Boxoffice-July.1997

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Qjmposer Alan Menken, the eight-time
Oscar winner whose Disney credits have included
"Beauty and the Beast," "The Hunchback
of Notre Dame," "The Little Mermaid"
and "Aladdin," says Egan brought a "wonderful
wry quality" to the role of Meg. "She's
tough and yet vulnerable." Menken's coUabothing
in this show has a twist Nothing is quite
straight on, except for the emotions."
Danny DeVito's big musical number, "One
Last Hope," is played as a flamboyant pastiche
of vaudeville and Broadway show tunes.
Menken urged him to "think Jimmy Durante."
But, recalls the composer, DeVito "didn't do
Hercules"
also pokes sly, self-referential
fun at Disney merchandising tie-ins by
showcasing "Hercules Stores" peddling
hero-worshipping souvenir products, including
such items as vases featuring Here's
valiant visage. There's a certain eternal verity
to such gags, the filmmakers believe, because
LABORERS OF "HERCULES": (left to right) Helmers Ron Clements and John Musker recently signed exclusive pacts with Disney:
Tate Donovan takes inspiration from a likeness of the film's hero; and James Woods gets down as the god Hades.
rator on "Hercules" was lyricist David Zippel,
a Tony winner for "City of Angels" and a
newcomer to Disney animation.
Working with Musker and Clements is "a
riot," Menken says, "because each song becomes
a standout song. You have less of the
kinds of songs that are built
in and forwarding plot in a
compUcated way. The songs
they like me to write and that
make them really fun are
production numbers, comedy
numbers, and heavily
stylized numbers. 'Hercules'
is just so funny, so fastpaced,
so entertaining."
of the most daring
Oneaspects of "Hercules"
is its incorporation of
African-American
musical
idioms to convey hope, idealism
and soulfulness, a suggestion
by the directors that
Menken and Zippel eagerly
embraced. The five Muses
making up the film's Greek
chorus—Calliope,
Thalia,
Clio, Meljxjmene and Terpsichore,
sung by Lillias
White, Vaneese Thomas,
Cheryl Freeman, LaChanze
and Roz Ryan—v(x;alize in
a style Menken describes as
"sort of New Orieans funk," a blend of gospel
with rhythm and blues.
That element was added to give the film "a
styli.stic twist that you wouldn't normally expect"
says lyricist Zippel. "Becaase cvery-
Jimmy Durante. It sounded like Danny DeVito
singing, and it really worked."
Another example of the film's incessant
stream of showbiz in-jokery is James Woods'
motor-mouthed portrayal of Hades as what
Clements calls "the hippest villain we've ever
HERC" JERK: Hades is a blue-haired fast talker with teeth as sharp as a talent agent
had, a Hollywood-agent type of personality.
When [fonner agent) Michael Ovitz was here
|as president of the Walt Disney Co. until his
departure last December], we couldn't say that.
Now wc can."
the Greek gods filled a function in their society
much like that now performed by movie stars
or the British royal family in today's mediasaturated
culture.
By offering this "gende parody" of the machinery
by which heroes are created, Musker
and Clements have a lowkey
moral message in mind
for the young among their
family audiences. "In becoming
sort of the Michael
Jordan of his day, Hercules
learns there is more to being
a hero than being an action
hero," Musker says. "Understanding
the difference
between celebrityhood and
genuine heroism is good for
kids today."
The movie's bustling city
of Thebes, beset by myriad
nauiral disasters, is meant to
evoke contemporary New
York or Los Angeles—
plijce in which, as Clements
puts it, "they need a hero but
ihey don't believe in heroes.
I lercules finally attains heroism
when he's not trying
to. That's when he letuns a
self-sacrificing attitude. He
finds that heroism has to
come from the heart."
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of "Aladdin" was influenced
by Persian art. the ancient Greek setting
of "Hercules" inspired its own offbeat style of
animation, evoking the art of Attic pottery.
"'Hercules' has a two-dimensional quality,
more stylized. less representational, and more