It comes as no surprise that someone whose parents spent the vast majority of their life savings on Disney-themed pilgrimages, punctuated by the odd trip to a Butlins here and there, might choose to engage in a critical analysis of one of Walt Disney’s finest for their first foray into amateur journalism. When Chloe asked what I could bring to the table for this zine (and my answer was, probably not a lot), I sat down with some popcorn (always salted) to watch Walt Disney’s 1997 remake of the well-known Greco-Roman myth of Hercules/Heracles. A film which had escaped my princess-saturated childhood because god-forbid I should stumble on a female heroine with even a hint of substance, but nevertheless one I had high hopes for, given that the ever-reliable Wikipedia had christened it a key player in the ‘Disney Renaissance’. 

 

However, a comparison of the movie with its original inspiring myth leads to the conclusion that Disney’s version represents a far more linear and ‘watered-down’ version of the story, amending its educative message to one focused on emphasising the importance of family, love, and loyalty in the titular character’s transition from ‘Zero to Hero’ (What? In a children’s movie? Surely not…) Shocking conclusions aside, the film does give us some helpful insights into the difficulties of incorporating accurate representations of mythology into modern, secular society, whereby the instructive stories of a world beholden to the whims of the Gods seems ever further from reality. Particularly given that, according to French philosopher and politician Luc Ferry, the very purpose of mythology is to “sketch out… the blueprint of a successful life for humankind” – no mean feat to achieve in an hour and a half of runtime.

 

The original myth was intended to show the rewards that can endure from overcoming a life of hardship. So, when Marcellus and Augustus were struggling with crop yields, or another absolutely classique conquest á la Emperor Caesar, they could reassure themselves that, if even demi-gods went through pain and hardship, the everyday mortal could too experience great reward from perseverance in the face of adversity. However, arguably, not all of the narrative changes made by Disney’s cinematic representation are for the benefit of fitting the needs of the genre and audience – but derive from a need to add relatability and modernity to a story which would otherwise lose much of its educative purpose in a narrative heavily focused on violence and hardship. Perhaps Disney’s alterations represent a faithfulness to the purpose of the form rather than to the story itself, representing the audience’s need for protagonists who fall in line with their own societal norms and values in order for their entertainment to provide a useful vehicle for conveying educative messages. After all, who could fail to relate to Megara’s ‘prize for rotten judgement’ – or musings that ‘no man is worth the aggravation’ (unless he’s a six-pack-ed demi-god with superhuman strength and excellent hair, in which case… fair enough).

 

To support this conclusion, we can look at a few elements of the story with which good ol’ Walt (who in reality passed away in the 60s and actually shoulders none of this blame) had taken a sizable chunk of creative licence. For example, in the depiction of Hercules’ origin story, he is shown as being the much-loved son of Zeus and Hera, who is taken from them by Hades (King of the Underworld – the ‘bad guy’ in case his title didn’t give it away), when he hears a prophecy that the child could be the architect of his demise. The failure of his plot to kill the infant leaves baby Hercules left with a family in the mortal world, but still with the super-human strength of a demi-god. In the original myth Hercules is conceived as a result of Zeus’ infidelity, providing the motive for his wife Hera’s later hatred of the child, and giving him a far less nuclear ‘family tree’ than Disney would dare portray (not sure they quite caught on to the Men Are Trash™ narrative until at least Moana (c.2016)). There is also no doubt the Zeus’ deception of Hercules’ mother Alcmene in disguising himself as her husband Amphitryon in order to conceive the demi-god in the original myth would be received badly. In devising a backstory for Hercules which clearly separates ‘good’ and ‘evil’, a modern audience is able to understand his role as stoic figure bringing balance to these forces, whilst the imposition of modern idealism onto the story creates a world which is aspirational for contemporary viewers. This is likely the case because often, according to many an academic article on JStor, we find it easier to take lessons and depictions of model behaviour from allegorical stories which represent a reality that is far from the complex truths we face in our day-to-day. 

 

The most telling modernisation comes in the depiction of Hercules’ apotheosis – his elevation to divine status. In the original myth, Hercules’ downfall comes about as a result of his wandering eye. His third wife (the ancient lack of regard for monogamy also fails to make the big screen version) Deianeira, on learning of her husband’s longstanding passion for a ‘young beauty’ named Iole, prepares a cloak smeared with the blood of Nessus in a misguided attempt to bring his attentions back to her. However, the poisoned cloak causes Hercules excruciating pain, forcing him to enlist the help of Zeus and his lightning to ignite a funeral pyre – elevating his soul from his mortal body to Mount Olympus. Although surely many a modern man could only dream of such a respite from their interfering wives, Disney again omits this detail, and when Hercules- through huge self-sacrifice to save Megara and his defeat of Hades, achieves ‘true hero’ status, earning his place in Olympus – he turns it down in favour of mortal life on earth with the woman he loves (what a guy!). A simplification of this narrative again provides us with the message loud and clear that love and loyalty will always prevail – and the audience is left satisfied with the trademark happy ending, un-soured by any of the complexity that may have been given by adherence to the original story.

 

Although this though-piece on mythology and modern cinema could go on for pages (don’t even get me started on Percy Jackson) for the sake of brevity we are left with the conclusion that Disney’s interpretation is largely successful in preserving the educational purpose of mythology but through its narrative changes, loses much of the story’s depth and bears very little resemblance to the original. Perhaps only the assurance that it has a pretty fab soundtrack might prevent Plautus (or any of the other hundreds of original storytellers) from turning in their graves too vigorously…