Hercules (1997): What They Got Wrong.

I think we can all agree that this movie was a masterpiece. Right? There are still people today that watch this movie and I absolutely understand why!

Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, they certainly did their homework before making the film. But, they made some pretty drastic changes to the story of Hercules. And to be fair, if they didn't, his story would be far from child friendly.

First, let's get one thing sorted. "Hercules" wasn't Greek, that was the roman name for him. The original name for him was HERAcles, named for the glory of Hera. Which ironically enough was the god out to kill Heracles, not Hades.

Heracles wasn't the son of Zeus and Hera, but instead the son of Zeus and the human woman Alcmene. But wouldn't that mean Zeus cheated on Hera? Yes, yes it does. Zeus had a bit of a reputation for getting everyone but his own wife pregnant. Hera, as you could imagine, didn't like this and made life awful for pretty much every woman he slept with in the pettiest ways possible.

Baby Heracles also wasn't born with his godly strength like the movie shows He acquired it when Hera unknowingly breast fed him after he was abandoned and found by Athena. Once Hera found out who the baby was she essentially tossed him off mount Olympus.

Another thing Disney changed to make him fit a young audience was his personality. Heracles was a very ill tempered man. Before he was an adult he had already killed his lyre teacher out of frustration. He also killed two snakes, but they weren't

One thing that I can say they didn't change is his first wife, Megara. They did indeed get married, but she wasn't a minion of Hades, nor did they live happily ever after. Her, and the two kids she had with Heracles, were killed by him after a bit of madness induced by Hera. Petty, right?

Once he finally regained his senses and realized what he had done, he consulted with the oracle. He was told that he would work for his cousin, King Eurystheus. From that point on starts the story of the 12 labors of Heracles.

Now, enough of the main man himself. How about some smaller differences, hm?

For instance, the Pegasus was never in the story of Heracles. That was the mount of the Greek hero Bellerophon, the son of Poseidon. Who was responsible for killing the invincible Chimera.

Next on the list is Hades' "Take over the cosmos" plot. Hades wasn't a bad guy. Believe it or not, he isn't the villain in any Greek story. He enjoyed spending his time in his kingdom alone where he ran it fairly. When Heracles approached Hades during his labor to retrieve Cerberus, Hades let him. The only rule was that Heracles couldn't use weapons.

Remember the inside of Phil's house? Remember the pole he said was the mast of the Argo? Well the story of Jason and the Argonauts hadn't happened yet. Heracles sailed with them to go see the Amazons for one of his labors.

I think I've nit picked this movie for differences enough. How about something subtle they got right?

Do you remember the scene where he kicks the snot out of Pain and Panic when they were snakes? Well, he did that. While they were sent by Hera and not Hades. He still still strangled two giant snakes at only eight months old.

While doing this, it occurred to me how often mythology is rewritten to fit a modern story. I'm more than okay with this as most ancient stories are outdated and aren't structured very well. But let this be known that the stories you know, may not be the original.

You never know how far off they are.

For a beautiful yet simple telling of the story of Heracles, let me suggest this video.