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MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... viewing day count
269 .......................... 319

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November 16th

—— 1997 ——
HERCULES
—— animation ——
DISNEY CLASSIC no.35

REWATCH
Despite the ancient familiarities, this film seems to represent a strong change in Disney,
breaking the chains of traditions and tales of formality…


'Hercules' is here and is the newest addition to the animated assembly that is the Disney Classics. This is a strong comeback, in a film where the studio kind of resurrects more than merely returning to form. This is a snappy turn-around for the animation studio, delivering the kind of dangerous entertainment and emotional involvement that we know they can, but while coming off as more free and alive than ever before. Disney truly believes they can go the distance without falling victim to their own superiority and thankfully this shows in their modernized pop culture clash of titan-like qualities, with Greek mythology and modern music philosophy as the fundamental forces…

the conventional classic musical formula has been replaced by some fast-paced gospel-like songs, as well as some pop-influenced stand-alone solo numbers. All this can easily throw you off if you expect the expectable, but despite not being sure how to feel about mixing forced narration into fancy songs and having the black mama gospel group often appear out of nowhere, it works fine and sometimes even great. I definitely don't mind the turn towards more mainstream pop music, since they skillfully combine the classic sound with new tones and great songs like 'Go the Distance', which I love even for its cheesiness, and my favorite from the film, 'I Won't Say I'm in Love', which are both great songs and I accept this change in tone with open arms. But of course, this new sound is not completely new after all, but this movie seems to make it a rock solid statement towards the future of Disney films.

The animation is fun and playful, where I especially admire the "curly designs" they went with, which is daring and different though not perfect. The characters are typically underdeveloped, but all are very likeable and I'm surprised at how memorable they all were in the end. Meg is the ultimate femme fatale from Disney and the most independently strong and "macho" women Disney has ever made, if you know what I mean… also, she is sexy as hell and her mysterious dark voice, done by the wonderful Susan Egan, makes me weaker than Hercules when he loses his powers to Hades. And talking about Hades, oh my (under)God it looks like James Woods pulled a "Robin Williams" and completely changed the previously envisioned character made by Disney. He was supposed to be slow and menacing, but Woods completely makes the character his own by giving him extreme anger management issues, which is nicely visualized through fire and colors. Furthermore, he adds a great sense of humor and screen presence to the character. Alas, some say that Disney supposedly "ruined" Hades and the Greek mythology with this movie, but I say how about you take a quick look back in their back-catalogue? Disney are very rarely true to the source, but they let them inspire by it and rework them into their own and I think 'Hercules' turned out just fine.

Everything in this movie is fun, fancy and free, though I don't know how I feel about the heavy use of CGI on the dragon monster, but I'm glad they didn't stick with the style throughout the film, which was thankfully mostly traditional 2D animation – also for the other monsters. Oh, and by the way, am I the only one creeped the hell out every time they "cut the life line" of a human being? The symbolism is so obvious and direct that I can't help but feel the cut like it was my own heartstring. All I can say is that is great filmmaking, since the storytelling through images and visual presentations create a picture in my head strong enough to feel. And talking about death and cutting life lines, I really dug the ending! I don't refer to the bloated monster battles, but the actual ending with Hercules on an emotional breaking point. That was so good in my opinion! I'm also glad I liked this movie this time this time around, since my last visit to Great Greece – the first since childhood – unfortunately didn’t hold up. Thank God I found the love for it again...




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