Hercules is a 1997 American animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation for Walt Disney Pictures. The 35th Disney animated feature film and the eighth animated film produced during the Disney Renaissance, the film was directed by Ron Clements and John Musker. The film is loosely based on the legendary hero Heracles (known in the film by his Roman name, Hercules), the son of Zeus, in Greek mythology.
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 following the critical and commercial success of Aladdin. 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. Donald McEnery, Bob Shaw, and Irene Mecchi were brought on board to revise the 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.
Hercules was released on June 13, 1997, to positive reviews from film critics who praised James Woods's performance as Hades, but the animation (particularly the visual style) and music received a mixed response. Despite the positive critical reception, the film under-performed in its theatrical release notably in comparison to its predecessors before, ultimately earning $252.7 million in box office revenue worldwide. Hercules was later followed by the direct-to-video prequel Hercules: Zero to Hero, which served as the pilot to Hercules: The Animated Series, a syndicated Disney television series focusing on Hercules during his time at the Prometheus Academy.
Cast[]
| Character | Actor | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 
|
Hercules
|
Tate Donovan | |
| Roger Bart (singing) | |||
| Josh Keaton (younger) | |||
|
Philoctetes/Phil
|
Danny DeVito | |
|
Hades
|
James Woods | |
|
Megara
|
Susan Egan | |
|
Zeus
|
Rip Torn | |
|
Hera
|
Samantha Eggar | |
|
Nessus
|
Jim Cummings | |
|
Pain
|
Bobcat Goldthwait | |
|
Panic
|
Matt Frewer | |
|
Cyclops
|
Patrick Pinney | |
|
Amphitryon
|
Hal Holbrook | |
|
Alcmene
|
Barbara Barrie | |
|
Hermes
|
Paul Shaffer | |
|
Apollo
|
Keith David | |
|
Ithicles
|
Aaron Michael Metchik | |
|
Demetrius
|
Wayne Knight | |
| Narrator | Charlton Heston | ||
| The Muses | |||
|
Calliope
|
Lillias White | |
|
Clio
|
Vanéese Thomas | |
|
Melpomene
|
Cheryl Freeman | |
|
Terpsichore
|
LaChanze | |
|
Thalia
|
Roz Ryan | |
| The Fates | |||
|
Lachesis
|
Carole Shelley | |
|
Clotho
|
Amanda Plummer | |
|
Atropos
|
Paddi Edwards | |
Additional voices
|
Mary Kay Bergman | ||
| Corey Burton | |||
| Kathleen Freeman | |||
| Bug Hall | |||
| Kellen Hathaway | |||
| Tawatha Agee | |||
| Jack Angel | |||
| Shelton Becton | |||
| Bob Bergen | |||
| Rodger Bumpass | |||
| Jennifer Darling | |||
| Debi Derryberry | |||
| Bill Farmer | |||
| Milt Grayson | |||
| Sherry Lynn | |||
| Mickie McGowan | |||
| Denise Pickering | |||
| Phil Proctor | |||
| Jan Rabson | |||
| Riley Steiner | |||
| Fonzi Thornton | |||
| Erik Von Detten | |||
| Ken Williams | |||
| Jim Cummings | |||
| John Kassir | |||
| Patrick Pinney | |||
| Gary Schwartz | |||
| Brian Tochi | |||
| Jim Ward | |||
| Frank Welker | |||
Music[]
| Song | Singer(s) | ||
The Gospel Truth
|
Lillias White | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| LaChanze | |||
| Roz Ryan | |||
| Cheryl Freeman | |||
| Vanéese Y. Thomas | |||
Go the Distance
|
Roger Bart | ||
Go the Distance (Reprise)
|
Roger Bart | ||
One Last Hope
|
Danny DeVito | ||
Zero to Hero
|
Tawatha Agee | ||
| Lillias White | |||
| LaChanze | |||
| Roz Ryan | |||
| Cheryl Freeman | |||
| Vanéese Y. Thomas | |||
I Won't Say (I'm in Love)
|
Susan Egan | ||
| Lillias White | |||
| LaChanze | |||
| Roz Ryan | |||
| Cheryl Freeman | |||
| Vanéese Y. Thomas | |||
A Star Is Born
|
Lillias White | ||
| LaChanze | |||
| Roz Ryan | |||
| Cheryl Freeman | |||
| Vanéese Y. Thomas | |||
Go the Distance (Single)
|
Michael Bolton | ||
Shooting Star
(UK/Ireland) |
Boyzone |
International versions[]
| Language | Title | |
|---|---|---|
|
Albanian | Herkuli |
|
Arabic (Egypt) | هرقل |
|
|
Arabic (Standard) | هرقل |
|
Cantonese | 大力士 |
|
Catalan | Hèrcules |
|
Czech | Herkules |
|
|
Danish | Herkules |
|
|
Dutch | Hercules |
|
|
Finnish | Herkules |
|
French (Canada) | Hercule |
|
|
French (France) | Hercule |
|
|
German | Hercules |
|
Greek | Ηρακλής |
 
|
Hebrew | הרקולס |
|
|
Hindi | Hercules |
|
Hmong | Tub Qaum Ntuj Txoj Kev Hlub |
|
|
Hungarian | Herkules |
|
Icelandic | Herkúles |
|
|
Indonesian | Hercules |
|
|
Italian | Hercules |
|
Japanese | ヘラクレス |
|
Kazakh | Геркулес |
|
Korean | 헤라클레스 |
|
|
Malay | Hercules |
|
|
Mandarin (Taiwan) | 大力士 |
|
|
Mizo | Hercules |
|
|
Norwegian | Herkules |
|
Persian | هرکول |
|
|
Polish | Herkules |
|
Portuguese (Brazil) | Hércules |
|
|
Portuguese (Portugal) | Hércules |
|
|
Romanian | Hercule |
|
|
Russian | Геркулес |
|
Serbian | Херкулес |
|
|
Slovak | Herkules |
|
|
Spanish (Latin America) | Hércules |
|
|
Spanish (Spain) | Hercules |
|
|
Swedish | Herkules |
|
Thai | เฮอร์คิวลีส |
|
Turkish | Herkül |
|
|
Ukrainian | Геркулес |
| Language | Title | |
|---|---|---|
|
Armenian | Հերկուլես[1] |
|
|
Bulgarian | Херкулес |
|
|
Georgian | ჰერკულესი |
|
|
Latvian | Hercules |
|
|
Lithuanian (LNK) |
Heraklis |
|
|
Lithuanian (SDI Media) |
Heraklis |
|
|
Mongolian | Геркулес |
|
|
Russian (LDV) |
Геркулес |
|
|
Russian (Kinomania) |
Геркулес |
|
|
Ukrainian (Novyi Kanal) |
Геркулес |
|
|
Uzbek | Gerkules |
|
|
Vietnamese | Hercules |
| Language | Title | |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Chinese (Simplified) | 大力士 |
References[]
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