Hercules
Mmm, that was some good cake.
So, I always kind of liked and kind of disliked this movie. Knowing the real mythology from a young age definitely made it weird for me, but it's... I don't know, it's not bad. It has Megara and Hades going for it. It's also the only Disney movie where I can say with 100% certainty that I prefer the TV series. I don't even know!
Wow, my DVD just went right into the movie-no ads at all! Playing catchup now... I like playing I Spy with all the gods.
The muses... they don't exactly annoy me, they're just not my thing. They are a very creative way of doing narration, and I do kind of love that they're based on the similar trio in Little Shop of Horrors.
There is something very strange about the background music...
Hades is pretty damn awesome. Actually a lot more likeable than most of the gods as shown in just the movie. The pacing is a little weird-we get hasty grand backstory of the Titans in song, then baby Hercules, then the movie lingers with Hades as he plots and is awesome. Obviously, Hades is the more interesting thing and they're going to great lengths to set up this 'make Hercules mortal' thing to make up for the lack of adultery, but normally we get introduced to the main character a lot sooner and a lot more thoroughly. In the beginning of this movie, the hero's the MacGuffin and it's weird.
Wow that is an interesting/awesome background of Hades' war room...
Two things have made the non-adultery origin of Hercules okay with me. 1. The show playing with the mythology and teasing it, and 2. The realization that this is basically Superman. Which, I guess, makes the series Smallville?
LOL Hercules' adoptive parents were talking about having been praying to the gods for a child. Obviously, the gods don't give a crap and are too busy throwing parties and stuff.
Ack Hercules' voice hasn't changed yet! In the series he has his adult voice! This is rather weird to me.
The pacing continues to be... odd. There's the whole incident where Hercules destroys the agora, and there's nothing wrong with it, and it's necessary to establish his teen angst, but it feels a little... choppy, maybe? The scenes don't flow together so well. It's not bad enough to be jarring, just mildly off-putting.
ooh pretty sunset during Go The Distance! Very very pretty backgrounds during this song.
Actually, pretty backgrounds all the time. Mosaic floor!
I wanted to complain about 'how come Zeus never manifested and visited Hercules before?' but the gods are fairly consistantly not the greatest of thinkers, especially Zeus. He probably didn't consider it until Hercules went out and started praying to him or something.
Weird, a reprise of Go The Distance!
So this movie keeps insisting that there's nothing the gods can do to restore Hercules' godhood, and my mythology knowledge keeps harping on the example of Ganymede, for one. And then my brain is like “well, obviously Zeus doesn't want that little indiscretion to get around!” XD.
Pegasus makes the parrot noise from that pirate game! I love when he acts like a bird.
I just realized that the voice of Phil is/was also the voice of Herb on Simpsons. Really, I kind of already knew but it just hit me and it's weird.
One Last Hope is not my favorite song, but it's fun to watch. Good strong visuals and musical timing with the animation. And it's very efficient at montaging into adulthood. And of course I love waving at the series as it goes past!
Oh, yay Megara! And she's about to be molested by a centaur, hooray! She's one of the most awesome heroines, I think. She's cynical and sarcastic and strong and independent, but she's not inexplicably capable of ass-kicking like, say, Jasmine. Gorgeous scene. Pegasus is totally jealous of Meg, it's just like Pecos Bill.
And, of course, Meg has the whole film noir thing going for her. She's the only heroine who is anywhere near on the same side as the villain, I think, which only improves her awesomeness.
Also, if Hercules = Superman, obviously Meg is Lois Lane.
“My little nut...meg.” Also, Hades says 'egregious'. That's a good word.
LOL, Phil scrapes the ground with his hooves when he's angry and preparing to charge!
Hercules puts on a 'hero voice', like the 'Batman voice' and Aladdin's 'prince voice'.
Ohhh, the poor computer-animated hydra. I don't know why it looks so awful to me. It's just so, so obvious. Maybe it's the lack of lines on the edges.
I do love that Hercules gets to be funny. Actually, all the characters do, in different ways. There's no designated 'comic relief' character, which is a relief.
Hooray, it's the second-best song! Zero to Hero is just so damn catchy, and packed with amusing, energetic montage bits. Although I think perhaps the excessive use of montages may be part of the pacing problems in this movie? There's a lot of time that needs to pass in this plot, I'm not sure if there's a way they could have improved the pacing...
And then the bit where Pain and Panic have Hercules merchandise and Hades gets pissed? Very amusing. And then Hades wants Meg to seduce Hercules, and it's very double-entendre-like.
Hey, Scar! So obviously The Lion King takes place in the same universe. :D
How often do the romantic couple actually go on a date? Admittedly, it's kind of a plan to seduce him, but they went to dinner and a play. Ariel and Eric went on a date, if an unofficial one, and so did Jasmine and Aladdin...
Aw, sad angsty Meg in the middle of Hercules' sweet and naïve efforts at charming her.
AND NOW IT IS TIME FOR THE BEST SONG. IT IS SO AWESOME THAT IT EVEN HAS A HAUNTED MANSION REFERENCE. Neat, a statue of Aphrodite! This song is perfect, what with Meg's character development, very good use of the Muses, and then the scene after with Meg and Hades is just great!
Um so the fake lady pegasus that lured Pegasus away has a cutie mark.
Hercules gets angry when Phil's trying to tell him about Meg and Hades, and hits him, and I am strongly reminded of Aladdin.
I just realized that for most of this movie, no one knows or cares what Hades is up to. He's actually operating pretty much under the radar. And when he turns up to make a deal with Hercules, Herc's just like 'oh, it's just another god, who cares'. No wonder Hercules didn't think it would be a problem to give up his hero-ness for a day to save Meg, he didn't even realize there was a reason to be concerned about Hades.
OH DEAR GOD THE TITANS. I JUST REMEMBERED FIGHTING THEM IN KH. AAGH.
Hooray, Apollo has Keith David's voice already!
So, the scene earlier when Hades told Hercules that Meg betrayed him was set up to be devestating, but I actually find the parts after, while the whole apocalyptic battle is going on, more effective. When Herc is totally broken and is still making the attempt to fight; when Meg talks Pegasus and Phil around.
I really love the way Herc is animated when he's weak. Like it's a struggle just to move; he really doesn't know how to function without his super-strength, which is understandable and very cool.
ARGH The ice titan and his icicles of doom! I remember those!
“Whoa, is my hair out?”
For something that looks so epic in scale, with the titans being hurled into space and exploding and all, the big battle sure is quick. Well, it's not actually the denoument, so it's understandable. Hey, Meg died onscreen! Neat!
So... let me get this straight, movie. It wasn't properly heroic when Hercules had no powers but was still trying to fight a Titan to save everybody. It was only heroic enough when he was willing to die to save the woman he loved? I don't know if I agree with that...
LOL, stoic punching Hades in the face... and then stomach!
It must be kind of awkward for Meg. All her inlaws can and probably do watch her at all times and drop in completely unannounced exactly when the timing is the worst.
Take note--Hercules left his family to be with her. Of course, he apparently still gets to hang out with his adoptive parents. And it's not like his bio-family can't just manifest in on a whim.
I don't care what the movie implies, half those gods are totally Herc's older siblings.
John Clements and Ron Musker! Alan Menken and some guy I never heard of. And hey, no pop song! Oh, no, wait... there it is. At least it's not a love ballad.
Okay. I see Andreas Deja on Hercules, Nik Ranieri on Hades... and I don't recognize any other names. Eric Goldberg? Tom Baker? Those look familiar, maybe... There are so many more credits in the newer movies!
Hey, a Hades bonus at the end of the credits!
In conclusion! This movie has gorgeous backgrounds and is rather beautifully animated (I mean, you can't exactly compare it to Beauty and the Beast but it's very well done regardless), and the style suits the content nicely. I was completely put off by the style as a child/teen (uhh what year did this movie come out again?), but I appreciate it now. However, Hades is really the star of the movie. There's nothing wrong with that, except for the fact that he's not supposed to be. Herc winds up a wee bit bland next to Meg and Hades and Phil, and yes it suits his character and it's good to have a sort of 'straight man' next to all the wisecracking cynics, but he doesn't get the kind of depth that they get. (Okay, fine, Hades does not actually have depth. It's the amazing concept/style, animation, and James Woods that give him the appearance of depth.) I feel like the main reason I like/appreciate Hercules as a character is because I love the series and his development therein, and... that's a problem for the movie. (Not for the series. The reason it's the best 'series from a movie' is because it adds so much to the universe and plays with all the mythological themes and characters that the movie has to ignore for length.) Megara overshadows him a lot, too, what with her genuine angst and jaded awesomeness and all.
(As I was checking this over before posting, my brain suddenly went “Homercles cares not for beans!” I don't know.)
The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, The Jungle Book, The Lion King, Pinocchio, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, Oliver and Company, The Three Caballeros, The Great Mouse Detective, Melody Time, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Hercules, Pocahontas, Robin Hood, 101 Dalmatians, Peter Pan, Snow White, The Rescuers, The Rescuers Down Under, The Fox and the Hound, Dumbo, Fun and Fancy Free, Make Mine Music, Fantasia, Lady and the Tramp, The Sword in the Stone, Bambi, The Aristocats, The Black Cauldron, Saludos Amigos