Wolff rating: UNSURPASSED
Plot summary: Young strongman tries to be a hero in the eyes of his father, Zeus.
Biased, pithy comments: Where ``Beauty and the Beast'' took the cake for the best mostly-serious fairy tale animated film to date, ``Hercules'' nabs the prize for most irreverent adaptation of classical mythology. The details of the mythology are actively wrong to conform to Disney's ``family values'' image, but ignoring that this is a send-up of the hero culture set against splashy art, stylized characters, and fantastic voice work (yay Egan!). The gospel/rockin' score by Meneken is one of my favorites, reminiscent of his ``Little Shop of Horror Days'' and is a joy to listen to. I loved it. I'm incapable of criticising it. My review is probably thus pretty useless.
How many times I have seen it: x1.5
Starring: Tate Donovon, Josh Keaton, Roger Bart, Danny DeVito, James Woods, Susan Egan.
Directed by: Ron Clements and John Musker