Please don't spend money on this.
... View MoreAbsolutely brilliant
... View MoreGreat example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.
... View MoreMostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.
... View MoreGranted it doesn't have the detail of Disney nor escape the cyclical backgrounds a la' Hanna-Barbara and many others. But there is no call to pick on The Mighty Hercules like it was the only limited animation, low cell-count animated cartoon around at the time.As for comparison to any of the bland H&B fare of the day, the Pixie & Dixie & Wally & Yogi & Huckleberry..shall I go on? As a young boy I would pick One Episode of Mighty Hercules over a Full Hour of any of them! How exciting can seeing animals chase each other back and forth get? But Hercules had plenty of fast action, plenty of thrills - and could be quite scary to a five or six year old. But that wasn't the only thing that made it great. Hercules was a wonderful role model for youngsters, and this cartoon always promoted good moral values. Yes, where good always triumphed over evil and taught kids right from wrong.Cartoons used to do that sort of thing, rather than just gross you out like most are designed to do so today.True...Newton was a bumbling sidekick, but he was as loyal and devoted to Herc as they come. Addressing stupid comments about his "sexuality" is pointless (he is a cartoon, okay?) Also, ignorance can be attributed to not knowing that Newton's voice changed in mid-episode (actually it was right at the end of one) because Jack Mercer had left the production who had been doing most of the voices. If that person had really been observant they would have noticed other changes, some minor and then a major change when Jimmy Tapp joined the voice talent lineup and everything sounded different to the end of the series.If Newton (he is a centaur) repeated himself, it was a gimmick, a hook to make him stand out and it certainly did. Oh, and Tewt's (not "toot" and he is a satyr ) little musical instrument.. those are called "panpipes". One of the cutest things you'll see on a Hercules cartoon is little Tewt playing his pipes riding on Newton's back as he sings his signature song... "I'm glad, I'm glad to have a friend, to have a friend...like Hercules, like Hercules...Wow! I can think of quite of few other cartoons where the "action" is taking place out of sight of the camera, and puff of smoke and stars are all you see - but Hercules didn't pioneer this technique by any means.The writers were actually professional comic book writers. That's right and I think they did an above average job. The narration is just right, not too wordy - and the dialog is consistent making the characters have their own unique personalities through out the series. What else do you want? Shakespeare? Misinformed "Gen-Xers" may want to try to discourage you from enjoying this cartoon, but if you were a Child of the Sixites or 70's then you know better. The Mighty Hercules made a tremendous impact in it's time. And it's still just as good today too!Also try to remember thirty & under 21st century adults...this may come as a shock to you... but alas, Mighty Hercules was not produced with YOU in mind. The Mighty Hercules was produced for young children of an era where values were quite different, and frankly I am glad I was part of the original target audience.
... View MoreSay what you want to about this cartoon, but it was a 60's Cartoon gem. By todays standards the stories were over simplistic, and predictable but they stuck a real heroic chord with me. The theme music is still unforgettable. Hercules has a slight resemblance of the Max Flisher Superman (in a toga) but this show was fun, power packed with excitement. I love the good versus evil theme that Hercules brought to us. The plots were imaginative, with stories such as the Chair of Forgetfulness, The Pod Of Transformation, The Hydra, and The Box of Pandora. This is a Cartoon show I would really love to own for my collection. To some of you others who might think it's crap, you can have your Simpsons, and South Park. The Mighty Hercules Rock!
... View MoreSo, a few years back, I was watching an Hercules-movie-a-thon on AMC before they became totally crappy. In between films (and, yes, Mickey Hargitay is my favorite) they showed AMC cultural filler. At one point, I was suddenly gobsmacked by the theme song from The Mighty Hercules, a 1963 cartoon offering which I watched regularly. You know, the one with the lyrics, "softness in his eyes, iron in his thighs." The one where Daedalus, the villain, has a big, fluffy cat. Where Hercules transform by the power of his jewelry. The one where Herc can't spend time with his beard, I mean girlfriend Helena, because he's gallivanting around Greece with a gay, jailbait centaur with echolalia. At any rate, I had a very demanding physical reaction within seconds. I felt like Data meeting Dr. Soong. I found the source of my programming. How many members of my tribe have this show as their first erotic memory?
... View MoreThe Greatest Cartoon You'll Never, Ever See Again. On Earth. Period."The Mighty Hercules" is a bygone animated classic, the likes of which are just not made today. With "Rocket Robin Hood" and "The Amazing Spider-Man", "Hercules" created a mighty trifecta of cartoon delights for the Gen-X set.I mean, damn. Come on. You gotta know what I mean here."Hercules" was one of countless shoestring-budget cartoon creations to appear on the Saturday morning scene in the 70s and 80s. And while the show's original run existed in the Mighty Sixties, its true essence revealed itself through rerun after jaw-dropping rerun. And just how cheap was this program?In one episode, Herc's nemesis, the conniving wizard Daedelus, gains control of a deadly flying dragon and instructs it to destroy Hercules. Out of the sky it spirals towards Herc, who runs headlong into battle...behind a giant rock. No fooling. The entire tussle takes place behind this rock. Now that's thrifty cartooning.That aside, "Hercules" did boast some cool and laugh-inducing characters and scenes, like the aforementioned Daedelus, quite possibly one of animation's most heinous individuals. With squinted, shifty eyes, a black cloak, little pointy slippers and a handlebar mustache of handlebar mustaches, Daedelus and his equally shifty feline, Dido, attempt dastardly deeds on what seems a daily basis. Occasionally the Mask Of Vulcan would appear. This hombre was pretty much a Daedelus clone with a janitor's pail on his head who was invincible so long as he wore it -- so when he showed up Herc would somehow have to get it off with a tree branch. Then there was Willimene, who essentially was a chick-Daedelus. She had a parrot and spent much of her time beating on Herc's maiden, Helena.But really, when dissecting "Hercules", one has to go no further than the sidekicks. Herc receives help in the form of Newton, a knock-kneed bumbling centaur with slight homosexual tendencies (and more than an inspiration for "The Simpsons" Waylon Smithers), and also Toot, a spritely sort of two-legged version of Newton who can only express himself through a piccolo. And speaking of cheap and careless cartoon-making, watch out for the one where Newton's voice changes mid-episode. This blatant disregard for quality and continuity may mark this program as, well, amateur...but in the spirit of kitsch and pop-culture, it's probably what puts "The Mighty Hercules" over the top as one of TV's true diamonds in the rough.Oh yeah, and a theme song for the ages. Absolutely kickass.
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