Hercules (1997)

Directed by Ron Clements & John Musker. Starring (voices) Tate Donovan, James Woods, Danny DeVito, Susan Egan, Rip Torn, Bobcat Goldthwait, Matt Frewer, Paul Shaffer, Josh Keaton. [G]

After Hades’ henchmen kidnap the infant son of Zeus, Hercules, from Mount Olympus, the kid ends up being raised by mortals on Earth. Years later, with the help of a satyr sidekick, Philoctetes (erm, Phil), he must learn courage and skill to go along with his super strength and save the gods from a Titans-aided mutiny. A bold effort to break up the increasing monotony of the Disney Renaissance musical mold, but not a very successful one—the approach is stylized and superficial, favoring slapstick and schtick over storytelling that grabs and heroics that soar, and it diverges so far from Greek mythology, it ends up a hodgepodge of revisions and references, most of which are bound to go over the head of younger viewers. Herc and his voice actor (Donovan) are blandly earnest duds, and his token (and cynical) love interest is so much hollow attitude, there’s no interest in seeing the two of them fall in love; the only character to come to life is Hades, rife with the glib patter of a sour schmoozer, his voice provided by a perfectly cast James Woods. Aside from him and a frenetic battle with a hydra, nothing much sticks, and the gags have a tendency to wheeze, especially the ones you’d expect to be accompanied by rim shots. (For similar but far more endearing jokey, cartoonish attitudes from an animated Disney feature, stick with the likes of Aladdin and The Emperor’s New Groove.) Later adapted into an animated TV series and even a stage musical. Voice cameos include Hal Holbrook, Amanda Plummer, Keith David, Wayne Knight, and, providing a brief bit of narration, Charlton Heston.

58/100