History YMMV / Hercules

* 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/LindsayEllis, 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.

* DisappointingLastLevel: The final battle against Hades is very underwhelming.

** This movie has attracted some criticism for popularizing the idea of [[EverybodyHatesHades Hades as an evil, Satan-like figure]], and [[EverybodyLovesZeus Zeus as a noble]] BigGood. However, both of these portrayals do have roots going all the way back to ancient times [[DependingOnTheWriter depending on which versions of the mythologies you read]]. For instance, Creator/{{Homer}} describes Hades in ''Literature/TheIliad'' as the most hateful of all the gods, while the idea that Zeus's behaviour marked the standard for justice was common enough in Ancient Greece that Creator/{{Plato}} wrote a whole dialogue arguing against it, called the "Euthyphro".

* 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/LindsayEllis 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.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Phil, some critics like Creator/SchaffrialsProductions 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/LindseyEllis 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.
* BrokenBase: "Go the Distance." By some, it's considered a cookie cutter IWantSong just there because every other Renaissance film had one. However, there are plenty of fans who find it a genuinely moving song (especially the single/end credits version performed by Music/MichaelBolton) and enjoy its presence in the film.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Phil, some consider him a hilarious and gruff mention to Hercules that serves as TheHeart of the film for restoring Hercules' confidence in the DarkestHour. Others however see Phil as a selfish attention whore, and find him being an InkSuitActor for Creator/DannyDeVito to be more distracting than amusing.

* SignatureSong: "Zero to Hero".

* Sugarwiki/AwesomeArt: It's definitely one of the most visually stunning Disney movies, full of great character designs, SceneryPorn, and [[SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome CGI effects that still hold up today.]] Thank you, [[Music/TheWall Gerald Scarfe]]!
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Let's just cut to the chase and say ''everything.'' Music/AlanMenken is basically channeling everything he did in Theatre/LittleShopOfHorrors.
** Most would agree that "I Won't Say I'm In Love" is the best song.

** This film version of Zeus is popular as a template for jokes about the real Zeus' [[AnythingThatMoves sex adventures.]] (The following is corrected for diction.)

** The scenes starting when Herc's foster parents find him up until when he talks with Zeus for the first time are much more like "''[[Film/{{Superman}} Superman: The Movie]]''[=/=]''Series/{{Smallville}}'' in Ancient Greece" than the myths. Hercules also [[spoiler:temporarily]] gives up his superhuman abilities, as in ''Film/SupermanII'', while his love interest [[spoiler:temporarily dies]] just like what happens with Lois in the first film. ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman'' writer Creator/GrantMorrison even considers Hercules to be the best Superman movie ever made.

** Hades pointing to Pain's Hercules shoes and asking [[Website/{{Vine}} "What are those?"]]

* 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]]

* OlderThanTheyThink: While Hercules riding Pegasus is an invention of the Disney film, in the myths he was briefly in possession of another legendary horse, named Arion, who was often depicted as having wings.

* 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/TheLionKing'' 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.

* SpiritualLicensee:

* MoralEventHorizon: Hades orders the [[WouldHurtAChild kidnapping of baby Hercules]] and plans on killing him by turning him mortal.

** Also, an earlier scene has Hade ''plucking a piece of hair out of an eyeball''.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: Disney's take on Greek mythology, featuring designs from the artist responsible for the animated segments of ''Music/TheWall'' and a 1960s gospel-style soundtrack. While still critically well-received, the film under-performed commercially compared to [[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney its predecessor]], only grossing $252.7 million in box office revenue worldwide.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Thalia, the short, fat muse, is pretty much everyone's favorite. Fittingly, Thalia is the Muse of comedy - [[ShownTheirWork even in the original myths]].

* FandomSpecificPlot: Hades' mythological abduction of Persephone, by force or otherwise, is a ''very'' popular ''Hercules'' fanfic topic due to being one of the few myths that star Hades, Persephone having a canon design as a background character in the movie, and how it could serve to develop the characters. It helps that several licensed games make note of it despite it never coming up in the show or movie.

* {{Applicability}}: The theme song "Go the Distance" isn't just for this incarnation of Herc; it's also referenced a lot across the Nasuverse towards his incarnation as Berserker (notably, ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' and ''Manga/FateKaleidLinerPrismaIllya'').

* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The nightmarishly impressive CGI animation on the Hydra.

** A Greek tale with gospel-inspired musical elements, which includes a journey to the Underworld to rescue a soul from Hades? [[Theatre/{{Hadestown}} Hmm.]]

** Throughout the movie, poor Hercules suffers from circumstances that would cause [[FreudianExcuse some people to become villains.]] But [[GentleGiant he always has a heart even bigger than his muscles and wouldn't hurt a fly]]... [[BerserkButton unless they did something to Meg. It's on then.]]

** Hades pointing to Pain's Hercules shoes and asking [[WebOriginal/{{Vine}} "What are those?"]]