…
Everybody feeling happier now? Me
too. Let’s talk about
Hercules.
If I’m this excited,
then it must have been an utter relief for Disney Animation to work on a film
like Hercules, in which animation
could be animated, if you know what I mean. For Pocahontas
and The Hunchback of Notre Dame,
realism was the rule: realistic human movements, realistic animals, and
realistic anatomy. While impressive to
watch, animating figures with the intention of making them as close to real
life as possible seems rather limiting as far as creative expression is
concerned. From story conception to
character design to character movement, there is nothing in Hercules’ animation that could be
mistaken for “realism.”
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| Wax on... |
Of course, Ron
Clements and John Musker are not particularly known for bringing nuance and
realism to their films; they are Disney’s go-to guys for fantasy and humor,
both of which are prominent here in their fourth outing as directors. Hercules
was Clements and Musker’s first film since Aladdin
and tonally the two films are very similar.
Much like Aladdin, Hercules was more or less a straight-up
comedy with plenty of pop-culture references: The Karate Kid, Midnight
Cowboy, and I Love Lucy, among
others are referenced. James Woods
improvised many of his lines as Hades, much like Robin Williams did for the
Genie. Alan Menken composed the
soundtrack and the animation in both films is highly stylized. In Aladdin,
it was the Middle Eastern s-curve that influenced the art direction, whereas
here in Hercules the geometric proportions
of Greek pottery were the rule. This is
especially noticeable with Meg, who is curvy while simultaneously being lanky and
svelte. On a more subliminal level is
the near constant presence of a swirling spiral: the clouds around Mount
Olympus form a spiral, as do the curls on Hercules’ head, as well as the irises
of Hades’ eyes when he flips out. The distinctive
art direction fits well with the more fantastic, mythological foundation of Hercules’ story.
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| The spiral overtakes Hades' eyes whenever he is flipping out about something |
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| The clouds around Olympus all have a spiral shape |
Hercules is the first time Disney
devoted a full-length animated feature to a story originating from Greek myth,
but it is not the first time that the studio has drawn inspiration from
mythology. The very first occurrence of
Greek mythological figures appearing in a Disney animated film happened all the
way back in 1940 during the famous “Pastoral Symphony” segment of Fantasia. Even though Hercules does not strive for the elegance and poetic beauty of its
elder counterpart, it is worth noting the personas that overlap between the two
works for their similarities and their differences in regards to design. For some character models, in which the
similarities are far too abundant to be coincidental, it is obvious that the
filmmakers did look to Fantasia to
some degree for inspiration.
 |
| The winged foals of Fantasia |
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| Pegasus when he was a foal in Hercules |
For starters, the
design between baby Pegasus and the baby-winged horses are very similar (then
again, that is just what foals more or less look like in real life). The adult Pegasus is not quite as curvy and
elegant as his
Fantasia counterparts;
his face is also much more expressive. On
the other hand, the satyrs in
Fantasia
were much,
much cuter, more youthful, and more colorful than Philoctetes…
not quite as pot-bellied either. The
centaurs of
Fantasia are young and handsome
and not menacing in the slightest, as opposed to Nessus who is monstrous in
every aspect (though his color scheme looks as though it was born out of
Fantasia).
 |
| Graceful and majestic in Fantasia |
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| Graceful but not quite as regal in Hercules |
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| A Satyr being adorable in Fantasia |
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| Phil trying to be adorable in Hercules... his success is debatable |
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| A sweet, dapper, and blue centaur in Fantasia |
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| Nessus from Hercules is definitely a blue centaur, but he's the farthest thing from sweet or dapper |
There are also the
gods to consider. Appearing in “Pastoral
Symphony” are: Dionysus (wine), Zeus (sky and thunder), Hephaestus (artisans
and fire), the Anemoi (wind), Iris (rainbows), Apollo (sun), Nyx (night), and Artemis
(hunt). Of those gods, the ones who also
appear in
Hercules are Dionysus,
Zeus, Hephaestus, and Apollo. Apollo
(voiced by future Disney villain, Keith David) bears the least resemblance to
his
Fantasia counterpart, who is
little more than a burning man in a chariot.
The
Hercules version of
Hephaestus is significantly more rugged than his appearance in
Fantasia, but their color schemes are
quite similar. Zeus as he appears in
Hercules seems to have a very similar swirly
hairstyle as his
Fantasia
counterpart, though in
Fantasia his
color scheme reflects the menacing role he plays with the cool blues as opposed
to the warm radiance he has as a wise father figure in the later film. The god whose design is pert near identical
in both films is most definitely Dionysus: the round body, noticeably rosy
cheeks, the small closed eyes, and the jolly wide grin reflect both the
classical impression of Dionysus’ appearance as well as a strong Ward Kimball
influence.
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| Apollo circa Fantasia |
 |
| Apollo as he appears in Hercules |
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| Hephaestus certainly looked like he enjoyed his work more in Fantasia |
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| Hephaestus has his game face on as he helps arm Zeus in the battle against the Titans in Hercules |
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| Bad Zeus in Fantasia... |
 |
| ... And good Zeus in Hercules |
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| Dionysus in all of his rotund, jovial, drunken glory in Fantasia... |
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| ...And Dionysus in all of his rotund, jovial, drunken glory in Hercules |
I may have
mentioned this a while back, but I am a total geek for Greek and Roman
mythology. Most of the time, I try to
keep the film and the source material upon which it is based separate; this
time around I am quite familiar with the source material so I feel compelled to
devote some time discussing the original mythology and how it relates to the
Disney adaptation of the story of Hercules.
Let’s start with that name:
Hercules. I’ve always found it
interesting that movies and television shows claiming to be based on the
original Greek myth still seem to use the name ‘Hercules.’ Why is that interesting? Because ‘Hercules’ is actually the Roman name
for the character; ‘Heracles’ is his original Greek name. For some reason, the Roman name ‘Hercules’
became better known than ‘Heracles.’
Even for properties that are very strict about using the proper Greek
names for the gods, they still use the name ‘Hercules’ instead of ‘Heracles’:
Disney’s Hercules and the popular TV
show Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
are both guilty of the name switch.
It’s not just his
name that got changed though. While Disney
has an extensive and proud history with changing stories around to suit their
animated films, I don’t think they have altered a story’s plot points quite as much
as they did Greek mythology for this film.
Here, the biggest change to the original Hercules tale was making Hera
his birth mother. If you are familiar
with the Greek myth, then you know that Hera, queen of the gods, had many
feelings regarding Hercules, none of which were maternal.
The story goes
that one night Zeus visited Alcmene – assuming the form of Amphitryon, her
husband, who had been off fighting a war – and seduced her, conceiving
Hercules. Hera wasn’t too happy about
her husband’s indiscretions and sent down two snakes to murder an infant
Hercules, who proceeded to kill said snakes by strangling them… from his crib. Hercules would spend his life enduring
hardships caused by his stepmother, including being driven into a state of
madness that compelled him to kill his wife, Megara, and their children. As an act of repentance for his actions,
Hercules was tasked with his famous twelve labors.
Clearly, elements
of the original story are present in Disney’s
Hercules, but most prominently excluded is Hera’s role as Hercules’
primary antagonist. This is unusual
seeing as how Disney has a history with wicked stepmothers and would not
normally shy away from employing a villainous maternal figure. So why alter the story? I suspect that the blame falls upon Zeus’
shoulders… in more ways than one. If
Disney kept Hera in the more familiar peacock decorated villain role, it would
mean explaining to the audience (especially curious young children) why Hera
hated Hercules so vehemently. Imagine
having this conversation with a five year old: “You see, honey, Hera is mad at
her husband, Zeus, for having an affair and then impregnating a mortal. Zeus has affairs with mortals quite
frequently because he’s miserable in his arranged marriage to Hera, who is
technically his sister. That’s why she devotes so much time to plotting
Hercules’ downfall.”
…For some reason,
I don’t think that would gel with most parents.
So Hera was amended from a vindictive shrew to a warm and loving mama
who shared a happy, devoted marriage with Zeus.
When it comes down to it, I can’t fault John Musker and Ron Clements too
much for the alteration; it takes
a lot of Disney-fying to clean up
Greek mythology and make it appropriate for all ages. Though I do have to call attention to Rick
Riordan, author of the
Percy Jackson
book series, who managed to make Greek mythology cool to kids without altering
the original myths. Riordan did not
gloss over the idea that the gods had affairs with mortals, but he also did not
go into explicit detail of the full implication of that concept.
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| The cover to Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief |
That being said,
if a kid becomes interested in Greek mythology after viewing Disney’s
Hercules, then the Greek myth purists
should not complain too much, since it could mean a future Classics scholar,
regardless of where the curiosity was born. Besides being obviously cool, Greek myth is
epic, thought provoking, and sometimes downright hilarious. For instance, there is a version of the
Hercules myth in which Hera was tricked into breastfeeding Hercules as an
infant until her breast milk was accidentally spilled across the sky, thus creating
the Milky Way.
…
…
… No, I’m not
making that up. Anyway, I can’t blame
Hera for briefly being willing to care for baby Hercules, especially if
he looked anything like Disney’s baby Hercules.
Disney has managed
to create some a-freaking-dorable babies in the past (Dumbo, Mowgli, Simba),
but I think baby Hercules may edge them all out simply because he comes with
baby Pegasus, who is also a-freaking-dorable.
Come on, just try not to smile when Hercules conks Pegasus on the head
or at Pegasus’ little snore. Zeus
presenting Pegasus to Hercules is one of my favorite scenes in the film, simply
for that moment when the fourth wall is briefly broken when we cut to the gods
of Olympus cooing over the sight of baby Hercules hugging baby Pegasus. The filmmakers are illustrating through the
gods exactly what the audience is doing upon seeing something so precious. When I was compiling images to use for this
entry, I found myself saving every single image I could find of baby Hercules
and baby Pegasus just because they were all too cute for words. In fact, let us pause for a moment so that we
can all go “D’aww” at pictures of baby Hercules and baby Pegasus.
Disney’s depiction
of Hercules is definitely a departure from previous film and TV adaptations in
which Hercules is portrayed most of the time as the ancient Greek Superman; Disney’s
Hercules is less Clark Kent and more Peter Parker. The first third of the film sees Hercules as
an exceptionally strong baby, and then as an exceptionally strong, yet
incredibly awkward teenager. The latter
portions of the film portray Hercules as muscular and handsome, but he has
absolutely no idea how to speak to women and he retains the clumsiness that
made him a target of mockery in his youth.
Considering that he is literally a child of gods, it makes sense that the
filmmakers gave him some considerable flaws that he never quite grows out
of. If Hercules lacked these little
imperfections, it would have been impossible for the audience to identify with
and relate to him; in a Disney animated film, the audience identifying with the
title character is everything.
If I’ve said it
once, I’ll say it again: in order for the audience to emotionally respond to
the plight of the title character in a Disney animated film, they have to like
him or her, they have to relate to him or her, and they have to root for him or
her. Fortunately, Disney succeeded in
creating a sympathetic, likable, and triumphant main character with
Hercules. Who among us cannot relate to
and sympathize with an awkward, bumbling teenager who isn’t comfortable in his
own skin and has difficulty talking to girls?
There is no moment that garners more sympathy for Hercules than when he
is a gangly teenage boy who unintentionally destroyed the village market place just
by trying to catch a wayward discus.
Randy R. Haycock was the supervising animator for baby and young
Hercules and he did a fantastic job of accurately portraying Hercules as a
spindly teenager with absolutely no control over his body. They made an interesting design choice
regarding his feet in that they are oversized in comparison to the rest of his
bodily proportions. This makes him even
more awkward and alludes to the large muscular body he’ll claim ownership to
later in life; his feet appear to be of a normal size when he’s big and bulky. Upon noticing his large feet, Ginger and I had
this exchange, which gave us both the giggles:
Ginger: Look at
how big his feet are in comparison to the rest of his body.
Breanna: …well, you know what they say about cartoon
demigods with big feet.
Ginger: … big
sandals.
Hercules as an
adult is the pinnacle of physical perfection, but he still retains a boyish
clumsiness that only makes him more endearing.
Balancing two such contradicting traits is a challenging prospect from
an animation standpoint; fortunately, his supervising animator was none other than
the masterful Andreas Deja. At this
point in the Disney Renaissance, Deja was known as the go-to villain animator,
having brought to life the likes of Scar, Jafar, and Gaston, so it’s surprising
that he would go in the complete opposite direction with animating the heroic title
character. I suspect a key factor for
why he was chosen for this particular gig is because of his work on Gaston; he
obviously had experience pushing the animation potential of a large muscular
male, so for the scene where Hercules is training just before Phil tells him
the truth about Meg, Deja is able to render Hercules capable of being light on
his feet as he performs various feats of acrobatics, which is not what the audience
would have initially expected a heavy muscular form to be capable of.
Of course, Deja
only made up one-half of the character of Hercules… or… wait, I guess I should
say
one-fifth
of the character of Hercules. During the
course of his film, Hercules is voiced by four – count ‘em – four voice actors:
there’s the stock baby voice, Josh Lucas as the teenage Hercules, Roger Bart as
Hercules’ singing voice, and finally actor Tate Donovan who continues to voice a
fully grown Hercules in most – but not all – of his Disney appearances (
Goonies and
Lord of the Rings actor Sean Astin voiced Hercules for
Kingdom Hearts). You guys know what that means? It means Hercules actually surpassed Wart for
having the most voice actors performing the same character in one film (only
three performers played Wart in
The Sword
in the Stone). Donovan provided a
lively, energetic, and youthful performance (his performance as he mourned over
Meg’s body sounded a bit forced to my ears), but it is my opinion that Josh
granted Hercules just a touch more soul than Donovan, though both gentlemen
turned in commendable performances.
While Donovan was
obviously not eighteen at the time
Hercules
was being made, he still managed to come across as young, inexperienced,
misguided and just a touch overconfident.
Hercules frequently seeks out guidance from three key mentor figures in
his life: his birth father, Zeus (boomingly voiced by Rip Torn), his adoptive
father, Amphitryon (provided by the ever-so-nurturing Hal Holbrook), and his
mentor/coach, Phil (voiced and obviously modeled after the one and only Danny
DeVito). All three of these men offer
Hercules encouragement and counsel at various points throughout his life,
though their methods vary. Even though
Zeus is Hercules’ biological father, his interactions with his son are the most
limited. While it is made clear how much
he cherishes his son as evidenced by their scenes together when Hercules is a
baby (the animation of Zeus’ nervous care as he cradles Hercules in both of his
substantial hands is very endearing), Zeus’ sage wisdom offered to Hercules as
an adolescent and adult is deliberately vague.
Though he is willing to point Hercules in the right direction and gives
him a destination to reach, Zeus does not make the path to his son’s destiny
completely perspicuous.
Zeus tells
Hercules that he has to become a true hero and when queried by his son on how
exactly to do that, he simply tells him to first seek out Philoctetes. Hercules repeats this line back to himself,
as though finding Phil will provide the solution to all of his problems. Revealed in this one exchange is Hercules’
belief that becoming a true hero is a step-by-step process, as though his
godhood will be restored once he completes a set series of tasks. This is the source of his disappointment
following his next meeting with Zeus because it is revealed to Hercules that
the path to true hero-dom is not so simple.
Hercules obviously
desires for his father to give a definitive answer so that his ultimate goal
can finally be met, and he becomes depressed, lethargic, and frustrated upon
his realization that becoming a true hero would be more difficult than he first
believed. Zeus’ unclear directions are
not a reflection of whether or not he wants his son to succeed – he clearly
does and he makes a point of telling Hercules how proud he is of his boy’s
accomplishments – but it is indicative of his godly nature. Whether it is gods or God, these divine figures
are famous for providing a destination but how to forge the path is left up to
us mortals. As the saying goes, it is
not about the destination, but the journey, and Hercules only meets his destiny
when he heeds his father’s sole advice and looks inside his heart.
A little more
forthcoming with answers is his adoptive father, Amphitryon. During the early part of his life, it is
clear that Amphitryon and Alcmene are Hercules’ biggest supporters, most
trusted confidantes, and (really and truly) his only friends. Amphitryon tries to make Hercules feel as
normal as possible, but it’s impossible for him to shield his son from the
consequences of his own exorbitant strength.
Hearing the villagers calling his son (who he and his wife agreed was
the gods’ answer to their prayers only a few scenes prior) a freak hurt
Amphitryon almost as much as it did Hercules.
Even though Hercules is not his son by blood, it is clear that
Amphitryon loves the boy as if he were his own and does not try to hide the
truth of Hercules’ past from him when Hercules begins to question his place in
the world. Even if it means watching
their precious son leave home and journey to regions unknown, Amphitryon and Alcmene
both love Hercules enough to know that the best thing for him is to let him
go. If Hercules is Peter Parker, then
Amphitryon is clearly his Uncle Ben, his humanity making him stronger than all
of the other gods, which will become crucial later in the film when he finally
takes the plunge to become a true hero.
It is interesting
that the two men who can actually claim to be Hercules’ fathers are the two
father figures he spends the least amount of time with. Phil is the most influential of Hercules’
role models, and ironically is also the most flawed of the three. When the audience first meets Phil, he is a
cynical and jaded former trainer of heroes, who has completely given up on his
dream after one too many disappointments.
Not so coincidentally, Meg is also a cynical and jaded loner who has
completely given up on love after one disappointment too many. Hercules, Meg, and Philoctetes form a
not-completely romantic triangle with Hercules serving as the apex and Phil and
Meg competing over the blossoming young hero.
Though they
dislike each other vehemently, Meg and Phil actually parallel one another as
they both go through a similar emotional character arc. During their initial meetings with Hercules,
both characters express distrust and disbelief regarding Herc: “Hold it, Zeus
is your father, right?” and “He comes on with his big, innocent farm boy
routine, but I could see through that in a Peloponnesian minute.” Hercules is a truly earnest, kind, and innocent
character –a rarity as much in modern times as it would have been in ancient
Greece – and Phil and Meg are both so jaded that neither can initially believe
that such a good heart could exist in a human being. It is the cynicism that they both possess
that keeps them from trusting the other throughout most of the film.
At first, both
make attempts to enlighten Hercules about how unpleasant the world is: Phil
tells him that “dreams are for rookies” and Meg insists that all people are
“petty and dishonest.” As both
characters spend more time with Hercules, they each gradually come to realize
that this awkward young demigod’s good nature is completely genuine. Phil recognizes that Hercules has “got
something I’ve never seen before,” not fully able to vocalize that that
“something” is the strength and conviction of his heart. When this realization occurs, both characters
become protective of Hercules and try to keep him from getting hurt, both from
physical and emotional threats: Megara refuses to help Hades harm Hercules, and
Phil tries to tell his young pupil that Meg’s intentions are not pure. Meg and Phil spent the film competing with
the other in regards to who held more influence over Hercules, not realizing
until the film’s climax that Hercules was the one influencing them to change
for the better.
Both characters
come around to Hercules’ way of thinking come film’s climax, evident in the way
that both of them state outright that they were wrong. Meg is the first one to let go of her
cynicism when Hercules puts his life in danger and she sets aside her pride to
go find Phil. Phil is the more stubborn
of the two, at first not heeding Meg’s pleas, his pride still wounded from his
earlier confrontation with Hercules. Meg
is able to straighten out the satyr’s perspective by stating that “this isn’t
about me, it’s about
him.” Emotionally, Phil catches up with Meg at this
moment as he realizes that it was Hercules who was right all along and tells
his charge that “giving up is for rookies.
I came back because I’m not quitting on you. I’m willing to go the distance, how about
you?” By reaffirming Hercules’ own
belief in himself, Phil inspires Hercules to play David to the Cyclops’
Goliath. Meg also proves that she has
changed as a character when she is once again willing to give her life for the
man she loves, proving to the audience, Hercules, and Phil – her most vocal
doubter – that her love for Hercules is real.
Phil volunteering to remain with Meg in her dying moments as her love
goes off to save the day is an appropriate ending to their shared emotional story.
Because they were
both based on figures found within Greek mythology, there was no previous
standard personality to fall back on for either Meg or Hercules. Instead of making Hercules a hulking barbaric
brute and Meg his simpering damsel in distress (as have been the initial
instincts of many past filmmakers in their own approach to Greek myth), they
made Hercules an awkward, bumbling teenager who has no clue how to talk to
girls and Meg a strong, sexy, sarcastic damsel in distress. She does declare herself “a damsel in
distress” during her initial meeting with Hercules, so in a way she owns that
title and makes it her own, just as Hercules frequently declares himself the
“hero” at various points throughout the film.
These two characters are completely aware of the roles they play in the
story, but both of them defy the expectations that come with the title of “the
hero” and “the damsel in distress” until the end, when they both come to embody
their chosen titles (Hercules becomes a hero after Meg becomes a damsel in
distress).
The Disney
portrayal of Meg is interesting in terms of how she serves as a romantic foil
to Hercules. Our title character is
eighteen, naïve, optimistic, energetic, and pretty innocent as far as eighteen
year old attractive male celebrities go.
His leading lady is sarcastic, jaded, cynical, street wise, and is
obviously fully aware (and makes use) of her sexuality. Wikipedia says that Meg is the same age as
Hercules, but given how much the film portrays her as worldly and experienced,
she comes across as being at least a couple of years older than her romantic
interest. Given that she has already
been in at least one previous relationship and her overall demeanor, Meg comes
across more as a twenty-two-year-old, minimum.
Megara: Disney’s first cougar.
Obviously, this is
a departure from what we’re used to from Disney as far as their heroes and
heroines go. Typically the story goes
that it is the young and innocent princess who falls for the older, more
worldly and attractive male: Snow White was only fourteen when she met her
Prince and is the poster child for Disney innocence and naiveté, Ariel was
obviously new to Eric’s world, Jasmine had never left the palace walls before
she met Aladdin, Pocahontas fell in love with John Smith who was an explorer
who had traveled the world, and –most recently– Rapunzel spent the first
eighteen years of her life locked in a tower before Flynn Rider showed her the
light. While one could make the argument
that Esmeralda was the first jaded worldly heroine playing opposite an innocent
male lead, she was not posing the threat of corrupting Quasimodo. Meg, on the other hand, was kind of a bad
girl influence on Hercules. She
encourages him to play hooky (and actually using the phrase, “playing hooky”),
she tries to seduce him on their date, not to mention she’s also assisting in
plotting his downfall with the lord of the dead. When they’re caught by Phil and Pegasus, the
scene is very reminiscent of a couple of teenagers who were making out in the
backseat of a car before getting busted by a cop with a flashlight.
Phil (however
misguided his intentions may be) is actually justified in not trusting Meg,
seeing as how she really was conspiring with one of Hercules’ enemies. Her character is severely flawed and it is
not until the end when she finally redeems herself. Even Meg openly acknowledges her
imperfections: when she insists to Hercules that all people are “petty and
dishonest,” she is gazing at her reflection in a fountain. An old film convention (made popular by
Hitchcock) is that whenever a character is doing something wrong and/or
dishonest, their reflections are visible.
In using her body and femininity as a means of discovering Hercules’
weakness to assist Hades in taking over the world, Meg is definitely not acting
like a shining example of humanity.
A true landmark in
Disney Animation history,
Hercules marks
the first time the main female character is in cahoots – however unwilling she
might be about it – with the villain. Meg’s
extended interactions with Hades are humorous, twisted, and foreboding,
illustrating that Meg can hold her own against a god while at the same time
Hades is able to greedily exploit her vulnerabilities to his advantage: she
delights in taunting him about Hercules’ ability to beat any obstacle Hades
sends his way, while Hades frequently reminds Meg of her lover’s betrayal and
the lifetime of enslaved servitude she owes because of him. To get her to do what he wants, Hades dangles
offers of freedom in front of her like a worm on a hook and reminds her
frequently of the hurt her former love caused her, effectively dissuading her
from any further thoughts of love and romance. Crafting Hades as a satanic figure making
Faustian bargains with unwitting mortals was a stroke of genius on the part of
the filmmakers; Musker and Clements stated that their version of Hades was more
along the lines of a slimy used cars salesman than a menacing god figure over
all things deceased.
I don’t know if
this story is true or not, but if it is true, then it is the most awesome
Disney casting story I have ever heard.
When they were casting for the role of Hades, almost all of the
auditioning performers construed the god of the dead as a menacing and slow
villain, which is the typical initial reaction most would have when imagining
the lord of the Underworld. Supposedly,
James Woods arrived at his audition tipsy from a few drinks he had at lunch and
adlibbed the line, “Name’s Hades, lord of the dead. Hi, how ya doin’?” Whether stone sober or otherwise, the
directors loved this nontraditional, fast talking approach to Hades. Even after the script was rewritten to better
suit the new approach to the character, Woods continued to improvise many of
his lines creating one of the best Disney Animation vocal performances heard
since Robin Williams’ turn as the Genie in
Aladdin.
Woods’ Hades is
easily one of Disney’s most entertaining villains, and he is arguably the most
quotable ever conceived: “So is this an audience or a mosaic?”, “I wonder if
maybe I haven’t been throwing the right curves at him, Meg my sweet,” “Herc,
you little devil you, can I call you ‘Herc?’,” and “Hmm, the son of my hated
rival trapped forever in a river of death… is there a downside to this?” are
just a handful of Hades’ colorful banter.
Aside from an obviously stellar vocal performance, there’s not much
emotional depth to Hades. Whereas
Hercules is soulful and full of emotional nuance, Hades is a perfect foil in
that his waters don’t run too deep and his motivations are very transparent. Regardless, he’s a fun character with some
insanely quotable one-liners, and his memorability as a villain can be
completely attributed to Woods’ performance.
Of course, hostile
takeover to rearrange the cosmos would be difficult without some further
assistance. Hades’ additional aid comes
in the form of his slapstick minions, Pain and Panic (voiced in manic, comic
fashion by Bobcat Goldthwait and Matt Frewer, respectively). Of course, Hercules was not alone on his journey
to Olympus. In the grand Disney
tradition of the hero having a nonspeaking equine sidekick, Hercules is joined
on his adventures by his childhood friend, Pegasus. Pegasus is “a magnificent horse with the brain
of a bird.” It is that brain of a bird
that Pegasus was born with that provide
Hercules
with its best visual gags: Pegasus’ brief turkey impersonation, weightlessly
perching himself on Hercules’shoulder, and eating a bowl of birdseed with some
of his bird friends leap to mind first as his most amusing moments.
 |
| From left to right: Thalia, Melpomene, Calliope, Clio, and Terpsichore |
I am not ashamed
to say that my favorite
Hercules
supporting characters – arguably my favorite aspect of
Hercules overall – are the Muses.
Their animation took full advantage of the hand drawn medium (their
supervising animator was Michael Show), their narrative purpose in the story
was a delightful and inspired choice on the part of the filmmakers, and they
got Charlton Heston (in what is probably the shortest, yet most epic vocal
cameo ever performed for a Disney animated film) to utter the words, “You go,
girl.” Supposedly, the famous “girl
power” spouting British pop girl band, the Spice Girls, were originally
considered for the Muses. Obviously, that
would have made for a significantly different
Hercules and I – for one – am glad that they opted to go the Gospel
route.
All five of the
Muses were voiced by some truly fabulous and gifted vocalists (Lillias White
was Calliope, the Muse of Epics, Vanéese Y. Thomas was Clio, the Muse
of History, Cheryl Freeman was Melpomene, the Muse
of Tragedy, LaChanze was Terpsichore, the Muse of
Dance, and Roz Ryan was Thalia, the Muse of
Comedy).
Each one of them sounded as though they were having a blast recording
all of their songs, especially “Zero to Hero.”
Should
Hercules ever see a
blu-ray release, one bonus feature I would give my right leg to see is the
footage of the Muses recording their songs much like the
Aladdin Platinum Edition bonus feature showing Brad Kane and Lea
Salonga recording “A Whole New World.”
These women had fantastic chemistry and it would be absolutely amazing
to witness their epic performances as they were happening.
As I said earlier
(as in, last May),
Hercules is my
all-time favorite Disney soundtrack. The
choice to go with a gospel influence was absolutely inspired in that it adds so
much subliminal emotion to the narrative: gospel music is able to keenly convey
both sorrow and joy, as those are the two emotions that manage to comfortably
coexist with one another in almost all of
Hercules’
musical offerings. Consider the opening
song, “The Gospel Truth,” which is very triumphant and energetic, describing
the gods’ victory over the wicked Titans.
This song is reprised twice, each version progressively growing more
somber until the Muses are literally singing the blues for Hercules’ loss of
godhood.
This juxtaposition
of joy and sorrow continues with the Muses’ signature song, “Zero to
Hero.” The rhythm and story of the song
is so exuberant and lively, that the audience does not initially infer that all
of this fame and fortune is a detriment to Hercules’ real goal of becoming a
true hero. As Zeus himself said, “I’m
afraid being famous isn’t the same as being a true hero.” “Zero to Hero” describes in detail what most modern
audiences would define as a hero: fame, fortune, fans, “Zero to Hero” parodies
our culture’s obsession with idolizing celebrities to the point where we
practically deify them. After witnessing
Hercules’ second encounter with Zeus, this upbeat, supposedly lighthearted song
feels more like reality slapping the audience in the face as they are reminded
that money, notoriety, and hoards of screaming girls are
not the stuff of heroes.
Making a return to
joyful exuberance by film’s end, the Muses come full circle with “A Star is
Born,” which is nothing but pure joy vocalized and set to music. By ending the film with such a jubilant,
happy song, the Muses are able to drive the point home that ultimately the
story of Hercules is one to celebrate: the villain is vanquished, the world is
safe, the heroine is rescued, and Hercules has managed to prove himself to be a
wise, strong, kind, and loving hero worthy of being immortalized in the
stars. With “A Star is Born” ringing in
the audience’s ears as the film closes, it is almost impossible to not raise
your arms skyward and believe that the strength of the heart is more than
enough to overcome impossible odds.
It is not only the
Muses who express both themes of sorrow and joy in their songs. Phil spends a great portion of his big
musical number “One Last Hope” lamenting his current status as the trainer of
heroes and vocalizing his dissatisfaction with Hercules’ fledgling hero
abilities. It is only in his final verse
when Hercules finally shows real promise at the end of his training does Phil’s
tone change from a cynical and jaded goat to an optimistic and encouraging
teacher. While the songs crooned by the
supporting cast tell a story of both joy and sorrow, there are also Hercules
and Meg to consider.
For a film that’s
supposedly more fun and lighthearted than the previous two entries in the
Disney Animation canon, the signature songs of both of
Hercules’ leads tells a story of some very complex internal
conflicts. “Go the Distance” is at once
inspiring, bittersweet, and moving, its message possessing a broader scope
beyond the confines of the film. The way “Go the Distance” expresses Hercules’ longing
to know his place in the world speaks to a broad audience, who may also wish to
know where they belong. There have been
times that the message of “Go the Distance” has caught me off guard and brought
me to tears. It helps that the music
itself is absolutely gorgeous, but what else would we expect from Alan Menken? The
Hercules
soundtrack, by the way, is a first time collaboration between Menken and
lyricist, David Zippel.
The only other
song on the
Hercules soundtrack that
is superior to “Go the Distance” is “Go the Distance (Reprise).” The longing tone of the main song has been
replaced by a glorious affirmation of a human being truly believing in himself
for the first time in his young life.
That belt Roger Bart performs to cap off the song is quite possibly the
longest, most breathtaking Disney belt since Mary Costa’s performance as
Princess Aurora in
Sleeping Beauty
back in 1959. Both versions of “Go the
Distance” are the only times in his film that Hercules himself sings;
thankfully, Roger Bart succeeds in spades in giving Hercules his Ariel moment
as Hercules’ soul is laid bare before the audience during these song sequences. Also, his version of “Go the Distance” is
superior to Michael Bolton’s in every way.
Don’t try to argue with me about that.
Hercules’ soul is
not the only one put on display during the course of this film. Following her romantic evening stroll in a
garden with Hercules, Meg serenades the audience with what is easily Disney’s
most unconventional love song, “I Won’t Say (I’m in Love).” Most Disney heroines sing odes to how
glorious love is; once again, Meg proves what a departure she is to the ladies
who have come before by refusing to even acknowledge the possibility that she
might be falling in love with Hercules.
There have been so many Disney songs about the glorious feeling of
falling in love, that it’s very refreshing for there to be at least one Disney
love song all about how difficult it can be to accept love after being burned
in a previous relationship. The Muses
are fantastic in their role as the chorus Meg shares her dilemma with, while
Broadway actress – and originator of the role of Belle in the stage version of Beauty and the Beast – Susan Egan gives the
leading lady a fantastic, distinctive voice that perfectly creates a cynical
yet sexy young woman who manages to find love with a not-so-articulate wonder
boy with rippling pectorals.
“I Won’t Say (I’m
in Love)” perfectly demonstrates the emotional transition Meg makes from the spurned
and feisty D.I.D. Hercules saved from a vicious centaur to a selfless and
loving woman willing to give her life so that the man she loves can stop the Titans
and save the world. In the today’s media
interpretation of Greek mythological figures, the Titans are almost always cast
as the villainous counterparts to the Olympian gods. Considering that most of
them reveled in chaos and destruction and the Lord of the Titans ate his own
children, the role as antagonists suits them well. Instead of being chopped into pieces and
thrown into the depths of Tartarus as punishment for their misdeeds, Disney
opted for the less graphic imprisonment of sealing the Titans within a
lightning vault beneath the ocean floor. As opposed to employing the more
familiar likes of Kronos and Atlas, Hercules’
Titans are elemental behemoths that are set up throughout the film as
unstoppable juggernauts of destruction that promise a positively… well, Herculean
challenge for our hero to overcome.
Strangely enough,
the final showdown with the Titans was not that epic. Olympus fell to the Titans easily and then
when Hercules showed up, the Titans were defeated by him very quickly. When Hercules swoops in on Pegasus and cuts
through the chain binding the gods, he declares, “This ought to even the
odds!” Aside from Zeus and Hephaestus,
the rest of the gods seemed pretty content to kick back and allow Hercules to
do all the work as they vanished completely from the rest of this scene. Hercules managed to do in one minute and
twenty seven seconds what twelve Olympians could not.
Since the Titans
were set up as fearsome, insurmountable opponents throughout the film, the
final confrontation with them felt very anticlimactic, especially in the shadow
of an earlier scene. If one is looking
for a sweeping action set piece, look no further than Hercules’ battle with the
Hydra. The stakes were at their highest,
the foe was a legitimate threat, and Hercules’ defeat of the creature was – as
the man himself said – “pretty heroic,” in that he had to employ both his brain
and brawn to defeat the monster. The
Hydra itself was the most complicated piece of computer animation Disney had
ever done by that time; reportedly, there were up to ten animators working on
that scene at one time, and it took anywhere from six to fourteen hours to
render one frame of film, depending on how many heads it had at the time.
It is ironic that even though the title
character is famous for being a figure of action and daring physical feats,
Hercules is not an action film. The filmmakers never meant their clash of the
Titans to be a long epic battle as that would have left very little time for
the film’s real climax. As the audience
would soon find out, defeating the Titans was not Hercules’ final test. Like a classic Greek tragedy, in the film’s
final act, our hero is dealt a tragic blow when he returns triumphant from
battle only to find that his ladylove has succumbed to her mortal wounds and
has already passed on into the underworld.
Hercules mourning
over Meg’s body is not a first for Disney; Snow White’s Prince also grieved for
her when he believed her dead, but
Hercules
does mark the first time that true love’s first kiss ain’t gonna cut it. In both
Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs and
Sleeping
Beauty, the audience is aware that the sleeping princesses aren’t really
dead and that everything is going to work out as soon as the prince plants one
on her. In
Hercules, this is definitely
not the case. When Megara dies, she is unquestionably dead:
her body is broken, she stops breathing, and her soul passes on into the
afterlife. When Hercules is grieving and
cradling her lifeless form close to his heart, there is no deus ex machina
magic spell to break that will set everything right again. Hercules is experiencing real loss and for
once the audience doesn’t know if everything is going to work out neatly into a
happily ever after. This is a curious
event to transpire in a Disney film that supposedly bends towards the comedic
side of the spectrum, and it won’t be the final time Ron Clements and John
Musker pull such a plot twist (i.e.
The
Princess and the Frog).
Despite its
fantastical elements and stylized animation, the heart of Hercules’ story is a
very true to life coming-of-age tale.
Besides the painfully familiar depiction of his adolescence, the hero of
this film does not save his ladylove from a wicked spell with true love’s kiss.
Whether it is in the form of soldiers who fight to defend their country
overseas, the firefighters who risk their lives for the safety of civilians, or
the police force who uphold the law on a day-to-day basis, love and sacrifice
are what truly define a hero. Hercules
does not become a hero by battling a monster or by kissing a sleeping Princess;
it is the love he shares with Meg that makes them both willing to sacrifice
their own lives for the other. By their willingness to give their lives for
each other does Hercules prove himself a true hero and Megara proves herself
worthy of her hero’s love.
Given its strong
message and uplifting soundtrack, it should come as no surprise that
Hercules was a successful film for
Disney. It was well received by critics,
who especially praised James Woods’ performance as Hades. Overall it grossed $253 million on an $85
million budget. “Go the Distance” also
received an Oscar nomination for best song.
Unfortunately,
Hercules was
competing in the same awards season as
Titanic,
so of course it lost to that classic Celine Dion ballad, “My Heart Will Go On.”
Hercules
spawned an animated “mid-quel” series of the same name that detailed Hercules’
adventures in high school. Though it
only ran for one season, it boasted an impressive number of celebrity guest
stars (including but not limited to Lisa Kudrow, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Linda
Hamilton, Keith David, Craig Ferguson, Reba McEntire, and Jennifer Aniston, who
was dating Tate Donovan at the time) and also crossed over with the
Aladdin animated series for one episode.
Hercules does have a theme park
presence: Hercules and Meg both appear as face characters in
Fantasmic, Hades plays a prominent role
in the Disney Villains line and stars as the Big Bad in the theme park interactive
game attraction, Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, and “A Star is Born” is the
song that closes Disney’s Hollywood Studios every night. To tell the truth, though, the area of the
Disney Company that gives the most love to
Hercules
is the Disney Cruise Line. The Cruise
Line absolutely loves
Hercules and
its characters; it shows that love by featuring them prominently in their onboard
stage shows. Over on the Disney Wonder,
there was
Hercules: The MUSE-Ical
which was a stage re-telling of the animated film with a bent towards the
pop-culture reference laden humor and absolutely none of the more dramatic
beats of the film. Though the show
closed in 2008, not much time later, the Disney Cruise Line debuted
Villains Tonight, a stage show
celebrating the colorful cast of scoundrels who make up the Disney Villains
line. Hosting the show as emcee is none
other than Hades with some assistance from his minions, Pain and Panic.
So my dear
readers, who are your heroes? Just
remember Zeus’ words as you consider your answer: “For a true hero isn’t
measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart.” Look beyond the actors and the actresses, the
sports stars and the rock stars, and think about the true acts of heroism that
have inspired you to do the right thing.
Until next time (Mulan baby!),
may we all find the courage to go the distance.
Author’s
Note: I want to take a moment to dedicate this post to one of my
readers: Ela. Through all of the delays
and waiting periods, she has consistently stuck with the blog, and has even
sent an encouraging email my way a few times.
Hercules is one of her
favorites, so know that while I wrote this I frequently had this thought: “I
hope this one lives up to Ela’s expectations.”
Thanks so much for reading and for your enthusiasm, Ela. I hope I did Hercules justice.
Clearly, elements
of the original story are present in Disney’s Hercules, but most prominently excluded is Hera’s role as Hercules’
primary antagonist. This is unusual
seeing as how Disney has a history with wicked stepmothers and would not
normally shy away from employing a villainous maternal figure. So why alter the story? I suspect that the blame falls upon Zeus’
shoulders… in more ways than one. If
Disney kept Hera in the more familiar peacock decorated villain role, it would
mean explaining to the audience (especially curious young children) why Hera
hated Hercules so vehemently. Imagine
having this conversation with a five year old: “You see, honey, Hera is mad at
her husband, Zeus, for having an affair and then impregnating a mortal. Zeus has affairs with mortals quite
frequently because he’s miserable in his arranged marriage to Hera, who is
technically his sister. That’s why she devotes so much time to plotting
Hercules’ downfall.”
…For some reason,
I don’t think that would gel with most parents.
So Hera was amended from a vindictive shrew to a warm and loving mama
who shared a happy, devoted marriage with Zeus.
When it comes down to it, I can’t fault John Musker and Ron Clements too
much for the alteration; it takes a lot of Disney-fying to clean up
Greek mythology and make it appropriate for all ages. Though I do have to call attention to Rick
Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson
book series, who managed to make Greek mythology cool to kids without altering
the original myths. Riordan did not
gloss over the idea that the gods had affairs with mortals, but he also did not
go into explicit detail of the full implication of that concept. 
Hercules obviously
desires for his father to give a definitive answer so that his ultimate goal
can finally be met, and he becomes depressed, lethargic, and frustrated upon
his realization that becoming a true hero would be more difficult than he first
believed. Zeus’ unclear directions are
not a reflection of whether or not he wants his son to succeed – he clearly
does and he makes a point of telling Hercules how proud he is of his boy’s
accomplishments – but it is indicative of his godly nature. Whether it is gods or God, these divine figures
are famous for providing a destination but how to forge the path is left up to
us mortals. As the saying goes, it is
not about the destination, but the journey, and Hercules only meets his destiny
when he heeds his father’s sole advice and looks inside his heart.
It is interesting
that the two men who can actually claim to be Hercules’ fathers are the two
father figures he spends the least amount of time with. Phil is the most influential of Hercules’
role models, and ironically is also the most flawed of the three. When the audience first meets Phil, he is a
cynical and jaded former trainer of heroes, who has completely given up on his
dream after one too many disappointments.
Not so coincidentally, Meg is also a cynical and jaded loner who has
completely given up on love after one disappointment too many. Hercules, Meg, and Philoctetes form a
not-completely romantic triangle with Hercules serving as the apex and Phil and
Meg competing over the blossoming young hero.
Though they
dislike each other vehemently, Meg and Phil actually parallel one another as
they both go through a similar emotional character arc. During their initial meetings with Hercules,
both characters express distrust and disbelief regarding Herc: “Hold it, Zeus
is your father, right?” and “He comes on with his big, innocent farm boy
routine, but I could see through that in a Peloponnesian minute.” Hercules is a truly earnest, kind, and innocent
character –a rarity as much in modern times as it would have been in ancient
Greece – and Phil and Meg are both so jaded that neither can initially believe
that such a good heart could exist in a human being. It is the cynicism that they both possess
that keeps them from trusting the other throughout most of the film. 
At first, both
make attempts to enlighten Hercules about how unpleasant the world is: Phil
tells him that “dreams are for rookies” and Meg insists that all people are
“petty and dishonest.” As both
characters spend more time with Hercules, they each gradually come to realize
that this awkward young demigod’s good nature is completely genuine. Phil recognizes that Hercules has “got
something I’ve never seen before,” not fully able to vocalize that that
“something” is the strength and conviction of his heart. When this realization occurs, both characters
become protective of Hercules and try to keep him from getting hurt, both from
physical and emotional threats: Megara refuses to help Hades harm Hercules, and
Phil tries to tell his young pupil that Meg’s intentions are not pure. Meg and Phil spent the film competing with
the other in regards to who held more influence over Hercules, not realizing
until the film’s climax that Hercules was the one influencing them to change
for the better.
Because they were
both based on figures found within Greek mythology, there was no previous
standard personality to fall back on for either Meg or Hercules. Instead of making Hercules a hulking barbaric
brute and Meg his simpering damsel in distress (as have been the initial
instincts of many past filmmakers in their own approach to Greek myth), they
made Hercules an awkward, bumbling teenager who has no clue how to talk to
girls and Meg a strong, sexy, sarcastic damsel in distress. She does declare herself “a damsel in
distress” during her initial meeting with Hercules, so in a way she owns that
title and makes it her own, just as Hercules frequently declares himself the
“hero” at various points throughout the film.
These two characters are completely aware of the roles they play in the
story, but both of them defy the expectations that come with the title of “the
hero” and “the damsel in distress” until the end, when they both come to embody
their chosen titles (Hercules becomes a hero after Meg becomes a damsel in
distress).
Obviously, this is
a departure from what we’re used to from Disney as far as their heroes and
heroines go. Typically the story goes
that it is the young and innocent princess who falls for the older, more
worldly and attractive male: Snow White was only fourteen when she met her
Prince and is the poster child for Disney innocence and naiveté, Ariel was
obviously new to Eric’s world, Jasmine had never left the palace walls before
she met Aladdin, Pocahontas fell in love with John Smith who was an explorer
who had traveled the world, and –most recently– Rapunzel spent the first
eighteen years of her life locked in a tower before Flynn Rider showed her the
light. While one could make the argument
that Esmeralda was the first jaded worldly heroine playing opposite an innocent
male lead, she was not posing the threat of corrupting Quasimodo. Meg, on the other hand, was kind of a bad
girl influence on Hercules. She
encourages him to play hooky (and actually using the phrase, “playing hooky”),
she tries to seduce him on their date, not to mention she’s also assisting in
plotting his downfall with the lord of the dead. When they’re caught by Phil and Pegasus, the
scene is very reminiscent of a couple of teenagers who were making out in the
backseat of a car before getting busted by a cop with a flashlight. 
Phil (however
misguided his intentions may be) is actually justified in not trusting Meg,
seeing as how she really was conspiring with one of Hercules’ enemies. Her character is severely flawed and it is
not until the end when she finally redeems herself. Even Meg openly acknowledges her
imperfections: when she insists to Hercules that all people are “petty and
dishonest,” she is gazing at her reflection in a fountain. An old film convention (made popular by
Hitchcock) is that whenever a character is doing something wrong and/or
dishonest, their reflections are visible.
In using her body and femininity as a means of discovering Hercules’
weakness to assist Hades in taking over the world, Meg is definitely not acting
like a shining example of humanity.
A true landmark in
Disney Animation history, Hercules marks
the first time the main female character is in cahoots – however unwilling she
might be about it – with the villain. Meg’s
extended interactions with Hades are humorous, twisted, and foreboding,
illustrating that Meg can hold her own against a god while at the same time
Hades is able to greedily exploit her vulnerabilities to his advantage: she
delights in taunting him about Hercules’ ability to beat any obstacle Hades
sends his way, while Hades frequently reminds Meg of her lover’s betrayal and
the lifetime of enslaved servitude she owes because of him. To get her to do what he wants, Hades dangles
offers of freedom in front of her like a worm on a hook and reminds her
frequently of the hurt her former love caused her, effectively dissuading her
from any further thoughts of love and romance. Crafting Hades as a satanic figure making
Faustian bargains with unwitting mortals was a stroke of genius on the part of
the filmmakers; Musker and Clements stated that their version of Hades was more
along the lines of a slimy used cars salesman than a menacing god figure over
all things deceased.
Woods’ Hades is
easily one of Disney’s most entertaining villains, and he is arguably the most
quotable ever conceived: “So is this an audience or a mosaic?”, “I wonder if
maybe I haven’t been throwing the right curves at him, Meg my sweet,” “Herc,
you little devil you, can I call you ‘Herc?’,” and “Hmm, the son of my hated
rival trapped forever in a river of death… is there a downside to this?” are
just a handful of Hades’ colorful banter.
Aside from an obviously stellar vocal performance, there’s not much
emotional depth to Hades. Whereas
Hercules is soulful and full of emotional nuance, Hades is a perfect foil in
that his waters don’t run too deep and his motivations are very transparent. Regardless, he’s a fun character with some
insanely quotable one-liners, and his memorability as a villain can be
completely attributed to Woods’ performance.
This juxtaposition
of joy and sorrow continues with the Muses’ signature song, “Zero to
Hero.” The rhythm and story of the song
is so exuberant and lively, that the audience does not initially infer that all
of this fame and fortune is a detriment to Hercules’ real goal of becoming a
true hero. As Zeus himself said, “I’m
afraid being famous isn’t the same as being a true hero.” “Zero to Hero” describes in detail what most modern
audiences would define as a hero: fame, fortune, fans, “Zero to Hero” parodies
our culture’s obsession with idolizing celebrities to the point where we
practically deify them. After witnessing
Hercules’ second encounter with Zeus, this upbeat, supposedly lighthearted song
feels more like reality slapping the audience in the face as they are reminded
that money, notoriety, and hoards of screaming girls are not the stuff of heroes.
It is not only the
Muses who express both themes of sorrow and joy in their songs. Phil spends a great portion of his big
musical number “One Last Hope” lamenting his current status as the trainer of
heroes and vocalizing his dissatisfaction with Hercules’ fledgling hero
abilities. It is only in his final verse
when Hercules finally shows real promise at the end of his training does Phil’s
tone change from a cynical and jaded goat to an optimistic and encouraging
teacher. While the songs crooned by the
supporting cast tell a story of both joy and sorrow, there are also Hercules
and Meg to consider.
For a film that’s
supposedly more fun and lighthearted than the previous two entries in the
Disney Animation canon, the signature songs of both of Hercules’ leads tells a story of some very complex internal
conflicts. “Go the Distance” is at once
inspiring, bittersweet, and moving, its message possessing a broader scope
beyond the confines of the film. The way “Go the Distance” expresses Hercules’ longing
to know his place in the world speaks to a broad audience, who may also wish to
know where they belong. There have been
times that the message of “Go the Distance” has caught me off guard and brought
me to tears. It helps that the music
itself is absolutely gorgeous, but what else would we expect from Alan Menken? The Hercules
soundtrack, by the way, is a first time collaboration between Menken and
lyricist, David Zippel.
The only other
song on the Hercules soundtrack that
is superior to “Go the Distance” is “Go the Distance (Reprise).” The longing tone of the main song has been
replaced by a glorious affirmation of a human being truly believing in himself
for the first time in his young life.
That belt Roger Bart performs to cap off the song is quite possibly the
longest, most breathtaking Disney belt since Mary Costa’s performance as
Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty
back in 1959. Both versions of “Go the
Distance” are the only times in his film that Hercules himself sings;
thankfully, Roger Bart succeeds in spades in giving Hercules his Ariel moment
as Hercules’ soul is laid bare before the audience during these song sequences. Also, his version of “Go the Distance” is
superior to Michael Bolton’s in every way.
Don’t try to argue with me about that.
Hercules’ soul is
not the only one put on display during the course of this film. Following her romantic evening stroll in a
garden with Hercules, Meg serenades the audience with what is easily Disney’s
most unconventional love song, “I Won’t Say (I’m in Love).” Most Disney heroines sing odes to how
glorious love is; once again, Meg proves what a departure she is to the ladies
who have come before by refusing to even acknowledge the possibility that she
might be falling in love with Hercules.
There have been so many Disney songs about the glorious feeling of
falling in love, that it’s very refreshing for there to be at least one Disney
love song all about how difficult it can be to accept love after being burned
in a previous relationship. The Muses
are fantastic in their role as the chorus Meg shares her dilemma with, while
Broadway actress – and originator of the role of Belle in the stage version of Beauty and the Beast – Susan Egan gives the
leading lady a fantastic, distinctive voice that perfectly creates a cynical
yet sexy young woman who manages to find love with a not-so-articulate wonder
boy with rippling pectorals.
“I Won’t Say (I’m
in Love)” perfectly demonstrates the emotional transition Meg makes from the spurned
and feisty D.I.D. Hercules saved from a vicious centaur to a selfless and
loving woman willing to give her life so that the man she loves can stop the Titans
and save the world. In the today’s media
interpretation of Greek mythological figures, the Titans are almost always cast
as the villainous counterparts to the Olympian gods. Considering that most of
them reveled in chaos and destruction and the Lord of the Titans ate his own
children, the role as antagonists suits them well. Instead of being chopped into pieces and
thrown into the depths of Tartarus as punishment for their misdeeds, Disney
opted for the less graphic imprisonment of sealing the Titans within a
lightning vault beneath the ocean floor. As opposed to employing the more
familiar likes of Kronos and Atlas, Hercules’
Titans are elemental behemoths that are set up throughout the film as
unstoppable juggernauts of destruction that promise a positively… well, Herculean
challenge for our hero to overcome. 
Strangely enough,
the final showdown with the Titans was not that epic. Olympus fell to the Titans easily and then
when Hercules showed up, the Titans were defeated by him very quickly. When Hercules swoops in on Pegasus and cuts
through the chain binding the gods, he declares, “This ought to even the
odds!” Aside from Zeus and Hephaestus,
the rest of the gods seemed pretty content to kick back and allow Hercules to
do all the work as they vanished completely from the rest of this scene. Hercules managed to do in one minute and
twenty seven seconds what twelve Olympians could not. 
Since the Titans
were set up as fearsome, insurmountable opponents throughout the film, the
final confrontation with them felt very anticlimactic, especially in the shadow
of an earlier scene. If one is looking
for a sweeping action set piece, look no further than Hercules’ battle with the
Hydra. The stakes were at their highest,
the foe was a legitimate threat, and Hercules’ defeat of the creature was – as
the man himself said – “pretty heroic,” in that he had to employ both his brain
and brawn to defeat the monster. The
Hydra itself was the most complicated piece of computer animation Disney had
ever done by that time; reportedly, there were up to ten animators working on
that scene at one time, and it took anywhere from six to fourteen hours to
render one frame of film, depending on how many heads it had at the time.
It is ironic that even though the title
character is famous for being a figure of action and daring physical feats, Hercules is not an action film. The filmmakers never meant their clash of the
Titans to be a long epic battle as that would have left very little time for
the film’s real climax. As the audience
would soon find out, defeating the Titans was not Hercules’ final test. Like a classic Greek tragedy, in the film’s
final act, our hero is dealt a tragic blow when he returns triumphant from
battle only to find that his ladylove has succumbed to her mortal wounds and
has already passed on into the underworld.
Hercules mourning
over Meg’s body is not a first for Disney; Snow White’s Prince also grieved for
her when he believed her dead, but Hercules
does mark the first time that true love’s first kiss ain’t gonna cut it. In both Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs and Sleeping
Beauty, the audience is aware that the sleeping princesses aren’t really
dead and that everything is going to work out as soon as the prince plants one
on her. In Hercules, this is definitely not the case. When Megara dies, she is unquestionably dead:
her body is broken, she stops breathing, and her soul passes on into the
afterlife. When Hercules is grieving and
cradling her lifeless form close to his heart, there is no deus ex machina
magic spell to break that will set everything right again. Hercules is experiencing real loss and for
once the audience doesn’t know if everything is going to work out neatly into a
happily ever after. This is a curious
event to transpire in a Disney film that supposedly bends towards the comedic
side of the spectrum, and it won’t be the final time Ron Clements and John
Musker pull such a plot twist (i.e. The
Princess and the Frog).
Despite its
fantastical elements and stylized animation, the heart of Hercules’ story is a
very true to life coming-of-age tale.
Besides the painfully familiar depiction of his adolescence, the hero of
this film does not save his ladylove from a wicked spell with true love’s kiss.
Whether it is in the form of soldiers who fight to defend their country
overseas, the firefighters who risk their lives for the safety of civilians, or
the police force who uphold the law on a day-to-day basis, love and sacrifice
are what truly define a hero. Hercules
does not become a hero by battling a monster or by kissing a sleeping Princess;
it is the love he shares with Meg that makes them both willing to sacrifice
their own lives for the other. By their willingness to give their lives for
each other does Hercules prove himself a true hero and Megara proves herself
worthy of her hero’s love.
Hercules does have a theme park
presence: Hercules and Meg both appear as face characters in Fantasmic, Hades plays a prominent role
in the Disney Villains line and stars as the Big Bad in the theme park interactive
game attraction, Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, and “A Star is Born” is the
song that closes Disney’s Hollywood Studios every night. To tell the truth, though, the area of the
Disney Company that gives the most love to Hercules
is the Disney Cruise Line. The Cruise
Line absolutely loves Hercules and
its characters; it shows that love by featuring them prominently in their onboard
stage shows. Over on the Disney Wonder,
there was Hercules: The MUSE-Ical
which was a stage re-telling of the animated film with a bent towards the
pop-culture reference laden humor and absolutely none of the more dramatic
beats of the film. Though the show
closed in 2008, not much time later, the Disney Cruise Line debuted Villains Tonight, a stage show
celebrating the colorful cast of scoundrels who make up the Disney Villains
line. Hosting the show as emcee is none
other than Hades with some assistance from his minions, Pain and Panic.
