Special Coverage Pop Culture Classics (The EW 1000)Summer MusicSummer TVBox Office Game

HERCULES

Starring the voices of Tate Donovan, James Woods, Rip Torn, Danny Devito, Bobcat Goldthwait, Matt Freer, Charlton Heston

Directors John Musker, Ron Clements

Opens June 15

For its 35th animated feature, Disney's ditched all those old Grecian formulas and turned the legend of Hercules, the strong-man demigod, into a comic riff on hero worship. ''Hercules was the common man's hero,'' says Clements (Aladdin). ''Among the Greeks, everyone wanted a vase with Hercules on it. That's how we got into aspects of sports celebrity that have a very contemporary ring.'' Voiced by Donovan (TV's Partners) and drawn by Andreas Deja (who turned Beauty and the Beast's Gaston into a parody of masculinity), this latest Hercules is ''like a young Jimmy Stewart in the body of Arnold Schwarzenegger,'' says Musker. Drawing up the hero's nemesis, however, was more tricky. According to mythology, that role was embodied by the jealous Hera, Zeus' wife, who resented his illegitimate son Hercules. But, says Clements, ''that would be tough to deal with in a Disney movie.'' Instead, Hercules does battle with the cellar-dwelling Hades, voiced by Woods. ''Originally, I was supposed to play it like, I AM HADES, KING OF THE UNDERWORLD,'' Woods explains, using a booming voice, ''but I turned him into a third-level William Morris-agent-slash-used-car salesman.'' UPSIDE The subject matter seems more crowd pleasing than that of the grim Hunchback of Notre Dame — plus the merchandising possibilities are Olympian. DOWNSIDE Some kids might myth the jokes.


Posted May 16, 1997 | Published in issue #379 May 16, 1997 | Order Article Reprints