My current look at Disney films has two down, and two to go.
For this one, I decided to look at something a little more robust than most Disney animated fare: The 1997 film 'Hercules.'
(Credit for this image goes to the user Valyrian Wildfire on the Disney wiki at https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Hercules_(film)?file=Hercules.png)
This is obviously based on the stories of the legendary strongman/ demigod from Greek mythology, but in a VERY loose way. Most of the characters and mythological elements of it are honestly nothing like how they were in the original ancient myths, but considering this film was aimed at children and much of actual Greek mythology is not suitable for such audiences, that's understandable.
So, in this movie, after a brief narrative introduction by Charlton Heston and the catchy song 'The Gospel Truth' by the Muses that helps to set up the story, we see Hercules born to the king and queen of the Olympian gods, Zeus (Voice of the late Rip Torn) and Hera. However, not all is right among their numbers; Hades (Voice of James Woods), the disgruntled god of the dead, has a secret plan to overthrow Zeus and conquer Mount Olympus by eventually freeing these powerful ancient monsters known as Titans. He learns through a prophecy that he will be defeated and his plan foiled if Hercules is allowed to grow up and join in the battle that will ensue. So, to prevent this from happening, Hades sends his bumbling demon minions Pain and Panic (Voices of Bobcat Goldthwait and Matt Frewer) to kidnap baby Hercules, turn him mortal with a magic potion, and then kill him. The shape- shifting demons succeed in the first two parts of the plot, but fail in the third, as baby Hercules does not drink all of the potion and thus retains his incredible strength (The sight of baby Hercules then walloping them when they try to finish the job is both hilarious and adorable). He is then adopted by an elderly couple who raise him well.
As a young adult, Herc (Voice of Tate Donovan) feels like a freak who doesn't belong in the village he and his adoptive parents live in. He eventually learns of his divine origins, and that his godhood will be fully restored to him if he can prove himself to be a true hero on Earth. To that end, he seeks out the help of Philoctetes, aka Phil (Voice of Danny DeVito), a half- goat satyr who was once a trainer of heroes. Phil initially refuses, as everyone he trained ended up faltering and letting him down, but he has a change of heart when he realizes the real potential that Herc has.
After some training and a few victories, Hercules is hailed as a hero and treated like a celebrity by everyone, complete with endorsements and merchandise, yet Zeus tells him this still isn't enough. Herc eventually falls head over heels for a lovely young woman named Megara, aka Meg (Voice of Susan Egan), who has a bit of a shady past and begins to drive a wedge between him and Phil. All the while, Hades is preparing to destroy Hercules once and for all and implement his plan to release the Titans and conquer all of the cosmos.
Pretty much the only problem I have with 'Hercules' is how it portrays some of the other heroes from Greek mythology; While Phil is shown to have been the trainer of most of these heroes (As he puts it, "Odysseus, Perseus, Theseus. A lot of '-eus'es."), the movie implies that they had all been losers and failures who couldn't "Go the distance." I frankly didn't like that. In Greek mythology, those other heroes did really cool things, too (ESPECIALLY Odysseus), and while portraying them as failures did help with Phil's development as a character, they could have just as easily been portrayed as heroes who were formerly successful but are now forgotten has- beens, or as contemporaries for Hercules to interact with.
Other than that quibble, 'Hercules' was a great movie and a lot of fun.
It has a good deal of comedy, including loads of funny puns relating to the movie's setting. For instance, in one scene when two young boys are trapped under a boulder, one of them frantically shouts "Someone call IXII (aka the Roman numerals for 911)!"
'Hercules''s high- point, though, was definitely its action. It had loads of impressive fight scenes, such as a short but amusing brawl Hercules has with a boorish centaur named Nessus which acts as his first real heroic deed, and his climactic battle with the Titans in the end, but my favorite (And one of my favorite parts of the movie as a whole) is when he fights the Hydra.
This is a battle which will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. The Hydra looks terrifying by Disney standards, between its long serpentine necks, its yellow eyes, and its VERY large maws of incredibly long and sharp teeth, and that's not even counting its trait of regrowing heads that have been lopped off. The computer animation they used for it looks pretty impressive for the time, too. The battle takes on a lot of different phases in its brief time frame, as we see Hercules fighting the Hydra from the ground, and then from the air with the help of the flying horse Pegasus. Everything's going a mile a minute, and the tension's high, making for a quite memorable scene. When Herc does prevail, we have to agree with his remark to Phil that "You gotta admit, THAT was pretty heroic!"
Hercules himself is a decent enough hero. We can feel most of what he's going through, between his initial desire to find the place where he's meant to be, then his desire to achieve his destiny when he learns of his lineage, and trying to protect those he cares about when things start to really hit the fan in the film's third act. The animation design for him looks great, too; Initially, the animators wanted to make him look huge and ripped like Gaston from 'Beauty and the Beast,' but eventually decided to give him more of a swimmer's build. I'd say that works, as he's clearly got some muscles, yet still seeing him display amazing strength throughout the film surprises you and helps you remember it comes from his divine lineage rather than just working out.
Megara is wonderful both as a love interest to Hercules, and just as a character in general. She's an incredibly funny character a lot of times with her snarky dialogue (Mad props to Susan Egan for her voice performance), yet some real heart, too. Her unbelievably sad backstory and her morally- conflicted nature throughout most of the film make her quite developed. She's definitely not your typical Disney gal.
Phil's a pretty solid supporting character. He too has a lot of funny moments, and seems to be heavily based on the character Mickey from the 'Rocky' films as a "Gruff, no- nonsense trainer of champs" kind of character. He's got some sympathetic moments too, though, overcoming his embitterment over his past students' failures, and desperately wanting to train just one who could really go down in history. Danny DeVito's gravelly voice is perfect for him, and his delivery in an early scene when Phil is mockingly imitating Zeus's voice never fails to make me laugh.
Hades is one of the most popular Disney villains among fans, and even just watching a couple minutes of him in this movie is enough to show why. While not my absolute favorite Disney baddie (Stay tuned for the next/ concluding entry in this series to learn who that is), he's pretty close. Most Disney villains fall into one of two categories: Mostly serious like Ursula or Jafar, or mostly comedic like Captain Hook or Yzma. Hades is a nice mixture of both, with loads of funny moments (i.e. Pointing out to the dim- witted Titans that they were heading in the wrong direction to reach Mount Olympus), and yet also some creepy, dead- serious moments (i.e. in the Hydra battle, when it looks like Herc is about to be devoured, Hades grinningly comments, "And now, for my favorite part of the game: SUDDEN DEATH."). His visual appearance is pretty neat, between his flowing black robes, his greyish skin, and his flaming hair. It's little wonder that the main animator who worked on Hades in this film won an Annie award for his work. His personality is an amusing blend of being calm and laid- back at times, while then literally exploding with rage in other scenes. Probably the best element of him, though, is James Woods' work as his voice (Which is especially remarkable, because Woods wasn't even Disney's first choice for voicing Hades; Originally, the role was going to go to Jack Nicholson, but he apparently wanted more money for the role than Disney was prepared to spend). Woods gives Hades a smooth- talking, used- car- salesman kind of voice, yet is also perfect at the scenes when he's furiously ranting and fuming. He also ad- libbed a good portion of Hades' lines, such as in a scene in which Hades is trying to trick Herc into making a bad deal with him. Hades is just such a fun villain to watch in every scene he's in.
Pain and Panic work well in an "Incompetent goons who always mess things up and whom the villain regularly takes his anger out on" sort of way. In particular, hearing Bobcat Goldthwait's rather distinctive voice for Pain always puts a smile on my face. Their shape- shifting skill makes them even more interesting, and is used to good effect.
The songs in 'Hercules' are pretty interesting, and take things in a few different directions. Herc's song 'Go the Distance,' which acts as the informal theme to the movie as a whole, sounds really nice and inspiring, a good song to help you feel brave as it's him singing of how he will keep going until he's learned his destiny and found "Where I belong." Phil's song "One Last Hope" as he's training Hercules is funny and entertaining, complete with a hysterical nod to 'The Karate Kid' at one point, and Danny DeVito proves to have a better singing voice than you'd think. Megara's song "I Won't Say I'm in Love" showcases the gorgeous singing voice that Broadway veteran Susan Egan has, and is a bit of a novelty as far as Disney songs go; Rather than giddily singing about being in love, it is mostly Meg DENYING that she is falling for Herc as her past history with men has so far not been good and she doesn't want to be hurt again, only to grudgingly accept at the end that she IS growing fond of the big lug. However, most of the songs from this movie are sung by the Muses, who help narrate and advance the story in a sweet, soulful, Gospel way. "The Gospel Truth" sets things up well and varies in its moods well to fit the scenes it's used in, "Zero to Hero" is a very fun song chronicling Herc's rise to fame, and my favorite is the song they perform in the finale, "A Star is Born." It's a gorgeous song which perfectly accompanies the film's truly wonderful ending (Indeed, 'Hercules' has one of my favorite endings to any Disney film).
I can think of a few different Scriptural lessons that can be taken from Disney's 'Hercules.'
One of the first is on endurance and "Going the distance." Near the climax of the film, when the attack on Olympus is close at hand, Hades tricks Hercules into giving up his strength for one day. Then, he sends a gigantic Cyclops to kill Herc in this weakened state. While Herc (who has become thoroughly discouraged and disheartened by this point for a number of reasons) won't fight back and seems willing to just let the Cyclops kill him, Phil eventually comes in and reminds Herc that he CAN take that bully down if he actually tries. Herc echoes a statement that Phil made early in the film that "Dreams are for rookies," but Phil retorts, "No, no, no, no, kid; *Giving up* is for rookies! I came back 'cause I'm not quittin' on you! I'm willing to go the distance; How about you?" Sure enough, this pep talk gives Hercules just the inspiration he needs; Even without his strength, he's then able to defeat the Cyclops and save the city of Thebes from destruction using nothing but a torch, some rope, and his wits. The Cyclops may have been big, but all that size added up to was a bigger crater in the ground when that bloated brute went down for good.
I think the Cyclops in this scene can be seen as a metaphor for all the huge problems we are facing, especially this year, between the continuing devastation of COVID- 19, and all the current social unrest breaking out nationwide. All that, of course, isn't even counting the personal, individual struggles that many of us our going through in our own lives. They all seem so unbeatable at times. It seems like it would be so easy to just give up and lose faith that anything will ever get better. I had a time just a couple nights ago when I briefly wrestled with those kinds of feelings.
I'm reminded of the brave example of Joshua and Caleb in Numbers, chapters 13 and 14. The two of them were among a group of twenty spies Moses and the Israelites sent to scout out the Promised Land, survey if it had good resources, and see if they could conquer the land. While most of the spies, upon returning, were afraid and essentially said "No way! The people in this land are giants! We could never take them on, we're like grasshoppers to them," Joshua and Caleb disagreed. They had faith that if God got them that far, He could give them the strength to overcome even those giants and take the city. This courage and faith was the reason why those two were the only members of that generation of Israelites managed to enter the Promised Land, while the rest who doubted God's providence and let their fear overcome their faith wandered in the desert for decades. Joshua and Caleb were willing to "Go the distance" even when things seemed hopeless, and we all need to do the same.
Another theological point to be taken from 'Hercules' is, similar to when I looked at 'A Nightmare on Elm Street 3' last Halloween, seeing the main hero as an allegory for Jesus and the main villain as an allegory for Satan.
Right off the bat, the idea of Hercules being the son of the king of the heavens, coming down to Earth, and being raised by a childless mortal couple rather strongly resembles the early life of Jesus, who was the Son of God and came down to Earth and was raised by Mary and Joseph. The comparisons to Jesus become especially evident in the end of the film. MAJOR SPOILERS!
Megara has died saving the life of Hercules, and so Herc goes down into the Underworld to try and recover her soul from the River Styx that it's currently floating in and thus bring her back to life. After a bit of haggling, Hades agrees to let Hercules take her place down there, if he could swim in the river and get her. There's a major catch, though: Touching the river causes Herc's body to age rapidly, and within seconds of him entering, it's clear that he will die before he can reach her. Yet, just as the three Fates are preparing to cut Herc's thread of life, it suddenly turns golden and is unable to be cut. See, by being willing to sacrifice himself to save Meg, Hercules has proven to be a true hero, and his godhood is restored to him as he then brings Meg's soul out of the river and knocks Hades down where he belongs. This all can easily be seen as symbolizing Jesus's sacrificial death for all of us, and His resurrection which defeat's Satan's plan to pull all of our souls to Hell.
Speaking of whom, there's also allegory to be found in Hades. In the original Greek myths, Hades was generally portrayed as a neutral, "Don't mess with me and I won't mess with you" type. In this film, however, Hades actually much more closely resembles how we as Christians see Satan. He seeks to overthrow the gods, conquer Olympus (Which in the movie greatly resembles how many of us would see Heaven), and kill Hercules. This is obviously similar to Satan seeking to overthrow God and take over Heaven (As described in Isaiah 14:12- 15), and kill Jesus. A scene early on makes this comparison even more clear, as a character, upon seeing Hades, says, "Well, speak of the Devil." Lastly, Hades' final defeat as the now- divine Hercules knocks him into the River Styx and the souls there drag him down into its depths, presumably forever, can be seen as resembling Satan's ultimate defeat in the book of Revelation Chapter 20, as he is cast into the Lake of Fire forever. In fact, Hades' scream of defeat when he realizes Hercules has become a god is near enough to how I'd imagine Satan reacting when he learned that Jesus had risen from the dead.
In short, I could see a Christian watching this scene with a non- Christian then afterwards saying something like, "Hey, you know how Hercules was willing to die and take Meg's place in the Underworld to save her, then became a god because of that? Someone actually did something a lot like that once. His name was Jesus, and if you don't mind, I'd like to tell you a little about Him."
Then, for one final Biblical point to be taken from Disney's 'Hercules,' immediately after the previously- mentioned scene happens, Hercules is brought to Mount Olympus, where Zeus and Hera explain to him that his sacrificial act for Meg was what made him a true hero. Zeus elaborates that a true hero is measured not by physical strength or fame, but "By the strength of his heart." This is another major Biblical theme, as many verses talk about how the state of a person's inner heart and soul is one of the most important factors to define that person. Jeremiah 17:10 says "I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds." 1 Timothy 1:5 says "The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." Then, of course, there's Jesus' beatitude in Matthew 5:8, which says, "Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God." Indeed, the truest sign of greatness in God's eyes is a heart which is driven by love, kindness, selflessness, and faith in Him at all times. Such is what He most wants to see in all of us.
And so, there you have Disney's 'Hercules,' a great animated thrill ride with action, memorable characters, and wonderful Biblical lessons about going the distance even when it seems hopeless, what it takes to be truly heroic, and an allegory of the amazing work Jesus did for all of us.
That's all for this edition of the Nightcrawler Experience. My concluding film examination in this series is on its way soon, so stay tuned. Until then, stay safe and healthy, and may God bless you all!
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