 4, 1997, Disney began its marketing campaign by starting a five-month promotional traveling tour calledDisney's Hercules Mega Mall Tour. Sponsored byChevy Venture, the tour traveled throughout 20 cities starting first inAtlanta, Georgia. Previously used for the marketing campaigns forPocahontas andThe Hunchback of Notre Dame, the tour featured eleven attractions including a multimedia stage show, a miniature carousel themed to Baby Pegasus, a carnival withHercules-themed game booths, and a ten-minute animation workshop hosted by animator Andreas Deja where visitors would try their hand at drawing Hercules.[42][43][44]
On June 14, the premiere of the film was accompanied with a Hercules-led performance ofDisneyland'sMain Street Electrical Parade held inTimes Square. The parade of electrified floats, which was broadcast live on theDisney Channel as part of a program involving the making ofHercules, traveled from42nd Street toFifth Avenue. The parade also included attendees such asLauren Hutton,Harvey Keitel,Andy Garcia,Barbara Walters,Michael Bolton, andMarilu Henner, as well as Olympic athletes who rode on thirty floats.[45] Themedia event was not without controversy as former New York mayorEd Koch objected to surrendering the city over to Disney, and critics raising questions about what politicians are willing to give a private firm in return for investment.[46] Also, nearly 100 members ofNational Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians used the occasion to strike for a new contract from Disney/ABC,[47] with local union president Tony Capitano who complained: "I think the Mayor gave away the city to Disneyland." Furthermore, 5,000 businesses and residents within the city felt unusually eerie upon being asked to dim their lights as the parade passed.[48] Following the parade, a private party was held at theChelsea Piers complex, where dinner guests were served to a performance of Susan Egan singing songs from the movie along theHudson River, and ten minutes of fireworks display.[45]
Hercules was first released on VHS and widescreenLaserDisc in the United States on February 3, 1998, included as an installment of the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection series. By summer 1998, sales and rentals of the VHS release had accumulated to $165 million.[54] Released on November 9, 1999,Hercules was released in a "Limited Issue" DVD for a limited sixty-day time period before going into moratorium.[55] Launching in January 2000, Walt Disney Home Video began the Gold Classic Collection, withHercules re-issued on VHS and DVD on August 1, 2000.[56] The DVD contained the film in its 1.66:1aspect ratio andTHX-certified, and was accompanied with special features including "The Making of Hercules" documentary video and the "Go The Distance" music video sung byRicky Martin, as well as an "Animals of the Outback" activity booklet.[57] The early DVD issues utilized a 35mm print of the film, rather than use the computer to encode the movie directly to digital. The film was released on a Special EditionBlu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD on June 10, 2014.[58] On September 1, 2017,Hercules became available onNetflix.[59]
Reception
Box office
Wall Street analysts estimated thatHercules could bring in between $125 and $150 million in the United States, on the basis of the extensive marketing campaign and the movie's light, humorous tone similar to that ofAladdin.[60]Hercules began its limited release in North America on June 13, 1997, playing in one selected theater. The film earned $249,567 in box office receipts during the weekend of June 13–15, standing at the thirteenth place in the box office ranking.[61] During its first two weeks, the film had grossed $1.45 million when it expanded into two selected theaters.[62] The general release followed on June 27, 1997, in 2,621 screens. During the weekend of June 27–29, box office analysts estimated thatHercules earned $21.5 million, ranking second behindFace/Off, which grossed $22.7 million.[63][64][65]
In its first two weeks of general release,Hercules amounted $58 million in box office grosses, compared toPocahontas (which took in $80 million) andThe Lion King (which grossed $119 million) in their respective two weeks. Considered a disappointment among Disney shareholders, Disney's stock price slipped 9.7 percent by which executives blamed the film's box office performance on "more competition".[66] By its third weekend,Buena Vista Pictures Distribution presidentDick Cook confessed that competing family films such asMen in Black andBatman & Robin played a role in the downward box office performance, but projected the film would receive a worldwide gross of $300 million.[67] Likewise, entertainment analysts speculatedHercules did not appeal strongly towards adults and teenagers compared toBeauty and the Beast,Aladdin, andThe Lion King, which served as date movies and family outings.[68] By spring 1998,Hercules grossed $99 million,[69] and the international totals forHercules raised its gross to $253 million.[2]
James Woods (pictured in 1995) was praised for his vocal performance as the villain Hades.
Hercules received generally positive reviews from critics.[64][72][73] Review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes reported the film has an approval rating of 83% based on 114 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Fast-paced and packed with dozens of pop culture references,Hercules might not measure up with the true classics of the Disney pantheon, but it's still plenty of fun."[74]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 74 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[75] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[76] According to journalistFranklin Foer, most contemporary critics praised the film for deviating from Disney's standard musical-comedy formula.[77]
James Woods received universal acclaim from film reviewers for his vocal performance as Hades. Reviewing forEntertainment Weekly,Owen Gleiberman graded the film an A− acclaiming it was Woods' most exciting performance sinceSalvador. He wrote his performance "is an inspired piece of deadpan vaudeville. His dry jocularity is hilariously incongruous – he's like a hostile, wisecracking salesman trapped in the body of theAntichrist."[78]Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times wrote a positive review of the film, enjoying the story as well as the animation. Ebert also praised Woods' portrayal of Hades, stating that Woods brings "something of the same verbal inventiveness thatRobin Williams brought toAladdin".[79] Similarly,Chicago Tribune film reviewerGene Siskel, while awarding the film 2 out of 4 stars, stated, "The only memorable character in the film is the nicely drawn villain Hades (voice by James Woods), who seeks to turn Hercules to the dark side. Hades supplies the genie-like patter that Robin Williams provided inAladdin."[80] Janet Maslin ofThe New York Times also praised Woods' performance, remarking that he "shows off the full verve of an edgy Scarfe villain", and added "On any level, earthly or otherwise, the ingenious new animatedHercules is pretty divine."[81]James Berardinelli, film critic forReelViews, awarded the film 3 out of 4, stars writing, "The real star of the show is James Woods, whose Hades is the most vibrant Disney creation since Robin Williams' Genie. Hades is a lively villain with a great repertoire of one-liners. And, although Woods isn't as much of a vocal chameleon as Williams, he's close enough that it hardly matters."[82]
The Scarfe-inspired animation style received mixed reviews, with Berardinelli labeling it as the film's most disappointing aspect. He wrote: "This approach makes the film look rushed and, at times, incomplete. It is never a visual marvel – even the computer-generated scenes fail to impress. The sequences intended to offer the biggest spectacle – Olympus and the Underworld – provoke little more than a yawn."[82] Likewise, Siskel noted his surprise of "how soft and cheap the animation looks."[80] Writing forThe Washington Post,Desson Howe criticized the animation as being "some of the worst I've ever cringed through, including the corner-cutting junk ofDon Bluth movies and every trashy cartoon that passes for entertainment on Saturday morning television. InHercules, ancient Thebes looks like a hastily sketched field-trip location from public TV'sThe Magic School Bus; and no self-respecting immortal would be seen dead in this simplistic rendition ofMount Olympus.[83] Nevertheless,Kenneth Turan of theLos Angeles Times noted the animation "has just enough of a different look to it to make things interesting" and praised the Hydra as a technological marvel.[84]
Likewise, the music also received a mixed response, with Rita Kempley ofThe Washington Post writing, "Like the other songs by Disney veteran Alan Menken and his new lyricist, David Zippel (City of Angels), the number gets the job done, but it doesn't topple the temple. The score is influenced by gospel, Broadway musicals, processional music and R&B, but its only spice is its variety."[85]Variety film critic Leonard Klady noted the lack of distinctiveness of the music writing Menken "is hitting too many tired notes in his sixth animated score" and "there's simply not a song in the piece that has you humming as you exit the theater, and ballads such as "Go the Distance" will require aggressive repetition to register as playlist material."[86]
Controversy
Disney intended for the film to have an open-air premiere atPnyx hill, but the Greek government declined after the film received backlash from Greek critics and audiences, and the film would be renamed to "Beyond the Myth of Heracles" in Greece.[4][5] Greek newspaperAdesmevtos Typos called it "another case of foreigners distorting our history and culture just to suit their commercial interests".[87]
The sequelHercules II: The Trojan War was planned. It would have been about Hercules now living in Athens with Megara and their daughter, Hebe. However, when an old friend namedHelen is captured by the evilParis of Troy, Hercules joins the united Greek army as they head out to war. However, this war will create revelations, and Hercules finds an old friend who eventually goes missing. The project was cancelled whenJohn Lasseter was named Disney's new chief creative officer in 2006, after which he called off all direct-to-video sequels that Disney had planned.[96]
TV series and follow-up film
Hercules: The Animated Series is an American animated television series produced byWalt Disney Television Animation based on the original film and theGreekmyth. The series depicts Hercules' teenage years training with Phil and studying at the Prometheus Academy high school. The series premiered in syndication on August 31, 1998, and onABC through itsDisney's One Saturday Morning block on September 12, 1998. The syndicated run lasted 52 episodes, while the ABC run lasted 13 episodes. Four episodes of the series were packaged together as thedirect-to-video filmHercules: Zero to Hero, released on August 17, 1999. The film features aframe story set after the events of the feature film, with Hercules telling Meg stories from his teenage years.[97][98]
On April 29, 2020, it was reported that alive-action remake ofHercules is under development atWalt Disney Pictures, with the producers of theCGI remake ofThe Lion King (Jeffrey Silver and Karen Gilchrist) set to produce the film.Joe and Anthony Russo were to serve as producers on the film through theirAGBO banner, withDave Callaham as screenwriter.[104] On May 7, 2020, the Russo brothers stated that the remake would not be a "literal translation" as they want the film to have new elements yet still being "something that's in the vein of the original and inspired by it".[105] In June 2022, it was announced thatGuy Ritchie, who had previously directed Disney'slive-actionAladdin remake, had signed on to direct the film.[106] Joe Russo toldGamesRadar+ that the remake would pay homage to the original with a more modern spin on it and revealed that it would also be a modern musical inspired byTikTok.[107][108]
^Simpson, MJ (April 27, 2013)."Interview: Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio" (Interview).Archived from the original on April 18, 2019. RetrievedJanuary 20, 2024 – viaBlogger.We did a draft of the screenplay for them just after we finishedAladdin, but the project got backburnered again.
^Perlmutter, David (2018).The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 278.ISBN978-1-538-10373-9.
^Erickson, Hal (2005).Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 260–261.ISBN978-1-476-66599-3.
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