Zero to Hero: Celebrating Hercules 25th Anniversary
Long ago, in New York City during the summer of 1997, Walt Disney Pictures would premiere their 35th animated film, Hercules.
The movie would end up with good reviews and would grow in popularity over time. But now, let’s discover the story of how a star was born.
Pitch
In 1992, Disney held a meeting where people could pitch an idea for an animated film. Around that time, the animation department tried and yet failed to adapt Greek mythology into an animated story.
Then animator, Joe Haider, sheepishly pitched the idea of an animated adaptation of the Greek myth hero, Hercules. He even prepared a two-page outline of the early story. It would actually be approved.
Around this time, John Musker and Ron Clements, fresh from their success with Aladdin, tried to get Treasure Planet into production. But Jeffrey Katzenberg instead made a deal with them. He would approve of Treasure Planet after the two would make another successful film.
The idea Ron and John chose to direct would be Hercules. The reason they picked this idea was that they both enjoyed mythology and hero stories.
Story
After consulting with Greek mythology experts, the Disney artist that the original Hercules myth was too complex for a Disney movie. They decided to make the film a comedy instead of formal like other Greek myth films. They also decided to be influenced by 1930’s screwball comedies and 1990s culture.
Art Direction
For this project, the Disney team would hire a well-known artist to design the film. After seeing the work of British artist, Gerald Scarfe, Disney would hire him to work on Hercules.
Supervising animator, Andres Deja said that the Scrafe was simple and yet daring because there wasn’t too much detail in his art. But this art proved to be a challenge for the animation team. Then they brought in Disney stylist, Sue Nicholas to create a chart for the animators that used pieces of Scarfe’s art and other elements to reference.
A fascinating truth about the film is the team of animators that animated the characters. For the lead character, he would be animated by Andres Deja. At that time, he was known for animating villains after animating three before. But he decided that this time to animate a hero.
After building a reputation of animating sidekicks in the past films, Nik Ranieri was given the fun yet challenging assignment of animating the villain, Hades. He actulally based the character on a fast talking car dealer. But the challenge was animating the character talking because he talks a lot and quick.
ReleaseHe
Hercules saw it’s release in June of 1997 to positive reviews. While the movie would end up being a modest success, it popularity would continue to grow after it’s theatrical release. It would even come to point where it would become a several Disney fan’s favorite.
And thus, after 25 years, Disney’s version of a classic hero will continue to delight fans with it’s humour and heart. And that’s the Gospel Truth.