History YMMV / Hercules

* AccidentalAesop: Hercules is told that "being famous isn't the same as being a true hero". This ignores that he ''got'' famous by fighting monsters that terrorized the ancient world, and even saving Mt. Olympus from the Titans doesn't earn him godhood; he becomes a "true hero" by performing a HeroicSacrifice to save Meg, proving the strength of his heart. When this is taken together with Phil's attitude towards heroism and stories of other famous figures, the film puts forth the idea that heroic deeds like saving lives and fighting monsters don't count as heroic deeds if you reap fame and fortune from doing them, and if you have some sort of self-serving motivation as your reason for doing this, even if it isn't something material like money, then that inherent selfishness means you are not a "true hero". What makes you a true hero is [[WhatYouAreInTheDark what you do when you have nothing to benefit.]]

* MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales: Despite the various criticisms levied at the film by [[AmericansHateTingle native Greeks]], Greek-Americans have much kinder things to say about the film, acknowledging that it's not intended to be an accurate retelling of Myth/ClassicalMythology, and finding the LighterAndSofter take on their mythos to be an enjoyable experience on its own merits.

* An observant [[https://www.reddit.com/r/FanTheories/comments/ueelul/hercules_the_titans_headed_the_wrong_direction/?rdt=59879 Redditor]] pointed out the Titans' FailedAttemptAtDrama was more than just a throwaway joke, but it's because the Titans assumed Zeus was still on Mount Othrys, the Titans' ancestral home.

* GeniusBonus:
** Many, for the Greek mythology buffs in the audience. "Zero to Hero" is full of half-second allusions to Hercules' Labors, famous Greek (and Roman) art, as well as ancient Greek culture.

** On a date, Hercules and Megara go and see [[OedipusTheKing Oedipus Rex]]. In the original myths, the mother of Oedipus was Jocasta. Jocasta's brother was Creon. Creon's daughter was Megara. Which makes her and Oedipus cousins.

** Also, Hades's design being based off of Jeffrey Katzenberg. He returned the favor with [[WesternAnimation/Shrek1} Lord Farquaad]], whose design was based off Michael Eisner and was voiced by one of the original casting choices for Hades, John Lithgow.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Phil, some consider him one of the funniest characters in the film while serving as a great mentor to Hercules and acting as TheHeart of the film. Others instead see Phil as a selfish AttentionWhore who is only using Hercules as a means to an end and find him being an InkSuitActor for Creator/DannyDeVito to be more distracting than amusing.

* AmericansHateTingle: While the rest of the world's audiences and critics liked the movie well enough (though, of course, not to the extent of ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'' and the earlier Renaissance films), people in UsefulNotes/{{Greece}} ''despised'' this movie, [[BannedInChina even denying the film a premiere there]]. They didn't care much for the [[SadlyMythtaken many]], [[LighterAndSofter many]] [[{{Disneyfication}} liberties]] taken with their own mythology and for making the hero a [[AnachronismStew "star" with merch]] InUniverse, even if the rest of the movie was pretty decent. It's kind of similar to how a lot of American historians hated ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'' , though with a lot more nationalism on it as the Greeks while being Christian view the mythology as part of their Culture and so the liberties were viewed as mocking or as an afrond, (even though that didn't get banned; it just got slammed with a lot of criticism) while [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff other countries liked it well enough]].

** A few people[[note]]including Creator/GrantMorrison,[[/note]] believe this movie to be [[SpiritualAdaptation one of the best movies]] of Franchise/{{Superman}} ever made. Just the year before ''Hercules'' came out, an ''{{Elseworld}}'' comic, ''Superman / Wonder Woman: Whom Gods Destroy'', had Superman and the women of his life (ComicBook/LoisLane and ComicBook/LanaLang) all being used in power games of the Greek Gods. (Despite the title, Franchise/WonderWoman, who is generally connected to the Greek Gods in the comics, is only a red herring.)
*** Although the character bears some resemblance to Franchise/{{Shazam}}, a boy who becomes a man, due to retaining his teenage characteristics even after growing into a hero upon completing his training.

* AmericansHateTingle: While the rest of the world's audiences and critics liked the movie well enough (though, of course, not to the extent of ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'' and the earlier Renaissance films), the Greeks ''despised'' this movie, [[BannedInChina even denying the film a premiere in Greece]]. They didn't care much for the [[SadlyMythtaken many]], [[LighterAndSofter many]] [[{{Disneyfication}} liberties]] taken with their own mythology, even if the rest of the movie was pretty decent. It's kind of similar to how a lot of American historians hated ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'' , though with a lot more nationalism on it as the Greeks while being Christian view the mythology as part of their Culture and so the liberties were viewed as mocking or as an afrond, (even though that didn't get banned; it just got slammed with a lot of criticism) while [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff other countries liked it well enough]].

** Also, Hades's design being based off of Jeffrey Katzenberg. He returned the favor with [[WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}} Lord Farquaad]], whose design was based off Michael Eisner and was voiced by one of the original casting choices for Hades, John Lithgow.

--> '''WebVideo/JonTron:''' This game is [[SugarWiki/GushingAboutShowsYouLike freaking awesome!]]

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Phil falls into this before his CharacterDevelopment kicks in later in the film. As we're introduced to him, he's disappointed by how many wanna-be heroes he's trained that couldn't live up to the ideals of heroism, and he's become jaded and bitter after getting burned so many times. Aside from the AlternativeCharacterInterpretation that Phil's ineptitude as their trainer may be more to blame than any faults of their own, Phil namedrops some of the most famous heroic figures of Greek mythology with fame and deeds rivalling that of Hercules; Jason, Achilles, Odysseus, Perseus, and Theseus. Phil also claims that his dream was to train a hero so great that the gods would create an image of them in the sky, which people would recognize as "Phil's boy". This can make Phil come off as an AttentionWhore who is only training heroes to reap fame and glory by proxy, and presents the idea that the reason he considers his former pupils disappointments is not because they were failures themselves, but because they just weren't great enough to achieve Phil's dream for him (which is a lofty one to strive for anyway).

* AmericansHateTingle: While the rest of the world's audiences and critics liked the movie well enough (though, of course, not to the extent of ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'' and the earlier Renaissance films), the Greeks ''despised'' this movie, [[BannedInChina even denying the film a premiere in Greece]]. They didn't care much for the [[SadlyMythtaken many]], [[LighterAndSofter many]] [[{{Disneyfication}} liberties]] taken with their own mythology, even if the rest of the movie was pretty decent. It's kind of similar to how a lot of American historians hated ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'' (even though that didn't get banned; it just got slammed with a lot of criticism) while [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff other countries liked it well enough]].

* AmericansHateTingle: While the rest of the world's audiences and critics liked the movie well enough (though, of course, not to the extent of ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'' and the earlier Renaissance films), the Greeks ''despised'' this movie, [[BannedInChina even denying the film a premiere in Greece]]. They didn't care much for the [[SadlyMythtaken many]], [[LighterAndSofter many]] [[{{Disneyfication}} liberties]] taken with their own mythology, even if the rest of the movie was pretty decent. It's kind of similar to how a lot of American historians hated ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'' (even though that didn't get banned; it just got slammed with a lot of criticism) while other countries liked it well enough.

** And two decades after the film, Creator/JamesWoods would voice Superman's arch-foe ComicBook/LexLuthor in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueAction'', bringing it full circle.

** A few people[[note]]including Creator/GrantMorrison,[[/note]] believe this movie to be [[SpiritualAdaptation one of the best movies]] of Franchise/{{Superman}} ever made. Just the year before ''Hercules'' came out, an ''Main/{{Elseworld}}'' comic, ''Superman / Wonder Woman: Whom Gods Destroy'', had Superman and the women of his life (ComicBook/LoisLane and ComicBook/LanaLang) all being used in power games of the Greek Gods. (Despite the title, Franchise/WonderWoman, who is generally connected to the Greek Gods in the comics, is only a red herring.)

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Phil falls into this before his CharacterDevelopment kicks in later in the film. As we're introduced to him, he's disappointed by how many wanna-be heroes he's trained that couldn't live up to the ideals of heroism, and he's become jaded and bitter after getting burned so many times. Aside from the AlternateCharacterInterpretation that Phil's ineptitude as their trainer may be more to blame than any faults of their own, Phil namedrops some of the most famous heroic figures of Greek mythology with fame and deeds rivalling that of Hercules; Jason, Achilles, Odysseus, Perseus, and Theseus. Phil also claims that his dream was to train a hero so great that the gods would create an image of them in the sky, which people would recognize as "Phil's boy". This can make Phil come off as an AttentionWhore who is only training heroes to reap fame and glory by proxy, and presents the idea that the reason he considers his former pupils disappointments is not because they were failures themselves, but because they just weren't great enough to achieve Phil's dream for him (which is a lofty one to strive for anyway).

* WTHCastingAgency: For both Mexican and Latin American viewers, Music/RickyMartin as the titular Hercules, due to his thick Puerto Rican accent. While the rest of the voice cast was filled by Mexican voice actors, Ricky Martin's voice really sticks like a sore thumb. For a better equivalent for English speakers, try to imagine Hercules being voiced by ''Music/BobMarley'', if he had been alive at the time the film was made.[[note]]This was Disney's ''first'' attempt at using famous artists to voice characters for the LA audience, so you can say they goofed up. Ricky Martin was very famous overall (though not yet internationally to English audiences) and he was signed to sing the movie's theme song for Herc. It was odd, but he did a rather good job, accent and all. It was the ''first'' time it was blatant, previous Disney movies like ''The Jungle Book'' did use famous Mexican movie actors for the dub in Latin America (Baloo is voiced by comedian Tin-Tan and is fondly remembered to this day, he repeated in ''The Aristocats'', and also voiced Little John in ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood1973'').[[/note]]

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Phil, some critics like WebVideo/SchaffrillasProductions consider him one of the funniest characters in the film while serving as a great mentor to Hercules and acting as TheHeart of the film. Other critics, such as Creator/DougWalker, instead see Phil as a selfish AttentionWhore who is only using Hercules as a means to an end and find him being an InkSuitActor for Creator/DannyDeVito to be more distracting than amusing.