Hercules (1997)
Directed by Ron Clements
Bestowed with superhuman strength, a young mortal named Hercules sets out to prove himself a hero in the eyes of his father, the great god Zeus. Along with his friends Pegasus, a flying horse, and Phil, a personal trainer, Hercules is tricked by the hilarious, hotheaded villain Hades, who's plotting to take over Mount Olympus!
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Kudos is also in order for how deftly the project's "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" comic tone has been combined with traditional Disney life lessons for little folks.
But its tone is the borscht-belt burlesque of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum."
What keeps "Hercules" from becoming trite (for adults anyway) are the inspired currenty jabs co-writers and directors John Musker and Ron Clements take at everything from "Midnight Cowboy" to Disney's own overbearing marketing.
Both the "Greek" and the "mythology" are pretty much tossed away with the washing-up water, making way for rousing up-tempo songs (what the "Gospel Truth" has to do with matters mythical we can't quite figure out) and a high-profile voice cast that includes Danny De Vito, Rip Torn, Samantha Eggar, Hal Holbrook, Amanda Plummer, comedian Bobcat Goldthwait, Wayne Knight (of TV's Seinfeld) and Matt Frewer (TV's Max Headroom).
Directed by John Musker & Ron Clements, the creative team responsible for The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, Hercules is a dizzying chariot ride with pointed commentary that mocks even Disney's own merchandising.
The guiding spirits here, the writing, directing and producing team of John Musker & Ron Clements, worked with Ashman and "Hercules" composer Alan Menken on "Aladdin," and this film combines much the same wisecracking aura with a dollop of romantic poignancy.
"Hercules" is a throwback to the good ol' days of "Aladdin" -- funny, fast-paced, with references to everything from "The Karate Kid" to "I Love Lucy," and some dead-on satire of merchandising, mass-marketing, and the icons we falsely consider to be "heroes."
Writer-directors Ron Clements and John Musker, who ushered in Disney�s great new era ("The Great Mouse Detective," "The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin"), are now presiding over its downfall.
Following the massive, then-unprecedented success of Aladdin , the writing-directing-producing team of Ron Clements and John Musker were probably as close as any directors ever have been at Disney to having a free hand.
But the guys who brought us "The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin" were just taking the time to do a bang-up job on "Hercules".
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"Hercules" is a throwback to the good ol' days of "Aladdin" -- funny, fast-paced, with references to everything from "The Karate Kid" to "I Love Lucy," and some dead-on satire of merchandising, mass-marketing, and the icons we falsely consider to be "heroes."
Other irrational creative decisions follow: Danny DeVito as the New Yawkish satyr/trainer to our bland hero Hercules; a femme fatale romantic interest who swings her hips like Jessica Rabbit and talks like she’s in The Big Sleep .
Put-upon parents who've just finished paying off the "101 Dalmatians" clothes, toys and bedsheets had better hide their wallets.
Co-writers and co-directors Ron Clements and John Musker, who were also responsible for "The Great Mouse Detective," "Aladdin," "Hercules," and "Treasure Planet," keep the action and the romance moving at a healthy enough clip not to bore children or adults.
Directed by John Musker & Ron Clements, the creative team responsible for The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, Hercules is a dizzying chariot ride with pointed commentary that mocks even Disney's own merchandising.
Writer-directors Ron Clements and John Musker, who ushered in Disney�s great new era ("The Great Mouse Detective," "The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin"), are now presiding over its downfall.
They were now three-for-three: The Great Mouse Detective (for which they served as half of four total directors) had reversed the dire slump after The Black Cauldron , paving the way to their next project, The Little Mermaid , which was instantly recognised as the triumphant return of Disney animation to its glorious heights, for the first time in two decades or more.
But the guys who brought us "The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin" were just taking the time to do a bang-up job on "Hercules".
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Megara's "I Won't Say (I'm in Love)" has Susan Egan (the Belle of Disney's Broadway Beauty and the Beast) soaring Ronettes-style over the admonishing Muses ("Face it like a grown-up/When ya gonna own up/That ya got got got it bad?") before she relents and they dissolve into cooing shooby-doos and sha-la-las.
This means that instead of having three or four great, hummable songs (remember all the good stuff in "Beauty and the Beast" and "Aladdin"?)…
Alan Menken composed some wonderful songs for "Mermaid," "Beauty and the Beast" "Aladdin," "Pocahontas" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame."
She is written as a 1940s screwball heroine and played by Susan Egan (the first Belle in the stage adaptation of Beauty and the Beast) in a voice that suggests, very strongly, somebody's very best Bernadette Peters impersonation.
Susan Egan breaks out of her good-girl Belle role on Broadway's "Beauty and the Beast" long enough to give a sultry performance as the jaded Meg.
While this film is capable of providing a ninety minute diversion for both kids and adults, it's a far cry from such recent classics as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin.
Herc gets his from five muses who act like vamps and come to life off of a Grecian urn to narrate through song—a gambit we saw in “Little Shop of Horrors” and “There’s Something about Mary.”