Hercules (1997 film)
Hercules | |
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Directed by | |
Screenplay by |
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Story by |
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Based on | Heracles |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Edited by | Tom Finan |
Music by | Alan Menken |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures Distribution |
Release date |
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Running time | 93 minutes[1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $85 million[2] |
Box office | $252.7 million[2] |
Hercules is a 1997 American animated
Development of Hercules began in 1992 following a pitch adaptation of the Heracles mythological stories by animator Joe Haidar. Meanwhile, Clements and Musker re-developed their idea for Treasure Planet (2002) following the critical and commercial success of Aladdin (1992). Their project was removed from development in 1993, and Musker and Clements joined Hercules later that same year. Following an unused treatment by Haidar, Clements and Musker studied multiple interpretations of Greek mythology before abandoning Zeus's adulterous affair with Alcmene. The project underwent multiple story treatments and a first script draft was inspired by the screwball comedy films of the classic Hollywood era and popular culture of the 1990s. During production, McEnery, Shaw, and Mecchi were brought on board to revise Musker and Clements' script. British cartoonist Gerald Scarfe was recruited as production designer and produced over seven hundred visualization designs of the characters. Research trips to Greece and Turkey provided inspiration for the background designs. Animation for the film was done in California and Paris. Computer animation was used in several scenes, predominantly in the Hydra battle sequence. The production budget was $85 million.
Hercules was released on June 13, 1997, and received generally positive reviews from film critics, with James Woods's performance as Hades receiving particular praise, but the animation (particularly the visual style) and music received a mixed response. The film under-performed in its theatrical release notably in comparison to previous animated Disney films, ultimately earning $252.7 million in box office revenue worldwide.[2] Hercules was later followed by Hercules: The Animated Series, a syndicated Disney television series focusing on Hercules during his time at the Prometheus Academy, and the direct-to-video prequel Hercules: Zero to Hero (1999), which consists of three episodes from the TV series.
Plot
In
Years later, the teenage Hercules becomes an outcast for his inability to control his strength. Wondering about his origins, he decides to visit the
Hades stages an accident with the disguised Pain and Panic to lure Hercules into a fight with the Hydra. Hercules defeats the monster, earning the respect and admiration of the Thebans. He defeats many other monsters afterward, each of them are sent by Hades, and becomes a celebrated hero. However, Zeus tells him that he is not yet a "true" hero but refuses to explain what that means. Saddened and frustrated, Hercules spends a day out with Meg, during which they fall in love with each other. Realizing this, Hades, on the eve of his takeover, holds Meg hostage and offers her freedom in exchange for Hercules surrendering his strength. On the condition that Meg will be unharmed, Hercules accepts but is heartbroken after learning that Meg was working for Hades all along.
Hades unleashes the Titans, who defeat the gods on Olympus, while the Cyclops goes to Thebes to kill Hercules. Hercules uses his wits to defeat the Cyclops. During the battle, Meg is mortally injured while saving Hercules from a falling building. This breaks Hades's deal, so Hercules regains his strength. Hercules and Pegasus fly to Olympus, free the gods and vanquish the Titans, but Meg dies from her injuries.
To recover Meg's soul, Hercules goes to the
Voice cast
- Hercules, a powerful demigod on the mythological deity Heracles. Supervising animator Andreas Deja described Hercules as "...not a smart aleck, not streetwise, he's just a naive kid trapped in a big body", and claimed that Donovan "had a charming yet innocent quality in his readings". Donovan had not done any voice-over work prior to Hercules. Deja integrated Donovan's "charming yet innocent quality" into Hercules' expressions.[3]
- Hercules as a teenager, while Roger Bart provided his singing voice. Originally, Keaton also provided his singing voice, but his singing was re-recorded by Bart.[4]Randy Haycock served as the supervising animator for Hercules as an infant and teenager.
- Philoctetes/Phil, a crotchety, old Satyr (half-man, half-goat) who served as a trainer of heroes in Ancient Greece, most notably Achilles and the powerful demigod, Hercules. Eric Goldberg, the supervising animator for Philoctetes, cited Grumpy in Snow White and Bacchus in Fantasia as the inspirations for the character's design. Goldberg mentioned that they discovered that Danny DeVito "has really different mouth shapes" when they videotaped his recordings and that they used these shapes in animating Phil.[3]
- ad-libbing in his recordings, especially in Hades' dialogues with Megara. Nik Ranieri, the supervising animator for Hades, mentioned that the character was "based on a Hollywood agent, a car salesman type", and that a lot came from Woods' ad-libbed dialogue. He went on to say that the hardest part in animating Hades was that he talks too much and too fast, so much so that "it took [him] two weeks to animate a one-second scene". Ranieri watched Woods' other films and used what he saw as the basis for Hades' sneer.[3]
- Megara, Hercules' love interest and Hades' former servant. Supervising animator Ken Duncan stated that she was "based on a '40s screwball comedienne" and that he used Greek shapes for her hair ("Her head is in sort of a vase shape and she's got a Greek curl in the back.").[3]
- Rip Torn and Samantha Eggar as Zeus and Hera, Hercules' birth-parents. Anthony DeRosa served as the supervising animator for both characters. In the Swedish dub Max von Sydow provided the voice for Zeus.
- Thalia and Cliorespectively), the narrators of the film's story. Michael Show served as the supervising animator for the Muses.
- Bobcat Goldthwait and Matt Frewer as Pain and Panic, Hades' henchmen. James Lopez and Brian Ferguson respectively served as the supervising animators for Pain and Panic.
- Patrick Pinney as the Cyclops. Dominique Monfrey served as the supervising animator for the Cyclops.
- Hal Holbrook and Barbara Barrie as Amphitryon and Alcmene, Hercules' adoptive parents. Richard Bazley served as the supervising animator for both characters.
- Lachesis, Atropos, the three Fates who predict Hades' failed attempt to conquer Olympus. Nancy Beimanserved as the supervising animator for the three characters.
- Paul Shaffer as Hermes. Michael Swofford served as the animator for Hermes.
- Jim Cummings as Nessus. Chris Bailey served as the animator for Nessus. Cummings also voiced the Tall Theban and the Elderly Theban.
- Wayne Knight as Demetrius
- Mary Kay Bergman as the Earthquake Lady
- Corey Burton as the Burnt Man
- Kathleen Freeman as the Heavyset Woman
- Keith David as Apollo
- Charlton Heston has a cameo role as the opening narrator.
- Frank Welker as Pegasus. Ellen Woodbury served as the supervising animator for Pegasus.
Production
Development
In early 1992, thirty artists, writers, and animators pitched their ideas for potential animated features, each given a limited time of two minutes. The first pitch was for an adaptation of
In November 1992, following the success of
Writing
With Hercules in production, Clements and Musker conducted research and wrote extensive notes for the film. On excerpts detailed in November 1993, the similarities between their outlines included the naïve title character caught between two worlds, a
While preparing the script, Clements and Musker consulted the works of
After multiple meetings and story conferences, Clements and Musker wrote several story treatments before proceeding to their first script draft. Comedy writers Donald McEnery and Bob Shaw were recruited by creative executive Jane Healey to work on Hercules. Meanwhile, their draft was concurrently rewritten by Irene Mecchi,[18] which altogether brought additional humor and definition to the script.[19]
Casting
For every Disney animated feature since Beauty and the Beast (1991), Susan Egan auditioned for a role, and then landed the role of Belle in the Broadway production.[21] Upon learning about Hercules, Egan actively pursued the role of Megara, though she revealed that "Alan Menken initially blocked me from going after that part. He said that the female lead in Hercules was supposed to be this cynical smart-ass, sounding nothing at all like sweet, innocent Belle." Menken eventually relented and allowed Egan to audition for the role.[22] Egan read for the part in front of a microphone while being videotaped as Menken, Beauty and the Beast musical director Michael Kosarin, and the filmmakers sat at a table with their eyes closed. Nine months following the results of the test animation synced with Egan's audition, Egan won the role.[23] During production, Meg was originally given a ballad titled "I Can't Believe My Heart", but Ken Duncan, the supervising animator of Meg, pointed out the song was out of character for Meg. Menken and Zippel would later compose "I Won't Say I'm in Love" instead.[22]
The casting of
Disappointed by Nicholson's refusal, Clements and Musker eventually selected John Lithgow as Hades in fall 1994. After nine months of trying to make Lithgow's portrayal of Hades work, Lithgow was released from the role in August 1995.[25] According to John Musker, Ron Silver, James Coburn, Kevin Spacey, Phil Hartman, and Rod Steiger arrived to the Disney studios to read as Hades. Musker also invited producer Robert Evans to read.[12] Additionally, animator Nik Ranieri claimed Michael Ironside, Terrence Mann, and Martin Landau also auditioned for the role, and that Musker and Clements had reached out to Jerry Lewis to read for the role.[26] When the directors invited James Woods to read for the part, they were surprised by Woods' interpretation, and he was hired by October 1995.[25] Hades's co-henchman Pain was written with Bobcat Goldthwait in mind, although the actor confessed he still had to audition for the role despite playing himself.[27]
Animation and design
In 1993, Clements and Musker fondly remembered a
Animation began in early 1995 with a team of nearly 700 artists, animators, and technicians in
Following the release of Pocahontas (1995), Eric Goldberg was initially assigned to animate Hades when Jack Nicholson was thought to play the character. However, when Nicholson decided to pass on the role, Goldberg was not interested in animating the character anymore. Around the same time, Chris Buck was assigned to animate Philoctetes, but after he left the production of Hercules, this left the character of Philoctetes without a supervising animator.[36] Goldberg then decided to instead animate Philoctetes when DeVito signed onto the role noting his similarities with the actor in their short stature, baldness, and admittedly a little "soft around the middle". Throughout production, there were twenty-seven designs for the character,[37] but the final design took inspiration from Grumpy in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Bacchus in Fantasia (1940) in terms of their curmudgeonly personality and facial structure.[38] For Hades, animator Nik Ranieri took inspiration from Scarfe's concept drawings and James Woods' mannerisms during the recording sessions. While Hades' body was drawn by hand, the animation of the hair was handled by the effects animators with input from Ranieri as to how it should move.[19]
For the Hydra, Scarfe provided preliminary drawings to give the mythical beast its requisite fangs and serpentine necks before work was transferred over to the computer animation team headed by Roger Gould. The Hydra was sculpted into a clay model where the dimensions were digitized into the computers as a wire-frame model by which the monster was animated.[39] Early into production, the filmmakers decided the Hydra would ultimately have thirty heads by which the animators created one master head, and the computer could multiply the heads to their desired scale. Overall, thirteen animators and technical directors spent nearly a year-and-a-half creating the four-minute battle sequence.[40] Additionally, because the directors envisioned Olympus as a city composed of clouds, painted backgrounds of clouds and cloud-like imagery were blended with drawn effects animation to create a morphing technique that were used for baby Hercules's cradle and Zeus's reclining chair.[19]
Music
The soundtrack for Hercules consists of music written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist David Zippel, orchestrated by Daniel Troob and Michael Starobin,[41] with vocals performed by Lillias White, LaChanze, Roz Ryan, Roger Bart, Danny DeVito, and Susan Egan among others. The album also includes the single version of "Go the Distance" by Michael Bolton. This was the last Disney Renaissance film for which Alan Menken composed music.
Release
Marketing
On February 4, 1997, Disney began its marketing campaign by starting a five-month promotional traveling tour called Disney's Hercules Mega Mall Tour. Sponsored by Chevy Venture, the tour traveled throughout 20 cities starting first in Atlanta, Georgia. Previously used for the marketing campaigns for Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the tour featured eleven attractions including a multimedia stage show, a miniature carousel themed to Baby Pegasus, a carnival with Hercules-themed game booths, and a ten-minute animation workshop hosted by animator Andreas Deja where visitors would try their hand at drawing Hercules.[42][43][44]
On June 14, the premiere of the film was accompanied with a Hercules-led performance of
Additionally, the film was accompanied by a marketing campaign with promotional tie-ins with 85 licensees including
Home media
Hercules was first released on VHS and widescreen LaserDisc in the United States on February 3, 1998, included as an installment of the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection series. By summer 1998, sales and rentals of the VHS release had accumulated to $165 million.[54] Released on November 9, 1999, Hercules was released in a "Limited Issue" DVD for a limited sixty-day time period before going into moratorium.[55] Launching in January 2000, Walt Disney Home Video began the Gold Classic Collection, with Hercules re-issued on VHS and DVD on August 1, 2000.[56] The DVD contained the film in its 1.66:1 aspect ratio and THX-certified, and was accompanied with special features including "The Making of Hercules" documentary video and the "Go The Distance" music video sung by Ricky Martin, as well as an "Animals of the Outback" activity booklet.[57] The early DVD issues utilized a 35mm print of the film, rather than use the computer to encode the movie directly to digital. The film was released on a Special Edition Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD on June 10, 2014.[58] On September 1, 2017, Hercules became available on Netflix.[59]
Reception
Box office
Wall Street analysts estimated that Hercules could bring in between $125 and $150 million in the United States, on the basis of the extensive marketing campaign and the movie's light, humorous tone similar to that of Aladdin.[60] Hercules began its limited release in North America on June 13, 1997, playing in one selected theater. The film earned $249,567 in box office receipts during the weekend of June 13–15, standing at the thirteenth place in the box office ranking.[61] During its first two weeks, the film had grossed $1.45 million when it expanded into two selected theaters.[62] The general release followed on June 27, 1997, in 2,621 screens. During the weekend of June 27–29, box office analysts estimated that Hercules earned $21.5 million ranking second behind Face/Off, which grossed $22.7 million.[63][64][65]
In its first two weeks of general release, Hercules amounted $58 million in box office grosses, compared to Pocahontas (which took in $80 million) and The Lion King (which grossed $119 million) in their respective two weeks. Considered a disappointment among Disney shareholders, Disney's stock price slipped 9.7 percent by which executives blamed the film's box office performance on "more competition".[66] By its third weekend, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution president Dick Cook confessed that competing family films such as Men in Black and Batman & Robin played a role in the downward box office performance, but projected the film would receive a worldwide gross of $300 million.[67] Likewise, entertainment analysts speculated Hercules did not appeal strongly towards adults and teenagers compared to Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King, which served as date movies and family outings.[68] By spring 1998, Hercules grossed $99 million,[69] and the international totals for Hercules raised its gross to $253 million.[2]
Critical response
Review aggregator
James Woods received universal acclaim from film reviewers for his vocal performance as Hades. Reviewing for Entertainment Weekly, Owen Gleiberman graded the film an A− acclaiming it was Woods' most exciting performance since Salvador. He wrote his performance "is an inspired piece of deadpan vaudeville. His dry jocularity is hilariously incongruous – he's like a hostile, wisecracking salesman trapped in the body of the Antichrist."[73] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote a positive review of the film, enjoying the story as well as the animation. Ebert also praised Woods' portrayal of Hades, stating that Woods brings "something of the same verbal inventiveness that Robin Williams brought to Aladdin".[74] Similarly, Chicago Tribune film reviewer Gene Siskel, while awarding the film 2 out of 4 stars, stated, "The only memorable character in the film is the nicely drawn villain Hades (voice by James Woods), who seeks to turn Hercules to the dark side. Hades supplies the genie-like patter that Robin Williams provided in Aladdin."[75] Janet Maslin of The New York Times also praised Woods' performance, remarking that he "shows off the full verve of an edgy Scarfe villain", and added "On any level, earthly or otherwise, the ingenious new animated Hercules is pretty divine."[76] James Berardinelli, film critic for ReelViews, awarded the film 3 out of 4, stars writing, "The real star of the show is James Woods, whose Hades is the most vibrant Disney creation since Robin Williams' Genie. Hades is a lively villain with a great repertoire of one-liners. And, although Woods isn't as much of a vocal chameleon as Williams, he's close enough that it hardly matters."[77]
The Scarfe-inspired animation style received mixed reviews, with Berardinelli labeling it as the film's most disappointing aspect. He wrote: "This approach makes the film look rushed and, at times, incomplete. It is never a visual marvel – even the computer-generated scenes fail to impress. The sequences intended to offer the biggest spectacle – Olympus and the Underworld – provoke little more than a yawn."[77] Likewise, Siskel noted his surprise of "how soft and cheap the animation looks."[75] Writing for The Washington Post, Desson Howe criticized the animation as being "some of the worst I've ever cringed through, including the corner-cutting junk of Don Bluth movies and every trashy cartoon that passes for entertainment on Saturday morning television. In Hercules, ancient Thebes looks like a hastily sketched field-trip location from public TV's The Magic School Bus; and no self-respecting immortal would be seen dead in this simplistic rendition of Mount Olympus.[78] Nevertheless, Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times noted the animation "has just enough of a different look to it to make things interesting" and praised the Hydra as a technological marvel.[79]
Likewise, the music also received a mixed response, with Rita Kempley of The Washington Post writing, "Like the other songs by Disney veteran Alan Menken and his new lyricist, David Zippel (City of Angels), the number gets the job done, but it doesn't topple the temple. The score is influenced by gospel, Broadway musicals, processional music and R&B, but its only spice is its variety."[80] Variety film critic Leonard Klady noted the lack of distinctiveness of the music writing Menken "is hitting too many tired notes in his sixth animated score" and "there's simply not a song in the piece that has you humming as you exit the theater, and ballads such as "Go the Distance" will require aggressive repetition to register as playlist material."[81]
Controversy
Disney intended for the film to have an open-air premiere at Pnyx hill, but the Greek government declined after the Greek media and public panned the film. Greek newspaper Adesmevtos Typos called it "another case of foreigners distorting our history and culture just to suit their commercial interests".[82]
Accolades
List of awards and nominations | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
Academy Awards | Best Original Song | "Go the Distance" Music by Alan Menken; Lyrics by David Zippel |
Nominated | [83] |
Annie Awards | Best Animated Feature | Nominated | [84] | |
Best Individual Achievement: Directing in a Feature Production | Ron Clements and John Musker | Won | ||
Best Individual Achievement: Producing in a Feature Production | Alice Dewey, Ron Clements, and John Musker | Won | ||
Best Individual Achievement: Character Animation | Ken Duncan (for Meg) | Nominated | ||
Nik Ranieri (for Hades) | Won | |||
Best Individual Achievement: Effects Animation | Mauro Maressa | Won | ||
Artios Awards | Best Casting for Animated Voice-Over | Ruth Lambert | Nominated | [85] |
ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards | Top Box Office Films | David Zippel | Won | |
Awards Circuit Community Awards | Best Animated Feature | Runner-up | ||
Best Original Score | Alan Menken | Nominated | ||
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards | Favorite Animated Family Movie | Nominated | [86] | |
Favorite Song from a Movie | Michael Bolton – "Go the Distance" | Nominated | ||
Golden Globe Awards | Best Original Song | "Go the Distance" Music by Alan Menken; Lyrics by David Zippel |
Nominated | [87] |
Golden Reel Awards | Best Sound Editing – Animated Feature | Tim Holland, Gary Rydstrom, Marilyn McCoppen, John K. Carr, Pat Jackson, Jeff Jones, James Melton, Mary Helen Leasman, and Marian Wilde |
Won | |
Best Sound Editing – Music Animation | Kathleen Fogarty-Bennett and Earl Ghaffari | Nominated | ||
Golden Screen Awards | Won | |||
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards | Best Animation | Won[a] | [88] | |
Online Film & Television Association Awards | Best Animated Picture | Alice Dewey, Ron Clements, and John Musker | Nominated | [89] |
Best Comedy/Musical Score | Alan Menken and David Zippel | Nominated | ||
Best Original Song | "Go the Distance" Music by Alan Menken; Lyrics by David Zippel |
Nominated | ||
Best Voice-Over Performance | Danny DeVito | Nominated | ||
James Woods | Won | |||
Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in a Voiceover – TV or Film: Young Actor | Josh Keaton | Nominated | [90] |
Legacy
Cancelled sequel
The sequel Hercules II: The Trojan War was planned. It would have been about Hercules now living in Athens with Megara and their daughter, Hebe. However, when an old friend named Helen is captured by the evil Paris of Troy, Hercules joins the united Greek army as they head out to war. However, this war will create revelations, and Hercules finds an old friend who eventually goes missing. The project was cancelled when John Lasseter was named Disney's new chief creative officer in 2006, after which he called off all direct-to-video sequels that Disney had planned.[91]
Follow-up and TV series
Stage adaptation
On February 6, 2019, it was announced that a theatrical adaptation of the film would premiere at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park as part of its annual Shakespeare in the Park festival from August 31 until September 8. Menken and Zippel returned to compose and write the songs, while Kristoffer Diaz wrote the book, Lear deBessonet directed and Chase Brock will choreograph.[94] The cast included Jelani Alladin (Hercules), Roger Bart (Hades), Jeff Hiller (Panic), James Monroe Iglehart (Phil), Ramona Keller (Thalia), Tamika Lawrence (Calliope), Krysta Rodriguez (Meg), and Rema Webb (Terpsichore).[95] A revised version of the musical played the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey during the 2022-23 season, from February 9 to March 12, 2023. The revised book was written by Kwame Kwei-Armah and Robert Horn.[96]
Live-action remake
On April 29, 2020, it was reported that a
See also
Notes
- ^ Tied with The Spirit of Christmas.
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- ISBN 978-1-538-10373-9.
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Bibliography
- Rebello, Stephen; Healey, Jane (1997). The Art of Hercules: The Chaos of Creation. ISBN 978-0-786-86263-4.
- Thomas, Bob (1997). Disney's Art of Animation: From Mickey Mouse To Hercules. Disney Editions. ISBN 978-0-786-86241-2.
External links
- Official website
- Hercules at AllMovie
- Hercules at IMDb
- Hercules at Rotten Tomatoes
- Hercules at Box Office Mojo