Disney Film Analysis : Hercules : Love Saves The Day

Hercules have you met him? This movie was produced by Ron Clements and John Musker. The movie is about Hercules who is the son of Zeus who becomes a hero. After training with Phil he goes off with Pegasus his flying companion to become a hero. During Hercules journey he goes through 3 parts of a hero's journey.

Hercules is thought to be one of the world’s greatest hero. There are children’s movies about him, but they all have a happy ending. Hercules, originally born “Heracles” lived a short cruel, yet heroic life. “The 12 Herculean tasks he performed over a period of 12 years have been immortalized in everything from classical poetry to Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion.” (French 1). Hercules, in Greek mythology, was a hero known for his strength and courage and for his legendary adventures. Hercules is the Roman name for the Greek hero Heracles. He was the son of the god Zeus and a human mother Alcmene, wife of the Theban general Amphitryon. Hera, Zeus' jealous wife, was determined to kill Hercules, and after Hercules was born, she

in my mind that incarnates Greek mythology are: The Little Mermaid, and, of course, Hercules. Heracles has so many films dedicated to him, but this film is a special case, because it is made for kids.

Authors, poets, and film directors have all used ancient stories to create new pieces of literature and film works for modern times. The animated Disney film Hercules (1997) and the myth of Hercules share the background of audience-driven narratives; however, Disney's aspiration to fill the theaters and earn money results in an unblemished narrative, while the original myth portrays an imperfect model to a flawed humanity.

The Disney Hercules is born of the Olympian gods, Zeus and Hera, after which he is kidnapped by Hades, the ruler of the underworld, who wishes to overthrow Zeus and usurp this throne. However, he needs Hercules out of the way first. Although Hades' plan to kill Hercules in infancy fails, Hercules is turned into a mortal on earth, where he is left feeling like an outcast. After Hercules leaves his (unbeknownst to him) adoptive parents to find his destiny, he discovers his true origins and strives to return to Olympus by becoming a true hero. But to do this, he must first learn what it means to be a "true hero" while overcoming the obstacles that Hades throws his way. Although this plot is entertaining to younger audiences, it deviates from the original myth, according to which Heracles was the son of Zeus and a mortal woman (a demi-god). In addition, neither was Heracles kidnapped by Hades, nor did Hades want to overthrow Zeus; he submitted to Zeus and sought pleasure in ruling the Underworld. Accordingly, Disney chose to represent Hades as the antagonist in this movie due to his role as leading the Underworld. Although the Underworld was not correlated to Hell in any way, the stereotypical idea of the Underworld being a symbol of evil was still present. Therefore, Disney's choice of casting Hades as the evil character in this movie is justified as a Hercules has to defeat some kind of evil before emerging as a

The great tale of Hercules is one with great tragedy; however it holds powerful messages for those who read it. Of course in the Disney story they do leave out details that portray the violence Hercules performs on his family. I feel Disney left people confused as to why society rejected him for his strength when in a normal society today we would praise those with talents. However kids focus on surface details. To someone like me a lot of these messages are rooted deeply. I do feel that Disney does a sufficient job at telling the tale. There is a certain level of mindset you as creator of a children's story has to get on in order to deliver an appropriate, successful, and entertaining child story. While the characters are watered down and kid friendly also the way the gods are depicted as being good and friendly is not even close to accurate. .However in Disney messages are successfully delivered in a child friendly way in which adults can understand and appreciate it.

Society at that time, and possibly still today, craved stories that highlight the drama within a family, the problems it can cause, and the opportunities it can create. These subtle changes Disney made to their Hercules movie helps draw out the differences between American Society today and Ancient Greek Culture.

Hades was perplexed by such a rushed decision. Even though he failed in his attempts, he still loved Persephone so he kidnapped her. Thus, one can assume that Hades’s judgement was clouded by his grief, which is why he captured Persephone. Therefore, the audience can learn to not let one's emotions blind their judgement as Hades did, between what is right and what is wrong. This shows that one can look at Hades’s past failures and learn from them to better one’s self. Furthermore, folks often assume that Hades is as evil as the Biblical Satan himself, due to his status as god of the underworld. However, in truth Hades obtains no joys from the pain and torture of the dead, unlike Satan who is sadistic deity. It is just his job to control those who enters the underworld, which was a judgement that Zeus deemed him after the defeat of Cronus and the selection of the

Disney’s Hercules depicts the classic mythical tale of the infamous demi god. Evil Hades, Hercules grows up on Earth but has godly strength from which he doesn't know originates. When he discovers his immortal heritage, Zeus calls him to return to Mount Olympus to become the champion he is destined to be. Eventually, Hercules evolves to be a famous hero with the help of Pegasus and Phil the satyr. Through his journey he takes on mythical monsters, Titans, and Hades. In the end it is his sacrifice that make him a true hero.

Greek mythology is very fascinating at times, but it can also be very confusing. The Greeks have a lot of different gods and goddesses with different names, parents, and skills to remember. Greek mythology can become ridiculously complicated. Disney created a movie that focuses on just one character, Hercules, to help children further understand mythology. The movie is called Hercules, and it is based on “Heraclês”, a Greek hero. Although Hercules, the movie, is based on the myth, they actually have two very different meanings. In the movie some of the major differences are that there is heroism, family values, and simplification.

Hades, the evil genius, is out to seek revenge on the other Gods because he feels he is unappreciated and powerless, compared to his all mighty brother Zeus and other family members. At the beginning of Hercules, Hades was simply a mistreated God who Zeus had selfishly forced to be the God of the Underworld; a dreadful, miserable place where souls go to suffer. Hades rarely has an important role in the lives of the other Gods, who spend their time living on Olympus; a wonderful and lively kingdom. Hades is jealous of the fortune of the other gods living on Olympus. He states, “but unlike you gods lounging about up here...I regrettably have a full-time gig...that you, by the way, so charitably bestowed on me” Hades is the ruler of the underworld, as he calls it, a dark and gloomy place, as well as, always full of dead people. So he feels he has been treated unfair and deserves more. Unfortunately there is no way to change this fact, unless you are Hades of course. Hades, being the evil genius he is, has a plan to take revenge on the Gods. In this plan he intends to destroy Olympus and rule the Gods forever. Because Hades is less fortunate than the other Gods, he is very overlooked by them. He feels that he has been put in a place where he cannot truly be a

One cultural difference between the movie and the myth is that of how he is born of two gods and not a mortal. One example of how disney changes the movie is that Zeus has one wife while in the myths he has a large amount of them. I believe that Disney did this to shorten the film and make it more understandable for younger audiences. In the Disney film Hera is loving to all of her children, yet in the myths she is extremely harsh to Hephaestus. In the beginning of the movie she is being unbelievably nice to baby Hercules. In the myths she is very rude to all of her children, especially Hephaestus. In the movie, Hercules embarrassed his parents by being too strong and clumsy, but in the myths, his mortal parents seemed to be almost proud of his strength. In the movie, when they go to the market, he destroys the entire market with one slight stumble into a pillar of quartz. These reasons

Throughout the film, when Hades appears, very low lighting is used. As well, his face is colored in a way that makes the actor look sickly and pale. As it is explained in “The Clash of the Titans”, Hades is the king of the Underworld, and has spent centuries underground. The use of low lighting and pale coloring are symbolic of evil and danger. Thus, not only does the use of low lighting and pale coloring detail the effects of life in the underworld, but it also signifies Hades as the bad guy within the

The myth of the Greek hero Hercules and the one seen in the Disney movie have a lot of differences, but also some similarities. For example, one difference is in the Disney movie Hercules only performed 7 labors, but in the Greek myth Hercules had to complete 12 labors. However, a similarity is that in both versions Hercules had to endure the hero’s journey. There are many other differences and similarities worth mentioning.

All in all, Percy Jackson does a good job of representing the Greek Gods in a present day story that is entertaining and appropriate for families. Most of the characters are presented very accurately, and even the changes are not terribly drastic. The director balances entertaining audiences with informing them, and the new material doesn’t ruin any characters or storylines from the original myths. I think the movie did a good job of