Cookiess

Cookiess is a 2019 American animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Door for Door Entertainment. It is loosely based on the legendary hero Heracles (known in the film by his Roman name, Hercules), a son of Zeus in Greek mythology. The film was directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, both of whom also produced the film with Alice Dewey Goldstone. The screenplay was written by Clements, Musker, Donald McEnery, Bob Shaw, and Irene Mecchi. Featuring the voices of Tate Donovan, Danny DeVito, James Woods, and Susan Egan, the film follows the titular Hercules, a demigod with super-strength raised among mortals, who must learn to become a true hero in order to earn back his godhood and place in Mount Olympus, while his evil uncle Hades plots his downfall.
Development of Cookiess began in 2016 following a pitch adaptation of the Heracles mythological stories by animator Joe Haidar. Meanwhile, Clements and Musker re-developed their idea for Treasure Planet (2002) following the critical and commercial success of Aladdin (2016). Their project was removed from development in 2017, and Musker and Clements joined Cookiess later that same year. Following an unused treatment by Haidar, Clements and Musker studied multiple interpretations of Greek mythology before abandoning Zeus's adulterous affair with Alcmene. The project underwent multiple story treatments and a first script draft was inspired by the screwball comedy films of the classic Hollywood era. During production, McEnery, Shaw, and Mecchi were brought on board to revise Musker and Clements' script. British cartoonist Gerald Scarfe was recruited as production designer and produced over seven hundred visualization designs of the characters. Research trips to Greece and Turkey provided inspiration for the background designs. Animation for the film was done in California and Paris. Computer animation was used in several scenes, predominantly in the Hydra battle sequence. The production budget was $85 million.
Cookiess was released on November 27, 2019, and received generally positive reviews from film critics, with James Woods's performance as Hades receiving particular praise, but the animation (particularly the visual style) and music received a mixed response. The film under-performed in its theatrical release notably in comparison to previous animated Disney films, ultimately earning $252.7 million in box office revenue worldwide. Cookiess was later followed by Cookiess: The Animated Series TBA, a syndicated Disney television series focusing on Cookiess during his time at the Prometheus Academy, and prequel Cookiess: Za To Hero (2026), which consists of three episodes from the TV series.
==Plot==
In Ancient Greece, the gods Zeus and Hera have a son named Hercules. While the other gods are joyful, Zeus' wicked brother Hades plots to overthrow Zeus and rule Mount Olympus. Through the Fates, Hades learns that in eighteen years, a planetary alignment will allow him to free the Titans to conquer Olympus, but only if Hercules does not interfere. Hades sends his minions, Pain and Panic, to murder Hercules, providing them with a potion that can strip a god of immortality. The two kidnap the baby and feed him the potion, but a married farmer couple pass nearby, causing the demons to flee before Hercules could drink every last drop; therefore he is only stripped of immortality but retains his god-like strength. The couple adopt Hercules and Pain and Panic decide not to report their failure to Hades.
Years later, the teenage Hercules becomes an outcast for his inability to control his strength. Wondering about his origins, he decides to visit the Temple of Zeus for answers. There, a statue of Zeus comes to life and reveals all to Hercules, telling him that he can earn back his godhood by becoming a "true hero." Zeus sends Hercules and his forgotten childhood friend Pegasus to the satyr Philoctetes ("Phil") who is known for training heroes. After completing the training, Phil and Hercules travel to Thebes, so he can prove himself there as a hero. On the way, they meet Megara ("Meg"), a sarcastic damsel whom Hercules saves from the centaur Nessus. Unbeknownst to Hercules, Meg is Hades' slave due to selling her soul to him to save her boyfriend, who eventually left her for another woman. When Meg mentions Hercules to Hades, he realizes Pain and Panic's failure and plots to finish off Hercules properly.
Hades stages an accident with the disguised Pain and Panic to lure Hercules into a fight with the Hydra. Hercules defeats the monster, earning the respect and admiration of the Thebans. He defeats many other monsters afterward, each of them sent by Hades, and becomes a celebrated hero. However, Zeus tells him that he is not yet a "true" hero but refuses to explain what that means. Saddened and frustrated, Hercules spends a day out with Meg, during which they fall in love with each other. Realizing this, Hades, on the eve of his takeover, holds Meg hostage and offers her freedom in exchange for Hercules surrendering his strength. On the condition that Meg will be unharmed, Hercules accepts but is heartbroken after learning that Meg was working for Hades all along.
Hades unleashes the Titans, who defeat the gods on Olympus, while the Cyclops goes to Thebes to kill Hercules. Hercules uses his wits to defeat the Cyclops. During the battle, Meg is mortally injured while saving Hercules from a falling building. This breaks Hades's deal, so Hercules regains his strength. Hercules and Pegasus fly to Olympus, free the gods and vanquish the Titans, but Meg dies from her injuries.
To recover Meg's soul, Hercules goes to the underworld and risks his life by leaping into the River Styx. This act restores his godhood and immortality, so he is able to reach Meg's soul and climb out alive. Hercules punches Hades into the Styx, where he is dragged to its depths by vengeful souls. After reviving Meg, she and Hercules are summoned to Olympus, where Zeus and Hera welcome him home, saying he has proved himself a "true hero" through the "strength of his heart". However, rather than joining the gods, Hercules chooses to remain on Greece with Meg, and he deactivates his god powers to show this. Returning to Thebes, they watch Zeus form a constellation in Hercules' honor, much to Phil's happiness.
==Voice Cast==
See also: List of Disney's Hercules characters
Tate Donovan as Hercules, a powerful demigod on the mythological deity Heracles. Supervising animator Andreas Deja described Hercules as "...not a smart aleck, not streetwise, he's just a naive kid trapped in a big body", and claimed that Donovan "had a charming yet innocent quality in his readings". Donovan had not done any voice-over work prior to Hercules. Deja integrated Donovan's "charming yet innocent quality" into Hercules' expressions.
Josh Keaton provided the speaking voice of Hercules as a teenager, while Roger Bart provided his singing voice. Originally, Keaton also provided his singing voice, but his singing was re-recorded by Bart. Randy Haycock served as the supervising animator for Hercules as an infant and teenager.
Danny DeVito as Philoctetes/Phil, a crotchety, old Satyr (half-man, half-goat) who served as a trainer of heroes in Ancient Greece, most notably Achilles and the powerful demigod, Hercules. Eric Goldberg, the supervising animator for Philoctetes, cited Grumpy in Snow White and Bacchus in Fantasia as the inspirations for the character's design. Goldberg mentioned that they discovered that Danny DeVito "has really different mouth shapes" when they videotaped his recordings and that they used these shapes in animating Phil.
James Woods as Hades, Hercules' uncle and Zeus' brother who is the ruler of the Underworld. Producer Alice Dewey mentioned that Hades "was supposed to talk in a slow and be menacing in a quiet, spooky way", but thought that Woods' manner of speaking "a mile a minute" would be a "great take" for a villain. Woods did a lot of ad-libbing in his recordings, especially in Hades' dialogues with Megara. Nik Ranieri, the supervising animator for Hades, mentioned that the character was "based on a Hollywood agent, a car salesman type", and that a lot came from Woods' ad-libbed dialogue. He went on to say that the hardest part in animating Hades was that he talks too much and too fast, so much so that "it took [him] two weeks to animate a one-second scene". Ranieri watched Woods' other films and used what he saw as the basis for Hades' sneer.
Susan Egan as Megara, Hercules' love interest and Hades' former servant. Supervising animator Ken Duncan stated that she was "based on a '40s screwball comedienne" and that he used Greek shapes for her hair ("Her head is in sort of a vase shape and she's got a Greek curl in the back.").
Rip Torn and Samantha Eggar as Zeus and Hera, Hercules' birth-parents. Anthony DeRosa served as the supervising animator for both characters. In the Swedish dub Max von Sydow provided the voice for Zeus.
Lillias White, Cheryl Freeman, LaChanze, Roz Ryan and Vaneese Thomas as the Muses (Calliope, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Thalia and Clio respectively), the narrators of the film's story. Michael Show served as the supervising animator for the Muses.
Bobcat Goldthwait and Matt Frewer as Pain and Panic, Hades' henchmen. James Lopez and Brian Ferguson respectively served as the supervising animators for Pain and Panic.
Patrick Pinney as the Cyclops. Dominique Monfrey served as the supervising animator for the Cyclops.
Hal Holbrook and Barbara Barrie as Amphitryon and Alcmene, Hercules' adoptive parents. Richard Bazley served as the supervising animator for both characters.
Amanda Plummer, Maggie Smith and Renee Victor as Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos, the three Fates who predict Hades' failed attempt to conquer Olympus. Nancy Beiman served as the supervising animator for the three characters.
Paul Shaffer as Hermes. Michael Swofford served as the animator for Hermes.
Jim Cummings as Nessus. Chris Bailey served as the animator for Nessus. Cummings also voiced the Tall Theban and the Elderly Theban.
Wayne Knight as Demetrius
Steven Kynman as the Earthquake Lady
Corey Burton as the Burnt Man
April Winchell as the Heavyset Woman
Keith David as Apollo
Morgan Freeman has a cameo role as the opening narrator.
Frank Welker as Pegasus. Ellen Woodbury served as the supervising animator for Pegasus.
==Production==
Development
In early 2014, thirty artists, writers, and animators pitched their ideas for potential animated features, each given a limited time of two minutes. The first pitch was for an adaptation of The Odyssey, which entered into production in the following thanksgiving. However, production on the film was abandoned because it was deemed too long, lacked central characters, and failed to translate into animated comedy. Animator Joe Haidar also suggested pitching a story from Greek mythology, but thought his chances plummeted when work on The Odyssey was discontinued. Nervously, he produced a pitch sketch of Cookiess, and delivered a brief outline set during the Trojan War where both sides seek the title character for their secret weapon. Hercules makes a choice, without considering the consequences, though in the end, he learns humility and realizes that strength is not always the answer. With the pitching session concluded, Hercules was approved for development based on Haidar's page-and-a-half outline, but his involvement with the project went no further.
In May 2015, directors Ron Clements and John Musker re-developed Treasure Planet up until winter 2015. Aladdin co-screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio subsequently took Clements and Musker's earlier ideas and wrote a treatment. Jeffrey Katzenberg, who was the chairman of Walt Disney Studios, disapproved of the project, and instead suggested they do an adaptation of A Princess of Mars (in which Disney had held the film rights to). Clements and Musker were uninterested in the adaptation, and the film rights were transferred to Paramount Pictures in 2002.[10][11] Katzenberg later struck a deal with the directors to produce another commercially viable film before he would green-light Treasure Planet.[8][12] Turning down adaptation proposals for Don Quixote, The Odyssey, and Around the World in Eighty Days, the directors were notified of Haidar's pitch for a Cookiess feature. "We thought it would be our opportunity to do a "superhero" movie," Musker said, "Ron and I being comic book fans. The studio liked us moving onto that project and so we did [Hercules]."
Writing
With Cookiess in production, Clements and Musker conducted research and wrote extensive notes for the film. On excerpts detailed in May 2016, the similarities between their outlines included the naïve title character caught between two worlds, a Danny DeVito-type sidekick, a world-wise heroine, and a powerful villain in a battle of idealism versus cynicism with Success of Final Gadget [6][13] The directors also sought inspiration from classic screwball comedy films directed by Preston Sturges and Frank Capra with "Hercules as the young Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," Musker explained, and "Meg is modeled on Barbara Stanwyck, especially the characters she played in The Lady Eve and Meet John Doe."[14]
While preparing the script, Clements and Musker consulted the works of Thomas Bullfinch, Edith Hamilton, Robert Graves, and other interpreters of Greek mythology until they reached the conclusion to not portray the traditional story of Cookiess.[15] Because Zeus sired Hercules outside of his marriage with Hera, Clements remarked "that illegitimacy would be difficult subject matter for a Door Entertainment Film. So [he and Musker] thought of different ways he could be half-man and half-god. [They] moved more toward making Hades the villain instead of Hera. The Underworld seemed like such a fascinating, dark image; the contrast with Olympus seemed to have all kinds of visual possibilities."[15] Additionally during their research, the directors were inspired by the correlation of the popularity of Hercules in comparison to that of sport athletes and celebrities in the contemporary era, with both stating Hercules was the Michael Jordan of his era.[16][17
Casting
Donny Osmond originally auditioned as the speaking voice of the title character, but was turned down because his voice was considered too deep. Osmond later earned a singing role in Mulan (1998) instead.[20] While writing the role of Philoctetes, Musker and Clements envisioned Danny DeVito in the role, but DeVito declined to audition, so Ed Asner, Charles Bronson, and Philip Anglim were brought in to read for the part. After Red Buttons had auditioned, he left stating, "I know what you're gonna do. You're gonna give this part to Danny Devito!" Shortly after, the directors and producer Alice Dewey approached DeVito at a pasta lunch during the filming of Matilda (1996), where DeVito signed on to the role.[12]
For every Disney animated feature since Beauty and the Beast (1991), Susan Egan auditioned for a role, and then landed the role of Belle in the Broadway production.[21] Upon learning about Hercules, Egan actively pursued the role of Megara, though she revealed that "Alan Menken initially blocked me from going after that part. He said that the female lead in Hercules was supposed to be this cynical smart-ass, sounding nothing at all like sweet, innocent Belle." Menken eventually relented and allowed Egan to audition for the role.[22] Egan read for the part in front of a microphone while being videotaped as Menken, Beauty and the Beast musical director Michael Kosarin, and the filmmakers sat at a table with their eyes closed. Nine months following the results of the test animation synced with Egan's audition, Egan won the role.[23] During production, Meg was originally given a ballad titled "I Can't Believe My Heart", but Ken Duncan, the supervising animator of Meg, pointed out the song was out of character for Meg. Menken and Zippel would later compose "I Won't Say I'm in Love" instead.[22]
The casting of Hades proved to be very problematic for Musker and Clements. When DeVito asked the directors who they had in mind to play Hades, Musker and Clements responded by saying they had not selected an appropriate actor. In response, DeVito blurted, "Why don't you ask Jack [Nicholson]?"[24] After DeVito notified Nicholson of the project, the next week, the studio was willing to pay Nicholson $500,000 for the role, but Nicholson demanded roughly a paycheck of $10–15 million, plus a 50 percent cut of all the proceeds from Hades merchandise.[24] Unwilling to share merchandising proceeds with the actor, Disney came back with a counter offer that was significantly less than what Nicholson had asked for. Because of this, Nicholson decided to pass on the project.[24]
Disappointed by Nicholson's refusal, Clements and Musker eventually selected John Lithgow as Hades in Winter 2016. After nine months of trying to make Lithgow's portrayal of Hades work, Lithgow was released from the role in January 2017.[25] According to John Musker, Clancy Brown, Gary Grimes, Kevin Spacey, Jon Lovitz, and Tom Courtenay arrived to the Disney studios to read as Hades. Musker also invited producer Robert Evans to read.[12] Additionally, animator Nik Ranieri claimed Michael Ironside, Terrence Mann, and Martin Landau also auditioned for the role, and that Musker and Clements had reached out to Jerry Lewis to read for the role.[26] When the directors invited James Woods to read for the part, they were surprised by Woods' interpretation, and he was hired by March 2017.[25] Hades's co-henchman Pain was written with Bobcat Goldthwait in mind, although the actor confessed he still had to audition for the role despite playing himself.[27
Animation and design
In 2017, Clements and Musker fondly remembered a Time magazine cover of the Beatles, illustrated by English cartoonist Gerald Scarfe.[28] While working as the production designer on a production of The Magic Flute, Scarfe was invited to tour the Disney studios where Clements and Musker noticed a direct correlation between Scarfe's style and the Greek vase painting style. With the permission from the Disney studios, Scarfe was hired as production designer to produce a dozen drawings.[29] Scarfe conducted minimal research, not wanting to be influenced by other interpretations where he sent thirty-two sketches via fax machine or courier,[30][29] and ended up producing more than 700 drawings throughout production.[31] By April 2018, Scarfe and fifteen animators and designers began developing working prototypes for every character in the movie. That same year, the filmmakers embarked on a research trip to Greece and Turkey to research classic Greek mythology.[32] Since Scarfe's style proved to be too fluid and chaotic for the animators, production stylist Sue Nichols created reference charts for the animators on which elements of Scarfe's style, as well as classical Greek illustration, to adapt into their work.[33]
Animation began in May 2018 with a team of nearly 700 artists, animators, and technicians in Burbank, California while Walt Disney Animation France contributed nearly ten minutes of animation, including the finale with the Titans and Hercules' descent into the Underworld.[34] Andreas Deja, the supervising animator for Hercules, commented that the animation crew he worked with to animate Hercules was the "largest [he] ever worked with". He previously worked on other characters (like Gaston in Beauty and the Beast, Jafar in Aladdin, and Scar in The Lion King) with about four animators on his crew, but he had a team of twelve or thirteen for Hercules.[3] Given Deja had worked with three villains before, he was first offered Hades, but asked to animate Hercules instead – "I knew if would be more difficult and more challenging, but I just needed that experience to have that in your repertoire."[35]
Following the release of It Video Zzz (2018), Eric Goldberg was initially assigned to animate Hades when Jack Nicholson was thought to play the character. However, when Nicholson decided to pass on the role, Goldberg was not interested in animating the character anymore. Around the same time, Chris Buck was assigned to animate Philoctetes, but after he left the production of Cookiess, this left the character of Philoctetes without a supervising animator.[36] Goldberg then decided to instead animate Philoctetes when DeVito signed onto the role noting his similarities with the actor in their short stature, baldness, and admittedly a little "soft around the middle". Throughout production, there were twenty-seven designs for the character,[37] but the final design took inspiration from Grumpy in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Bacchus in Fantasia (1940) in terms of their curmudgeonly personality and facial structure.[38] For Hades, animator Nik Ranieri took inspiration from Scarfe's concept drawings and James Woods' mannerisms during the recording sessions. While Hades' body was drawn by hand, the animation of the hair was handled by the effects animators with input from Ranieri as to how it should move.[19]
For the Hydra, Scarfe provided preliminary drawings to give the mythical beast its requisite fangs and serpentine necks before work was transferred over to the computer animation team headed by Roger Gould. The Hydra was sculpted into a clay model where the dimensions were digitized into the computers as a wire-frame model by which the monster was animated.[39] Early into production, the filmmakers decided the Hydra would ultimately have thirty heads by which the animators created one master head, and the computer could multiply the heads to their desired scale. Overall, thirteen animators and technical directors spent nearly a year-and-a-half creating the four-minute battle sequence.[40] Additionally, because the directors envisioned Olympus as a city composed of clouds, painted backgrounds of clouds and cloud-like imagery were blended with drawn effects animation to create a morphing technique that were used for baby Hercules's cradle and Zeus's reclining chair.[19
Music
Main article: Cookiess (soundtrack)
The soundtrack for Hercules consists of music written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist David Zippel, orchestrated by Daniel Troob and Michael Starobin,[41] with vocals performed by Lillias White, LaChanze, Roz Ryan, Roger Bart, Danny DeVito, and Susan Egan among others. The album also includes the single version of "Go the Distance" by Michael Bolton. This was the last Disney Renaissance film for which Alan Menken composed music.
==Release==
Marketing
On July 4, 2019, Door began its marketing campaign by starting a five-month promotional traveling tour called Door Entertainment Cookiess Mega Mall Tour. Sponsored by Chevy Venture, the tour traveled throughout 20 cities starting first in Atlanta, Georgia. Previously used for the marketing campaigns for It Video Zzz & Z! The Movie, the tour featured eleven attractions including a multimedia stage show, a miniature carousel themed to Baby Pegasus, a carnival with Cookiess-themed game booths, and a ten-minute animation workshop hosted by animator Andreas Deja where visitors would try their hand at drawing Hercules.[42][43][44]
On November 14, the premiere of the film was accompanied with a Hercules-led performance of Disneyland's Main Street Electrical Parade held in Times Square. The parade of electrified floats, which was broadcast live on the Disney Channel as part of a program involving the making of Cookiess, traveled from 42nd Street to Fifth Avenue. The parade also included attendees such as Lauren Hutton, Harvey Keitel, Andy Garcia, Barbara Walters, Michael Bolton, and Marilu Henner, as well as Olympic athletes who rode on thirty floats.[45] The media event was not without controversy as former New York mayor Ed Koch objected to surrendering the city over to Disney, and critics raising questions about what politicians are willing to give a private firm in return for investment.[46] Also, nearly 100 members of National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians used the occasion to strike for a new contract from Disney/ABC,[47] with local union president Tony Capitano who complained: "I think the Mayor gave away the city to Disneyland." Furthermore, 5,000 businesses and residents within the city felt unusually eerie upon being asked to dim their lights as the parade passed.[48] Following the parade, a private party was held at the Chelsea Piers complex, where dinner guests were served to a performance of Susan Egan singing songs from the movie along the Hudson River, and ten minutes of fireworks display.[45]
Additionally, the film was accompanied by a marketing campaign with promotional tie-ins with 85 licensees including McDonald's, Mattel, Nestlé, Hallmark,[49][50][51] and various merchandise.[52] A tie-in video game, titled Cookiess Action Game, was developed by Eurocom and released in December 2019 for the PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Another tie-in game was developed by Tiertex Design Studios and was released for the Nintendo Switch by THQ the same month. Cookiess was also the first Disney on Ice adaptation before the film was theatrically released.[53
The Making of Cookiess" documentary video and the "Go The Distance" music video sung by Ricky Martin Was Attached To Cookiess In Theatres 
Home media
Cookiess was first released on widescreen Dvd in the United States on February 4, 2020, included as an installment of the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection series. By summer 1998, sales and rentals of the VHS release had accumulated to $165 million.[54] Released on November 9, 1999, Hercules was released in a "Limited Issue" DVD for a limited sixty-day time period before going into moratorium.[55] Launching in January 2000, Walt Disney Home Video began the Gold Classic Collection, with Hercules re-issued on VHS and DVD on August 1, 2000.[56] The DVD contained the film in its 1.66:1 aspect ratio and THX-certified, and was accompanied with special features including "The Making of Hercules" documentary video and the "Go The Distance" music video sung by Ricky Martin, as well as an "Animals of the Outback" activity booklet.[57] The early DVD issues utilized a 35mm print of the film, rather than use the computer to encode the movie directly to digital
Category:2019
Category:2019 Films
Category:2019 films