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ancient Greek gods and modern media gods conspire to entertain grown

A Mighty Good Time Review: In 'Hercules,' ancient Greek gods and modern media gods conspire to entertain grown ups and delight the kids.

June 27, 1997By Michael Ollove Michael Ollove,SUN STAFF

Don't expect ancient in Disney's "Hercules." Forget your tattered copy of Bulfinch's mythology. Disney's 35th animated motion picture has more to do with Nike the sneaker than Nike the Greek goddess. The references are thoroughly contemporary, from hostile takeovers to mega theme parks to Rolling Stones lyrics.

Yup, Disney does a Disney on Greek mythology. It takes what little it needs from the original and ditches the rest.

It is heavenly as well as devilishly ironic. "Hercules" is a cautionary tale about celebrity from Disney, the premier manufacturer of the stuff.

Gone is the somber spirit of Disney's previous two animated features, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and the disappointing "Pocahontas." Written and directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, "Hercules" is the sprightliest of Disney's recent animations, more comic even than "Aladdin" because it doesn't rely on a single performer. "Hercules" generously spreads its wit around, giving a talented cast of voices James Woods, Danny DeVito and Rip Torn, among others maximum opportunity to entertain. Again, Disney shows its knack for keeping adults chuckling and kids engrossed in the story.

The film's pastel colors are luminous, practically neon on Mount Olympus. Hades' underworld is dark and macabre, with lost spirits floating through the air, a sea of Jacob Marleys. The character drawings are in the sharp, angular style of design supervisor Gerald Scarfe, an English political cartoonist whose work appears in the New Yorker. Like Disney's previous films, a combination of animation and computer graphics makes all the movement fluid and natural, most remarkably in Hercules' fight against a hydra that sprouts new heads like kernels of corn popping.

Hercules' music, by multiple Oscar winner and Disney veteran Alan Menken, with lyrics by Tony Award winner David Zippel ("City of Angels"), doesn't quite measure up. The gospel numbers are sassy (and risky for a Greek myth), and Menken comes closer to rock than he has in years in a number called "Zero to Hero," but overall the music lacks the inventiveness and zest of the best of Disney's recent films, "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast." And the signature song, Hercules' "Go the Distance," is pure sap. It's perfect material for Michael Bolton, who has recorded the pop version.

Determinedly upbeat, Disney's Hercules is free of the central tragedy of the Greek myth, which has him mistakenly killing his wife and children. This Hercules (Tate Donovan) is just a brawny, tawny all American kid who happens to be able to lift ionic columns off the ground. He just can't seem to fit in with the other kids. To them, he's no god. He's just "Jerkules."

Of course, the reason Hercules doesn't fit in is that he's Zeus' son, kidnapped and robbed of his immortality by Hades' imps when Hercules was a baby. Hades needs Hercules dead if he's going to effect his plan to seize Mount Olympus in what he calls his "hostile takeover." Unknown to Hades, however, his imps botch the killing part, which presents a big, heavily muscled problem 18 years later when he's ready to make his move.

Woods/Hades is a delirious creation, Ruler of the Underworld as a scheming, blase, preternaturally insincere Hollywood agent with a deadly delivery. "Name's Hades, Lord of the Dead. Hi, howya doin'." He's got shark teeth, flickering flames for hair, and he turns from blue to tomato red when exercised, as when he notices his imps wearing clothing bearing Hercules' logo. "I've got 24 hours to get rid of this bozo, and YOU'RE WEARING HIS MERCHANDISE!" he explodes.

Superagent and departed Disney exec Michael Ovitz won't be flattered by the characterization.

Reluctantly helping mens nike air max 2015 Hades is one of Disney's most original female characters, Meg, a curvy, Veronica Lake look alike with the sauciness of Barbara Stanwyck. For the first time, Disney has created a female heroine with a past, a girl (Susan Egan, Tony nominated as Belle in Broadway's "Beauty and the Beast") who's been around the Parthenon. "He comes on with this big innocent farm boy routine," Meg says after meeting Hercules and unexpectedly falling for him, "but I can see through that in a Peloponnesian minute."

Hercules has his own issues. He's got to prove himself a hero in order to have his godliness restored. He's being trained by a satyr named Phil and voiced by Danny DeVito (think Louie DePalma with a goat's body), who's still smarting from the failure of his last big name client, Achilles. Hercules smites all comers womens nike air max 2015 running shoes a Hydra, a sea serpent and a Minotaur, among others and he becomes the toast of Thebes, the Big Olive. His face is on vases. He puts out an exercise scroll. He's got a line of action figures. But, as Zeus (Rip Torn) explains, "being famous is n't the same as being a true hero."

Many of "Hercules' " cultural references are openly self conscious. Celebrity, theme parks, action figures, corporate deals Disney is the maker of mens nike air max 2015 all. Yet, "Hercules" is in no way

self mocking or humble. It's not even cynical. The geniuses at Disney are simply proving that no one is shrewder or more perceptive about American culture. Nothing new there.