A pitch image for the film, showing an very earlier, much cartoonier design for the titular hero.
Example
- Donny Osmond auditioned for the part of Hercules before Tate Donovan was cast. However, Osmond was turned down due to the fact that his voice was considered too deep for the titular character.
- John Lithgow was originally chosen for Hades before the casting of James Woods. However, despite recording all of his dialogue for the film, Disney thought he didn't have the right balance of menace and comedic timing for the character.
- David Bowie, Willem Dafoe and Jack Nicholson were also considered for the role of Hades. Nicholson was turned down due to his demand for a paycheck of ten to fifteen million for the part, plus a fifty percent cut of all the proceeds from Hades merchandise.
- Ron Silver, James Coburn, Kevin Spacey, Phil Hartman, Rod Steiger, Michael Ironside, Terrence Mann and Martin Landau auditioned for Hades as well before the casting of Woods.
- Ed Asner, Ernest Borgnine, Dick Latessa and Red Buttons auditioned for the role of Phil before Danny DeVito was cast; the filmmakers always had him in mind, but DeVito didn't wish to audition, so they went through the motions. After Buttons' audition, he said this to the casting directors before departing the studio.Buttons: I know what you're going to do. You're going to give this part to Danny DeVito!
- Patrick Stewart, John Goodman, James Belushi and Gregory Peck were considered for the part of Zeus before the casting of Rip Torn.
- The Spice Girls were originally approached to portray the Muses following an invitation to sing one of the songs, but declined the offer due to scheduling conflicts.
- The original pitch for the movie was going to be more mythologicaly accurate with Hera as the Big Bad, the Titans as The Starscream, and Hades as something of a sidekick to Hercules. This concept was later used for Hercules And Xena.
- Meg was initially going to be a bit more of a Damsel in Distress, but since she spent so much time with Hades, when he became a "sleazy Hollywood agent type" (per one review), Susan Egan made her a much stronger woman just from the amount of improv she had to deal with. At some point after her stronger characterization took shape, she was also written as a harsher, angrier character than in the finished film, but the writers eventually started to find her unlikable and made her funnier and more playful. She also was supposed to have blue eyes instead of purple, which can be heard in a trailer
for the film where Phil warns Herc "next time, don't let your guard down for a pair of big blue eyes" while imitating Meg. In the final version, this line was changed to "big goo-goo eyes" instead. - Meg's solo song was originally a sweet romantic ballad called "I Can't Believe My Heart", but the writers eventually deemed the song out of character and "too cliché," as Meg herself sings in the very different song that replaced it, "I Won't Say I'm In Love."Susan Egan: ...it was finally Ken Duncan, the lead animator for Meg, raised his hand one day in a session and said, 'You know what — Meg would never in a million years sing a soaring ballad.' And that's true. She's the queen of denial.
- Early storyboards of the song "Zero to Hero" were slightly different, with different segments involving Medusa and others. The storyboards also show an early design of Hercules himself.
- Susan Egan almost wasn't allowed to audition for Megara. She was playing Belle on Broadway at the time, and The Powers That Be thought there was no way she could be right for the part. Egan basically annoyed them into letting her audition just so she'd stop asking, and the directors were stunned when she turned out to be perfect for the role.Egan: When I play Belle, I'm acting. Meg is right where I live.
- Illustrated early script drafts show that Death/Thanatos was supposed to show up in person to take Meg's soul away when the Fates cut her thread. He wore a black plumed helmet and was encased in armor.
