Disneytoon-cember Part 15: Hercules: The Animated Series

Hercules was another Disney movie that many would say isn’t bad but didn’t live up to the standards of Disney as they would of hoped for. However there’s still plenty of material to work with and create a series off of it. Set in an alternate setting before Hercules defeated Hades, Hercules is still a hero in training while also balancing his school life and trying to fit in. During this time Hercules fights against the evil schemes of Hades and other mythical creatures from Greek and Roman mythology.

As a fan of Greek and Roman mythology I personally liked this show. Unlike a 101 Dalmatians, Aladdin, and The Little Mermaid, Hercules takes full advantage of its source material to create good stories while providing us with laughs, some good dialog and side characters. Like for example, Hercules’ best friend is Icarus who is eccentric because he flew to close to the sun and dreams about flying. His other friend is Cassandra the war prophet is a goth girl who keeps having bad visions of the future and is constantly being hit on by Icarus. Hades makes his return as the main villain of the series and still maintains his great personality he had in the movies. Hell, they got James Wood to come back and voice him for the show (how they pulled that off?). Actually, the show had a majority of the original voice actors return. Talk about an amazing cast. I think the only people they couldn’t get to come back are Danny DeVito and whoever voiced Meg. Like I said the show takes full advantage of its source material. A lot of the episodes center around ancient Greek and Roman stories featuring gods, monsters, and occasionally other heroes and legends from mythology. Like all Disney shows we do have the good morals which aren’t force down are throat about not being afraid of who you are, be yourself, and don’t fall to peer pressure from others. The show also had some pretty good humor and modern-day references which made the show standout from its predecessors. Looking back I actually like the show more than the actual movie. It was nice to see Hercules’ younger self learning the ropes of being a hero, the struggles and doubts he faced along the road, and his heroic actions to protect others and keep the world safe whenever he was called upon all while balancing his own problems at school. This was definitely my favorite movie to toon adaption from Disney and it did help Disney get back on the ball on creating their own toons again.

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