I just found this, and it made me chuckle, I started bending my moms wire coat hangers in 1963 because of this cartoon. ended up shooting archery in national tournaments...alll cause hercules!!!!
I was just starting school in the early 60s when this was on TV after school. Myself and my little friends were disappointed by it mostly, and criticized each episode the next day. My biggest beef was how Hercules let himself get beat up by Dedalus every time, before he thought of putting on the ring. Why not wear it all the time?
Hercules, hero of song and story. Hercules, winner of ancient glory. Fighting for the right, Fighting with his might, With the strength of ten, ordinary men. Hercules, people are safe when near him Hercules, only the evil fear him, Softness in his eyes Iron in his thighs, Virtue in his heart, Fire in every part, Of the Mighty Hercules. 💘 ♐
Like many pilots, the details in this one differ somewhat from those in the production run. Helena's voice is different. Newt and the other characters haven't been introduced yet. Hercules's face/jawline are more square in production, and the Ring is of different design. There is also no "Ring transformation" sequence, which was not only cool, but could be re-used in every ep (sometimes twice!) and consumed 10-12 seconds of valuable animation time.
