 the mighty hercules is a low-budget animated series based loosely on the greek mythological character of heracles, under his roman mythology name, hercules. it was created in 1962 and then debuted on tv in 1963 and ran until 1966 coinciding with the sword and sandal genre of films popular at the time. each standalone episode runs approximately 5 minutes with opening and closing credits, and in syndication several such episodes are compiled to fill 30-minute timeslots (including commercials). ==summary== the cartoon features hercules, the legendary hero, who dwells on mount olympus. when villains threaten the people of ancient greece, often in the fictional kingdom of caledon, hercules comes to the rescue of the kingdom or whom ever may be in trouble. when in serious danger, hercules puts on his magic ring from which he gets his superpowers. once wearing the ring and raising his fist, the ring is struck by flashes of lightning (referred to as the thunder of zeus in several episodes). hercules is then endowed with super-strength, and goes forth for several brief episodes to do battle with nemeses such as daedalus, an evil wizard who is the chief villain (sometimes accompanied by his pet cat dydo); as well as others such as wilhemine the sea witch (accompanied by her pet bird elvira); and murtis (aka the mask of vulcan), who was invulnerable due to his wearing of an iron helmet, itself known as the mask of vulcan. hercules' friends and allies are: #his main sidekick, newton, the helpful boy centaur who has a bothersome habit of repeating himself every time he speaks #helena, hercules' girlfriend #prince (later king) dorian of caledon #tewt, a small satyr who "speaks" only by playing his panpipes #timon, a young human from caledon #pegasus, hercules' winged steed. also featured atop mount olympus are hercules' father zeus and dodonis with his crystal rock of seeing; both often warn hercules of the troubles going on down below in and around the kingdom of caledon or deep in the lernaean forest. in the original episode, hercules beats his friend theseus in a footrace and a wrestling match, and for his victory is granted any request by zeus as a reward. hercules wishes to go 
1960s_American_animated_television_series 1963_American_television_series_debuts 1966_American_television_series_endings Canadian_animated_television_series Canadian_children\'s_television_series English-language_television_programming Fantasy_television_series First-run_syndicated_television_programs_in_the_United_States Television_series_about_Heracles