-Ariane

Beautifully drawn, beautifully executed, with a strong story that flows. Tate Donovan voices Hercules, in Ron Clements' and John Muskers' amazingly memorable animated achievement, Hercules.

Hercules (1997)

Cast

Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker

Starring Tate Donovan, Danny DeVito, James Woods, Susan Egan, and Josh Keaton

Written by Ron Clements, John Musker, Don McEnry, Bob Shaw, and Irene Mecchi

☆☆☆☆1/2 out of ☆☆☆☆☆

Tagline: Zero to hero!

Hercules is one of my favorite Disney animated pictures of the 1990s. It gives the audience a perfect blend of comedy, music, and great entertainment value. The story is direct and straightforward, supported by the great voice work of Danny DaVito as Phil, Hercules' trainer, he's a sader (half goat half man), and James Woods, who plays Hades, and Hades is awesome, particularly because of James Woods' voice work. We also get some fun jokes here and there, and great musical numbers. Hercules is a blast!

About the music, it's probably the films' strongest element. The music is what gives the characters their full development. At first, we are introduced to the amazing Muses, who provide the film with some great gospel music, and sing with strength and power. The first number gives us summary of the films' story, in a clever way if you ask me. And throughout the picture, they carry on their strength. We also hear Danny DeVito sing, that's right, Danny DeVito sings, and it's one of my favorite songs in the movie, "One Last Hope". Susan Egan also sings one of the best songs in the movie, "I won't say I'm in love", you'll love that song. But I'd say that the best song in the movie, would be "Zero to Hero" sung by The Muses. The camera work and editing in that whole scene is great to look at, and the music is great to hear! Believe me, you won't get enough of the music in this movie!

If you're really into Greek mythology and all, you'll realize early on that this movie isn't accurate, but I say so what. This movie is fun, that's all it has to be if the story is solid. And if you're not into Greek mythology, the movie is even more satisfying because of it's excellent entertainment. To get to the story, it's about Hercules of course, he's a newborn god baby. The son of the epic and amazing god, Zeus. In the mean time, Hades, the villain, is trying to take over the Cosmos or something, but that can only happen if he frees the Titans, and that can only happen when all the planets are aligned, which is gonna happen in 18 years. But, Hades finds out that with Hercules around with his super-strength and all, he will be able to destroy the titans, and he won't be able to control the Cosmos. So, Hades hires his two side kicks, Pain and Panic, to kid nap Hercules from Olympus, where he lives, and turn him mortal on Earth. Unfortunately for Hades, Hercules doesn't drink every last drop of the "mortal potion" so even though Hercules was now mortal, he still had his super-strength. Hercules grows up being a misfit, and noone else likes him, quite frankly. He grows up being raised by a kind couple who found him when he was a baby, he was wearing a golden necklace with the symbal of the gods on it. They wait a few years to tell Hercules that they're not his real parents. So Hercules decides to travel to the temple of Zeus so that he can tell him what he's destined to do. But of course, Hercules didn't know that Zeus was his real father, so he is shocked when he finds out. Zeus tells Hercules that in order to become a god again, he needs to become a true hero, so he is reunited with his pegasus, ironically named Pegasus, and goes off to Phil, a former hero trainer voiced by Danny DeVito. Phil is successful training Hercules and eventually, Hercules is a hero, killing off all of the monsters that Hades puts in his way. The story actually has a few twists involved that are hard to explain, so now, I'm just gonna express my opinion once again.

Hercules is a dynamic, colorful, joyous experience. That's really all there is to it. The only reason you wouldn't like it is if you have a bias against Greek inaccuracies, which is ridiculous. But, for most of you out there, I think that you would thoroughly enjoy, this Disney masterpiece.