HERCULES (1997) Group Movie Reaction 

Like it or hate it, Disney's Hercules did do something right. they managed to summarize about 90% of Greek mythology with 5 simple words.

Fun fact: When Hades says "It's only half-time" during the hydra fight it literally is. The moment he says that is exactly halfway through the movie.

Something else strange about that Zeus can't be your dad scene is that I'm pretty sure in a time in Greece it was more common to be zeus's son than being left handed.

"I know there's a good song here somewhere." Me: "Yes." Please, this is one of the movies that goes the hardest in songs.

Fun fact: Megara was a character from the original Heracles story. Meg was Heracles's wife, and, unfortunately, Hera decided to curse Heracles with madness, causing Heracles to kill Megara

I like the way Hades is always described as a bad, mean villain. But actually he’s the only one who does what he’s supposed to do and doesn’t get every living being he comes across pregnant.

I love that James Woods said he'd always reprise his role as Hades no matter what. Even for free. He just loves the character so much. Love him in kingdom hearts too.

Some fun facts about the movie: - Disney wanted it to have it's premiere on the Pnyx hill, but the Greek government rejected it. This because the Greek press watched the movie in advanced for their reviews and they absolutly destroyed it. - Hades was originally going to be darker, more serious and menacing, but when James Woods was casted, they changed his character to be more like him. - When Tate Donovan was casted as Hercules, he told his family, but they thought he was casted in the live action Hercules show of 1995. - If in the film's universe only "True heros" have access to Olympus, then Narcisus did something to be one cause he's not a god. (Which makes it sad for Megara cause she saved Hercules, and she should be considered a true heroin and go to Olympus at the end along with Hercules). - The Muses (like half the gods in Olympus) are also Zeuz's daughters. Therefore, the muse Thalia actually has a crush on her half-brother Hercules. - When Pain and Panic are "trapped" under the rocks, one shouts "Call IXII". This is 911 in Roman numbers, but it can also be 112, the current Greek emergency number. - It took 18 months to animate the Hydra scene. - Director Ron Clements said the reason they used Gospel music was because this genre touches the themes of hope, idealism, and larger-than-life destinies, and that was perfect for Greek mythology. - Just like many other films, Disney wanted it to have a straight-to-DVD sequel. This would have been called "Hercules II: The Trojan War". Hebe was going to be the daughter of Hercules and Megara. Helen would have a been a friend of Hercules, and was going to be kidnap by Paris, the villan in this sequel. And that was going to make Hercules join the Greek side. I ignore if they ended up using ideas for this cancelled sequel in the TV show.

"Zeus' life could be written as a Law and Order: SVU episode." I've never heard such a succinct summary of Greek mythology

Fun fact Megara’s voice actress, Susan Egan, also voices Rose Quartz in Steven Universe

I will always laugh at Hades getting mad at pain and panic for wearing herc’s merch

What’s funny about this is out of all the stories about these gods, Hades is actually the "nicest god". Good god the stories of all these gods are crazy. Zeus is crazy and “sleeps with” everything. Everything. I'm convinced that Zeus himself wrote that movie script.

28:38 Little fun fact: Hercules and Scar were both animated by the same guy, Disney animator Andreas Deja. That scene is a little "hidden Mickey" referencing him. He also animated Jafar, Gaston, Lilo, Mama Odie and a LOT of Mickey Mouse.

The Fates knew Hades was going to fail, they said "indoor plumbing. It's going to be big". When Hades disappeared, there's a toilet flush sound effect.

There was a tv series of Hercules growing up and going to school. They were able to explore more mythology including Zues and Prometheus. There was even a crossover of Hercules and Aladdin

Love the bit when the Titans show up and Hades like Bois... that way lol

People love to repeat thousands of times that this movie isn't accurate to greek mythology, and while that's true, it's still a very entertaining movie.

Once I saw this comment that said "the biggest historical inaccuracy that Disney has ever committed is portraying Zeus as a happy family man" and that gets me every time. And making Hades a bad guy sucks!

25:18 Not seeing anyone else touching on this, but to explain the Lion: It was the Nemean Lion, whose fur and skin were supposedly unbreakable. It was wreaking havok in Nemea until Hercules killed it via strangulation after he realized his weapons couldn't do anything to it.

I miss animations like this, not just from Disney but animation studios. My favorite animated movies are Treasure planet and Atlantis lost empire.

Hercules still holds up good to this very day, the animation and the music were the best.

Hades is one of the few Disney villains to survive falling of a cliff and unlike Scar nothing killed him afterwards.

“Feelthosetitties”. What a perfect name for a satyr. 😆 Unintentionally perfect too, since he didn’t know yet what Phil was gonna be.

I love how you guy's appreciate the older 2-d animation movies. Fun Fact: in the movie The adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, during the chase scene near the end the background is actually painted Paine Glass so during filming the stage hands had to seamlessly change the glass panels as the scene progressed. Time, effort, and love like that is hardly seen today in newer animations.

i love how Hercules bought his parents a mansion 😭 such a good son.

28:16 Titbit: Scar being put in this movie was building on a joke Zazu made about Scar in The Lionking, stating: "He'd make a very handsome throw rug"

Whoever decided to mix a Greco-Roman myth with Gospel Music deserves a bigger raise then they probably got. I also kinda like the subtle undertone of Hercules being a Rocky-esque character, Phil is his Mickey and he coaches him like a boxing match. Yes a lot of the movie covers elements of the Hercules/Heracles mythos, with a mix of some others, though of course they are also very liberal with the canon given how problematic all the key characters are and a lot of grisly fate, including Meg who was murdered by Hercules with their children in a house fire after Hera drove him mad, thus begetting the 12 Labors. Also yeah the Olympians are Hades' siblings, nephews and nieces (and because inbreeding also cousins and in-laws) but the titans - and cyclops - are also his uncles given how they were children of Gaia, plus Aphrodite since in some cases she is born from the severed testicle of Cronus. 'Go the Distance' is sang by Michael Bolton btw Also Zazu did say that Scar'd make a handsome throw rug

The concept art for this movie was done by artist Gerald Scarfe, who also made the animations for the Pink Floyd movie "The Wall", great artist with a unique style, and it shows, that's why these characters are completely different from other classic Disneyesque style movies we see over and over.

Hercules is one of my mom's top favorite disney movies! Glad this movie got most votes for the next movie reaction 😄 Also yes... Disney (like always) are planning to make a live action remake of hercules 🙄 And fun fact! Meg's voice actress is Rose Quartz's voice in Steven Universe! 😄

I'm guessing Meg is a stand in for Megara a Theban princess and Hercules first wife that he killed when Hera drove him mad, depending on the source material.

"My man is collumn blocking!" 😂 Hilarious underrated joke here, how did the other guys not catch or laugh at that!?!

Alan Menken is just the GOAT for Disney movies. All his movie scores just bang.

35:52 What if Meg got a paper cut and Hercules got his strength back and beat the cyclops? 😂

Such a great classic Disney movie and one of my favorites cause I'm a huge mythology nerd and I will always find it hilarious that they made the snakes be sent by hades

Fun fact. Josh Keaton who voiced Spectacular Spider-Man also voiced Hercules. Also Meg is 38 while Herc is 18

There’s a little detail I like at 6:52 which is it’s beginning it’s storm, which tells us just how angry and worried Zeus is over his son’s disappearance.

Fun fact: The story is partially straight up based on Superman’s origin story

(At 4:54) And I *definitely* like Typhon and Echidnes second born child, and everyone's favorite… "Cerberus" Though, I am a little annoyed that all of his siblings were murdered by demigods… for entertainment, Three of them were killed by Hercules or "Heracles" as it was pronounced.

I remember watching this once with my cousin, back when my family used to have us visit them. I later watched this a lot at home. The songs still slap till this day. 😌👌

I definitely recommend checking out the Hercules animated series. It was pretty good it takes place somewhere in between Hercules training. It's not canon giving that Hades knows Hercules is alive in the series despite the movie showing that he thought he was dead at first than finding out he wasn't. But all in all really good series to do a reaction to there's even a crossover episode or episodes where Hercules teams up with Aladdin from the Aladdin movie.

I LOVE this movie, It's maybe the movie I've seen the most times cause I used to watch it every time I went to my moms work as a kid.

One of my favorite Disney movies. Hercules is still a blast! Love the Muses

One great moment I remember from the German version of this movie was when Hades called Megara his 'Chicken Meg Nugget'.

Fun Fact: The whole dramatic reveal of Hercules' thread becoming un-cuttable because he achieved godly status wouldn't have worked in actual mythology AT ALL. One of the most important aspects of the thread being cut is that it is possible for every living being INCLUDING deities (and of course inevitable for mortals) however their destinies generally don't forsee them dying so it doesn't happen. The point is that they totally COULD kill a deity by cutting their thread.

The soundtrack for this movie is amazing

Hercules did have a TV series, which also used From Zero To Hero as its theme song btw Also the series had a crossover episode with Aladdin called Hercules and the Arabian Night

(At 33:30) well I can say one thing about Hades he does keep his promises, even if they do backfire on him and if he's manipulating from the sidelines.

If you guys haven't checked it out yet, Akira is probably the best example of cell shading animation.

1:13 can relate 😂 I tried playing KH1 again after years and it was so painful 😭🤚

Hades is the best character

(At 22:55) Cerberus's little brother, The Lermian Hydra.

Thanks guys for reacting to this. This is one of my favorite Disney movies of the time. Interesting tidbit, this is pretty much similar to Superman and Rocky. I mean think about this: *Hercules's parents Zeus and Hera (Disney wise) - Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van (DC): Superman's Kryptonian Parents* *Hercules's adoptive parents Amphitryon and Alcmene (Disney wise) - Martha and Jonathan Kent (DC): Superman's Adoptive Parents* *Hercules's strength and Pegasus (Disney) - Embodiment of Superman's powers (Strength and Flight, along with his other powers)* *Hercules's trainer Phil (Disney) - Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen (DC) and Rocky's trainer Mickey Goldmill/Duke/Apollo Creed (Rocky)* *Hercules's love Meg (Disney) - Superman's love Lois Lane (DC)* *Hercules's foe, Hades (Disney) - Superman's foes, Darkseid/General Zod/Lex Luthor/Brainiac/Metallo etc.(DC)* The Song Go the Distance and the quote from this movie was also similar: *Go the Distance (Hercules) - Going the Distance (Rocky)* *"For a True Hero is never measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart/But to look beyond the glory is the hardest part, for a hero's strength is measured by his heart" (Hercules) - Back on the beat, back to the start, trust in your heart, That's the measure of a Man." (Rocky)*

Looking back to this This is literally just Supermans story in disney form

Originally Disney wanted Hades to sound similar to Jafar or Scar. So James Wood auditioned doing a car salesman voice as a joke and Disney liked it and gave him the part.

Love this movie!! Disney renaissance (90’s) is definitely my fav era! Pls do the hunchback of Notre Dame!

(At 25:05) Cerberus's baby brother, the Nemian Lion.

6:20 Unfortunately, this will probably never happen as Disney has completely dismantled their 2D animation studio, and everyone who knew how to do 2D animation is either retired or dead. It took them considerable effort and several favors to make The Princess and the Frog as a last hurrah to the medium. It would be even harder now. They'd basically have to start from square one. If you want 2D animation, watch anime. That's all you're getting.

oh you guys are gonna love this, especially the narrators 😁

This was my absolute favorite Disney movie growing up (mostly because of Pegasus), and I will always enjoy this movie

Lola was deffo a childhood crush. Growing up in the 90s-00s meant there were quite a few. Roxanne from the Goofy Troop movie was definitely also on the anthropomorphic side.

If you notice the little detail. At the start he walks sorta pigeon toed. A sign he lacks confidence and is a very timid awkward kid. But by the end he's brimming with confidence in himself and has stopped pigeon toeing

i mean majority of the greek gods are jerks the least jerk of the main gods is hades and he kinda kidnaps(depending on the source material) his wife (which is his neice)

Have you guys seen Who Framed Roger Rabbit? That's a good movie for a reaction and it's _really_ impressive. You can tell it was a labor of love.

7:15 "Should Hercules fight, you will fail" 21:10 There's another notch in the scissors, does that imply something like this has happened before?

If you ever watched Hercules the Legendary Journey with Kevin Sorbo growing up, that Hades (and Ares) were pretty badass too

Hearing you yelling, "GET UP ON THE HYDRA'S BACK!" just made my day. I do agree that Kingdom Hearts 1 is rough, but Kingdom Hearts 2 is a masterpiece!

(At 24:47) the Aramantian Boar. I don't remember Hercules killing this pig.

Fun nerdy fact about one of the jokes in this movie. When Phil says "I got two words for ya" gets zapped and goes "Okay." The greek equivalent of Okay is actually 2 words.

Im with SeeOhKnee, every time I watch a Disney movie I think how it would be with Sora, Donald and Goofy. Love this movie still. Also fun little KH3 fact, you can find the little herc figures all around Coliseum, and a few other references straight from this movie.

Image this: Zeus, Hades, Posiden are all brothers that defeated their father, Kronos, God of Time, and leader of the 20 titans. Sounds like the plot of a good Shounen anime. Love that.

In Lion King Zazu exclaims that Scar “would make a very handsome throw rug”

2:32 Bro literally just described Hercules' actual origin on accident, that's crazy.

This film might be completely different from the myths it's based on, but it is without a doubt adored by my family. I quote "You are correct sir" on a regular basis.

Fun fact: Of all the Olympians, Hades is one of the nicest... which is saying a lot. He also never had the wish to rule over the world, he knew that someone had to take care of the underworld and through the history of the greek mythology, he helped Humans, Gods and Heros. He even went out of his way to go to the Olympus and warned the Gods of upcoming evil. So the portrail of Disney is realy downwashed just because he is the ruler of the Underworld. On the other hand, they give Hera a way to good look, as she was the one that wanted to murder Hercules.

(At 3:55) Bullshit! Pegasus was born with Medusa got decapitated by Perseus, after Poseidon knocked her up before his niece, Athena, cursed her.

There actually IS a thing at the end of the movie credits, but it's just audio of Hades ranting if I remember correctly.

When top right said “did he make you fight a lion” I lost my shit 😂

I FUCKING LOVE THIS MOVIE!~ SO HAPPY YOU GUYS WATCHED IT!~ Q_Q every song is amazing, i met the muses at disneyland one year and they were totally shocked they were recognized, i cried. Love to the Sorta Stupid Squad!~

Awesome reaction guys this probably my favourite Disney movies great imagination awesome songs love the gospel and rock twist!😊

In the original story When Hercules finally died, his mortal form was burned away. And all that was left was his godly form. And it was then that he ascended to mount olympus. I would assume that once this Hercules lives out his mortal life. The same thing will happen. His mortal self will be burned away and he will be elevated to the ranks of the gods. Also, it was originally 12 labors, but he accidentally cheated on 2 of them. So he had to do another too so technically it was fourteen labors But nobody counts the fact that he had helped on 2 of them. I believe the both of them are when he accidentally ended up deposing his own Cousin's dad and then put the cousin on the throne Because he was angry about the way the cousin's dad treated the trial and said that he cheated just because he did something smart by diverting a river to clean out the stable. And then when he went to haphestus To have a magical device that was essentially a bell. Clapper made to get the herpes to fly up so he could kill them With his bow. But because he had to get secondary help that one did not count towards the actual trial ether

The hydra in this movie is supposed to be the thesel hydra. It was locked away by the gods out of pure fear. Its venom could kill even a titan herc even dipped some of his arrows in its venom to use later. Its claws and teeth could actually tear them apart. It was one of the most dangerous monsters in greek mythology.

I forgot how much I love this movie. Thanks for reacting to it!

"Lola B." was in my list. ("Space Jam" only)

My animation professor worked on this movie. He did cleanup mostly (specifically Zeus in the temple)

Disney made this movie because they got such backlash from people on the way they did “Pocahontas” and “Hunchback of Notre Dame” saying they were too dark. James Woods is such a great actor for Hades. After he was cast as Hades they had to rewrite the character cause he was written as a slow menacing character. Woods told Disney anytime they need this character voiced in a video or a game to call him and he will do it. When he found out that Disney was going over budget on this film he offered to refund his salary to make sure the film was completed. Disney declined his offer and found another way to complete it. When he’s slurping his drink Woods is eating a watermelon to make the slurping sound. 22:53 the Hydra is the only CGI in the film. Everything else is hand drawn. It would’ve taken too many hours for the artists to draw and animate all the heads. 25:28 yeah because later you see him with Scar’s pelt posing for a picture.

2:31 Zeus famously changed into a swan so he could have “fun” with another swan, yes Zeus “did” a swan just cause he thought the swan was pretty. Also the reason Hercules had to do the trials in the first place was because he (under mind control) killed his wife and children.

(At 2:30) neither is his brother Poseidon. I mean he forced himself on Medusa, and look what happened!

One of the best movies with one of the best villains and the best songs they could offered in their 2D animated ones.

"This movie is 26 years old." I didn't come here to be personally attacked.

I mean the reason why they don’t do classic animation like this is because it’s INCREDIBLY expensive, a whole minute of hand drawn animation can cost 1,000 to 10,000 dollars, it takes a lot of time because they have to hand draw every frame.

Meg did exist in the mythology. She was Princess of Thebes, and married to Hercules.

"This is really victim blaming when you get down to the core of it" well, that's nothing new for Hercules. He got those 12 labors for under shady circumstances.

So It turns out in the movie, when Hercules says, it's only half -time, we are actually half into the movie

Besides the celshaded 2D look, I really loved how old Disney movies were so chill, broke the 4th wall all the time with the narrator(s), and put modern things into the story nonchalantly.

I love the idea that the muscles and hunkiness do nothing for Herculess, since he already has super strength, but Phil trained him to look better for the action figure deal.

Since Meg getting hurt broke the contract, and returned Hercules' strength, couldn't a lot of what happened been avoided by Meg waiting until Hades had left the scene, and then convinced some random passerby to give her a black eye?

Hades Color Concept is funny to me. Blue when he is calm and collected. Red when he is furious. In Reality Fire gets paler the higher the Temperatur, so blue flames are actually hotter than red.

One of the 2 little boys trapped was voiced by Bug Hall, aka Alfalfa from Little Rascals

I noticed a few years ago that Megara is 10 years older than Hercules in the movie. She's 28, he's 18, which TOTALLY explains how she was acting towards the guy.

Hman, meg is based on megara, heracles first wife. Hera made him go mad and kill her and his 2 sons in the myths, he went to the oracle of delphi after, and she told him to complete 12 labors for his cousin, who was a king.