Film #050 - Hercules (1997)
Hercules is an interesting entry in the Walt Disney Feature Animation canon. Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker (previously of The Great Mouse Detective, The Little Mermaid and Aladdin) and with music by Alan Menken, it reunited much of the creative team behind two of the greatest films in Disney’s “Renaissance”. After the malaise that Disney had fallen into at that point, they must have hoped that Hercules could return them to the glory days. Unfortunately it failed to stop the slide that had begun with Pocohantas, just barely failing to reach $100M (which its predecessor The Hunchback of Notre Dame just barely reached).
But it wasn’t for lack of trying. Hercules attempts to re-invent the Disney animated feature by being a lot wackier than the other films. It takes on a modern-day sensibility that works for the most part. The world of ancient greek mythology can be a daunting subject for an audience, so a bit of a modern spin is probably necessary. (The contemporary TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys took a different, but still modernized approach to the same material.)
First, they threw out most of Hercules’ standard storyline and put him into a fish-out-of-water situation. Born to gods Zeus (Rip Torn) and Hera (Samantha Eggar), Hercules is made mortal and sent into the real world. Most of the people he meets as he is raised by his adoptive human family (voiced by Barbara Barrie and Hal Holbrook) consider him to either be a freak, a danger, or both. He has few friends and little self-esteem, despite his immense strength and power. Once he learns of his true nature and embarks on a quest to prove himself worthy of being a god, he begins to take on some of the more familiar aspects of the character. He hooks up with a satyr named Philoctetes (called “Phil” - voiced by Danny Devito), who tries to coach him into being a hero. But Hercules’ goal runs up against the plans of Hades (James Woods), who uses his henchmen Pain (Bobcat Goldthwait) and Panic (Matt Frewer) as well as enthralled soul Megara (called Meg - voiced by Susan Egan) to bring Hercules down. The whole thing is presented with a narration by Charleton Heston and continuing commentary by a chorus of Muses.
The biggest problem for Hercules is that its tone doesn’t quite match the material. The Hercules legends are big, sprawling and epic. And although some of the fight scenes are done on a large scale, the story feels rather small and personal. Not a match for the character at all. The Emperor’s New Groove would take a similar approach, but since it was not based on pre-existing material, it was better able to establish the story without a disconnect. This may be why New Groove was better able to establish follow-up material compared to Hercules. (The two Hercules spin-off projects - a straight-to-video movie and a TV show - were quickly forgotten.)
But overall, it’s an entertaining film. It moves at a quick pace and doesn’t waste too much time with introspection. The performances are generally pretty good, with Woods’ performance a particular stand-out. (He really seems to relish his evil.) The songs are solid, but not really memorable. Perhaps it was Menken’s choice of collaborator. Although David Zippel’s lyrics are functional, they lack the zip that Howard Ashman and Tim Rice were able to bring to Menken’s melodies. (I, for one, don’t think Menken has ever found a viable replacement for the late Ashman, except when he worked with Rice.) As a representation of the Hercules legend, it is not very successful. Any child who sees this before any other exposure to the character will be thrown by the many variances. But, ignoring that fact, Hercules is a decent enough outing from Disney. Just not a particularly noatble one.