![]() ![]() Even the half-bull, half-man Nessus - one of Hercules' monster opponents - is described as "the centaur of attention." The atmosphere was created by the production designer, British caricaturist Gerald Scarfe.Ĭlever wordplay is the main comic im plement - from catchy puns pricking Hercules as "Hunkules" or "Jerkules" to the deft mogulspeak of Hades impatiently delegating dirty work to bungling gremlin underlings Pain (voice of Bobcat Goldthwait) and Panic ( Matt Frewer). ![]() Not surprisingly, the directing animators were John Musker and Ron Clements, the "Aladdin" team.Įven with action-heavy artwork in its final third, "Hercules" remains hip entertainment. A wacky, off-the-wall humor also characterizes Hercules' trainer, Phil (Danny DeVito), trying to mold the bashful lunk into a marketable superdude jock. The manic humor comes through in James Woods' fast-talking voice characterization of the flaming-haired Hades, portrayed as a resentful, manipulative outsider in the Olympian scheme of things. "Hercules" is reminiscent of "Aladdin" in style, and that's a good thing. The songs by composer Alan Menken - he's got all the recent Disney animated hits to his credit - and lyrics by David Zippel ("City of Angels") are lively, even lovable. And whenever it seems to sputter, there's that movie-as-Broadway-musical axis to spin on. ![]() The jokes are hip and sophisticated, but "Hercules" is an almost paint-by-numbers tale from the cartoon point of view. The Hercules store is a scaldingly accurate caricature of Disney's retail empire. VOICE OF HADES HERCULES DISNEY FULLWhen the dopey but lovable hero, affectionately nicknamed Herc, is at the height of his celebrity in Thebes, a gift shop full of iconic fuzzy-wuzzies is opened in his name. It marks the first time Disney mocks itself as finger-in-every-pie marketing giant. ![]() But will they buy the character of scheming Hades played as a biting satire on cunning Hollywood producers? Will they understand the lechery of a satyr named Phil who'd rather chase nymphs than be personal trainer to a galumphing Hercules too dense to know his own strength and sex appeal? Or how about a heroine, named Megara, who seems as world-weary as a downtown barfly? Sure, children will pick up on the pop-culture satire driven by the sometimes frantic animation. "Hercules" is somewhat of a milestone for Disney animation - a cartoon feature that seems to be aimed more at adults than kids. VOICE OF HADES HERCULES DISNEY MOVIEWhat fun! The great old Greek is turned into a '90s-style athlete who gets endorsements, sandals named after him and a chance to stand tall among nymphs and muses after whipping the villainous lord of the underworld, Hades, personified as a Hollywood movie mogul type. They fractured Greek myth but slapped mountains of comic muscle on the hunky hero in "Hercules," this summer's animated whopper from Disney, opening today at theaters everywhere. ![]()
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