Hercules (movie, 1997)

Video Outputs

• February 3, 1998 – VHS (Quebec)
• August 1998 – VHS and Laserdisc with 4/3 reframing (1.33: 1).
• November 9, 1999 – DVD (Quebec) with respected format (1.66: 1)
• 1 ^st August 2000 – VHS and DVD (Quebec) in the Collection “gold standard” with 4/3 cropping
• October 15, 2002 – VHS and DVD with 4/3 format.
• October 16, 2013 – exclusive Blu-Ray with 16/9 format.

Production

John Musker and Ron Clements were drawn to the mythological aspect of the film and decided in autumn 1993 to make the film and produce it, helped by Alice Dewey ¹ . Musker and Clements spent nine months defining the guideline, developing the initial script, and designing with Andy Gaskill the overall visual appearance; it then oversaw the artistic direction ¹ . Animators spent the summer of 1994 in Greece to draw inspiration from natural scenery and archaeological sites, while cartoonist and British political cartoonist Gerald Scarfe , helped with the creation of characters ¹. The entertainment began in early 1995 and required nearly 700 artists, as well as the first use Disney’s morphing digital (computer-aided) ¹ .

Mythological references

The film is full of references to the labors of Hercules , including the battle against the Hydra of Lerna ( 2 ^e feat). The Nemean lion ( 1 ^st feat), the boar Erymanthus ( 4 ^e feat) and Stymphalian birds ( 6 ^th feat) appear during the song zero from a hero ; capturing Cerberus ( 12 ^e feat) is at the end of the film. While Hercules poses to be painted, Phil mentions that he must clean the stables of Augias (5 ^e feat) and recovering the Hippolytus belt , queen of the Amazon ( 9 ^e feat).

On the other hand, several freedoms have been taken with the myth. Among those :

• Hades jealous his brother and envy his throne while it is not in Mythology.
• Alcmene is no longer here the true mother of Hercules, but her foster mother. In the legend, this one is seduced by Zeus , who took the appearance of her husband, Amphytrion . In the same way, Alcmene and Amphytrion are of royal blood, and not peasants; as for their son, half-brother of Hercules, his name is actually Iphicles and not Ithicles.
• The snakes sent to the cradle of the young Hercules, are by Hades in the film, while in Mythology, they are sent by Hera herself.
• The drink in the bottle that the young Hercules drinks gives him the weaknesses of the mortals. In Mythology, it is exactly the opposite: Hercules must swallow a beverage that is supposed to make him immortal, it is the breast milk of Hera asleep. When she wakes up, the surprised goddess pushes the child a little too violently, sending off a spurt of her milk: Heracles would thus be at the origin of the milky way.
• In mythology, the term ” hero ” refers to a mortal of direct or indirect divine descent. A being from two gods is called a god.
• While in Greek mythology, there are nine muses , there are only five in the film: Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (story), Melpomene (tragedy), Terpsichore (dance) and Thalia (comedy).
• In some versions of the myth, the famous “works” are a punishment inflicted by the Gods after Hercules, madly attacked by Hera , jealous of her husband’s incarcerations, slaughtered his wife, Megara , and his children, and are therefore after the events of the film.
• The Titans are presented as monsters while they are, in mythology, the parents of the Olympian gods.
• The Cyclops had been shut up by the titans and released by Zeus. In return, they helped him fight the Titans , offering him especially the Lightning .
• Like many works after Antiquity, the title of the film uses the Latin name of the hero, Hercules, while its original name in Greek mythology is Heracles .
• In the myth, the centaur Chiron deals with the education of Hercules; in the film, it is the satyr Philoctète who takes care of it, whereas in fact, Philoctète is a hero of the Trojan War that does not accompany Hercules. In the film, he is also credited with learning other heroes such as Achilles and Jason , while once again, it is Chiron’s work.
• Philoctete seems to admire Achilles and quotes him several times as an example. The Iliad and Mythology show, however, that this character lived after Hercules.
• It is said that Hercules defeated the gorgonians whereas, according to the myth, two of them were immortal and that the third, Medusa , was killed by Perseus .

Out and Home

In the United States

When it was released in the United States, the film received positive, albeit rarely enthusiastic, criticism from American critics. In the Chicago Sun Times , Roger Ebert gives the film a score of 3.5 out of 4 and appreciate graphics, voice and rhythm ² . In the New York Times , Janet Maslin gives a positive review of the film ³ , saying that “after a series of disappointments for the Disney animation is back in top form with this mythology lesson gleefully bastardized” ⁴ . She appreciates the work of visual research, the inventiveness of the gags and dubbing, while regretting that the portrait of the hero is so classic:”Again a teenager who leaves for a quest and sings a ballad about his hopes and dreams” ⁵ .

Critic James Berardinelli gives a half-hearted criticism, saying that the film gives an impression of routine and ease that prevent him from achieving the quality of previous Disney classics: ” Hercules wins the dubious prize of being the cartoon the least enchanting produced by Disney for more than a decade ” ⁶ . In the Washington Post , Desson Thomson sees Hercules a “tasteless cartoon and lacking life” ⁷ . Rita Kempley, another Washington Postreporter , sees Looney Tunesesque parody in the moviemuscled peplums, celebrity worship and, interestingly, the studio’s own aggressive commercial practices ” ⁸ . She blames him for wanting to be plugged to the point of becoming infuriating ⁹ and not able to arouse emotion like other Disney classics.

In Greece

The film receives an unfavorable reception from Greek media and the public, and the attempt of Disney to organize a big preview of the film in Greece on the hill of the Pnyx , place of political assemblies during Antiquity, causes a scandalized reaction that led the Greek state to cancel the event ¹⁰ . The Athens newspaper Adsmevtos Typos states in October 1997: “Once again, foreigners are distorting our history and our culture for the sole purpose of serving their business interests. […] To add insult to injury, they now want to use Pnyx Hill and our story as a launching pad for their future profits. ”

In France

In the daily Libération ¹¹ , Michel Roudevitch gives a generally favorable critique of the film, while qualifying it as “sometimes weighing peplum-pudding” . Roudevitch hails the ambition of Gerald Scarfe’s graphic work, which draws directly from the Greek arts while lending the cartoon its sharp graphic style, and appreciates the music as well as the final clash against the titans. On the other hand, he regrets the “not always good” word games and gags and the “too mechanical” technical prowess in the sequence of Lerne’s hydra.

Box office

Around the film

• The sets of the songs This world which is mine ( I believe in my destiny in Quebec) and Never I will confess are very similar to those of the song This blue dream ( A new world in Quebec) of Aladdin (1992), when Aladdin and Jasmine fly over a Greek garden.

• When Phil hears the conversation between Meg and Hades, he pulls out his head in the manner of the seven dwarves when they discover Snow White for the first time.

• In the short scene that seems to refer to the fight of Hercules against the Nemean lion , it is represented in an appearance reminiscent of that of Scar , the main villain of the Lion King (1994). Hercules then turned his skin as he poses for a portrait to be done by a painter ¹⁵ . It is possible that this is a nod from host Andreas Deja overseeing the character of Scar, who was also the animator overseeing Hercules.

• When Phil enters his hut in the company of Hercules, he bangs his head on the mast of the Argo . Ironically, in Greek mythology, Jason , the captain of the Argo, died when the mast of the ship fell on his head.

• On the payment card of Hercules, one can read VI V XI XIV XV XVI IV, ex. IV M BC, member since IM BC , which means “6 5 11 14 15 16 4, expires April 1000 BC, member since January 1000 before Christ”.

• In a garden with Megara, Hercules ruins a statue by throwing a projectile losing both arms to the latter. This statue is none other than the Venus de Milo .

• In the same garden, Megara facing Hercules is stung by the heart-shaped arrow held by a statue. The statue in question is Cupid , god of love.

• When Megara sings the song I never confess , a statue inspired neo-classical ( xix ^th century) appears on the screen. It is the Psyche revived by the kiss of Canova’s Love . This statue is in the Louvre , in Paris.

• From the hunchback of Notre-Dame (1996) to Kuzco, the megalomaniac emperor (2001) through Hercules and Tarzan (1999), many plans of Disney cartoons were animated in the Parisian studio (now closed) ), Walt Disney Animation France . From May 1999 to November 2000, his employees painted 213 of the 1392 sets of the film. In addition, the character of Helga Sinclair of Atlantis, the lost empire (2001) was totally created and supervised in Paris by Yoshimichi Tamura.

• A parade named Hercules’ Zero to Victory Hero Parade was given as of June 27, 1997 in Disneyland Parks and Disney-MGM Studios ¹ .

• The scene where Hercules trains on one leg is a reference to Karate Kid , when Daniel Larusso is the heron (we even hear Phil quote the name of the film) ^{[ref. necessary]} .

• On October 30, 2015, singer Ariana Grande took over the song “Zero to Hero” for the American version of the album We Love Disney .

Title in different languages

• English : Hercules
• Arabic : هرقل ( Herqul )
• Chinese : 大力士 ( Dàilìshì )
• Korean : 헤라클레스 ( Herakeureseu )
• Spanish : Hércules (Spain)
• Finnish : Herkules
• English : Hercules
• Greek : Ηρακλής ( Iraklís )
• Hebrew : הרקולס
• Japanese : ヘ ラ ク レ ス ( Herakuresu )
• Norwegian : Herkules
• Polish : Herkules
• Portuguese : Hércules (Brazil)
• Russian : Геркулес ( Gerkoules )
• Slovak : Herkul
• Swedish : Herkules
• Turkish : Herkül

Notes and references