| Hercules | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Disney's Hercules Hercules: The Animated Series |
| Format | Animated series |
| Created by | Walt Disney Television |
| Directed by | Phil Weinstein |
| Starring | Tate Donovan Robert Costanzo French Stewart Sandra Bernhard James Woods Bobcat Goldthwait Matt Frewer Corey Burton Frank Welker Paul Shaffer Diedrich Bader Jodi Benson Robert Stack Linda Hamilton Will Ferrell |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 65 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ABC, Syndication |
| Original run | August 31, 1998 – March 1, 1999 |
Hercules (also known as Hercules: The Animated Series) is an animated series based on the 1997 film of the same name and the Greek myth. The series follows teenage Hercules training as a hero as well as trying to adjust to life. With his free-spirited friend Icarus, his future-seeing friend Cassandra and his teacher Philoctetes ("Phil"), he battles his evil uncle Hades. Like all teenagers though, Hercules has to worry about peer pressure when the snobbish prince Adonis ridicules him. The series notably contradicts several events in the original film and is not considered canon.
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The series was produced by Tad Stones, who had previously done Aladdin. The directors of Hercules, John Musker and Ron Clements, jokingly said to him while the film was being produced "Hey Tad, we're doing a pilot for a series." The producers decided that the irreverence of the movie would be captured more easily by doing a midquel - not preceding nor following the events of the movie, with Stones declaring that "by ignoring continuity and trying to stay true to the elements of humor and adventure in the film, we came up with a much stronger series that really stands on its own." Since James Woods signed to voice Hades again, along with most of the cast of the film, many big-name actors were interested in taking part on the show. Over 150 celebrities took a part in the series, some self-lampooning: Merv Griffin played a griffin talk show host, game show host Wink Martindale played a riddle-expert sphinx, and Mike Connors, famous for Mannix, played Athenian policeman Chipacles (named after CHiPs).[1]
Disney's revamping of Greek legend moved to the small screen in the late summer of 1998 (the final series to air in broadcast syndication). Disney's Hercules had the Greek god still in "geek god" mode, before his "Zero to Hero" transformation. In the series, "Herc" was enrolled at Prometheus Academy, a school for both gods and mortals. Since events occur before young Herc meets and falls for the lovely Megara (Meg), he is joined by two new friends Cassandra (voiced by comedian Sandra Bernhard) and Icarus (voiced by French Stewart).
In 2000, the series moved to Toon Disney, where it continued airing until 2008.
Disney XD aired the series in June 2011 when the channel launched in Canada.[2]
Disney's Hercules, like the animated series Disney's The Little Mermaid, is a spin-off of the 1997 theatrically released animated film of the same name (Hercules) and is based on his teen-aged adventures, though it is not a prequel to the film of the same name (Disney's The Little Mermaid featured tales of a 16-year-old Ariel which occurred before the start of the theatrical film). Nor is it truly a sequel like Disney's Aladdin (whose tales takes place after the original film and The Return of Jafar). Rather Hercules features events which occur midway through the actual film, similar to The Lion King 1½ and Tarzan II (sometimes called a "midquel"), during his years in training on the Isle of Idra under the tutelage of Philoctetes (Phil) the Satyr. Many of the Olympian Gods and Goddesses only glimpsed during the film pay visit to the young hero-to-be and help or hinder him in his adventures. Other characters from the film that appear are the evil god Hades (voiced by James Woods) and winged stallion Pegasus (voiced by Frank Welker). Corey Burton portrayed Hercules' father Zeus.
However, the series ignores a certain fact about the movie: In the film Hades believed that Hercules was dead throughout his first 18 years of his life, but in the series, the two of them have many interactions while Hercules is still in high school.
The main cast of the series includes:
4 episodes of Hercules: The Animated Series were put onto D2V home video in movie format, Zero To Hero. The episode Hercules and the Yearbook is the main plot of the video. Unlike the televised version, the random clips are replaced with 3 other episodes (In the following order):
Some of the dialogue between Hercules and Meg are altered to fit the episodes. An example of this is Hercules and the Visit From Zeus replacing the clip of Hercules graduating from Prometheus Academy.
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