Excellant But Wrong

Rating: 10/10 (5 September 2001)

I'm a big fan of Mythology Movies, even cartoon versions, and Disney has made some very wonderful movies, but this movie gets one thing wrong after another. Hercules's mother was Alcmene, not Hera, and his main antagonist for his whole life was Hera not Hades. There were also seven Muses, not five. Philoctetes was the son of his best friend, Poeas, one of the Argonauts whose boat the Argo is shown in peices thirty years too early. Phil, the goat man, though, may be a substitute for Chiron the centaur, but he mentions Odysseus and Achilles (not born yet) and Perseus, Hercules' great grandfather. Theseus, though, is a contemporary. Hercules never rode Pegasus (neither did Perseus fot that matter). There is a scene with a Gorgon, the only creature Hercules never killed.The likenesses of Hermes and Ares are rather insulting, but several of the others are rather splendid and augmented by various voices if but colored rather egregiously (only the Hindu gods had a significantly colored pantheon). Meg was the daughter of King Creon of Thebes, not a lackey of Hades, but she is a part of Hercules' history as his first wife. She was probably placed in the script to avoid parallels with the Legendary Journeys TV series.Depicted as if Teri Hatcher would play her in a live action version, she is one of the truly wonderful characters in the film behind Zeus, Hades and Hercules. Pain and Panic are unnecessary if not inserted for the comic relief and two extra Happy Meal toys. Despite the bloopers and anachronisms, the movie is great entertainment for child and adult and should get any kid interested in mythology as an interest.